ElenaI stand at the entrance of the house I grew up in, everything feeling unfamiliar. I walk up the stairs to what used to be my childhood bedroom and pause in the doorway, shocked. My entire room has been converted into a walk-in closet, not a single one of my belongings remaining.I walk into the room, my fingers tracing over the brand-new dressers that replaced all my furniture. There are over a dozen rooms in this house—there was no need whatsoever to wipe away every memory of my childhood.I sink down to my knees in the middle of my room, tears filling my eyes. My head drops down to the thick carpet, and I let myself fall apart for the first time in years, hot tears streaming down my face. A sob tears through my throat and I try my hardest to keep it in, but I fail. All I accomplish is choking on my tears, my lungs burning. All the while, my heart feels like it’s in physical pain. I’ve never felt thisbroken.I curl into a ball, my heart shattered beyond repair. I’ve lost so muc
AlexanderI walk into my bedroom and pause. I’ve always loved solitude, so why does this room suddenly feel so… empty?I tug on my tie and walk into my closet, my eyes pausing on the empty shelves. There are traces of her everywhere, even the faint scent of her perfume lingers. I sigh and walk toward my bed, but that just makes things worse.When I look at my bed all I can see is the way her hair spreads out on our pillows, the way she rolls toward me in her sleep, clinging onto me. I’ll never have her in my arms again.I sit down on my bed and run a hand through my hair. I grab my phone against better judgment, a photo of Elena and me staring back at me. I’m pressing a kiss to her cheek and she’s smiling, her eyes twinkling with happiness.I can’t do this. I sigh as I walk back out of my bedroom and down the stairs, needing a fucking drink. I can’t get her out of my damn mind. Everything reminds me of her. No matter where I look, there are traces of her everywhere. I see her kissing
AlexanderI’m certain I’m fucking hallucinating when I hear Elena’s laughter as I walk into the house. I stop in my tracks, my eyes closing as my stomach drops. My heart clenches painfully and I take a steadying breath.I’m almost at the stairs when I hear it again. Laughter. But this time, it’s my mother’s. I tense and turn to follow the sound toward the kitchen. My heart races with every step I take. She can’t be here. She left.My entire body is rigid as I lean against the kitchen doorway, my eyes finding her instantly. Fucking beautiful.She’s got flour in her hair and a smear of chocolate on her cheek, but she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.Her smile drops when she notices me, and she looks startled, her cheeks turning rosy. The room falls silent, and it isn’t until then that I realize my entire family is here.Lucian and my mother are standing opposite Elena, while my grandfather is standing next to her. They look guilty when they see me standing here, and my mother
AlexanderI stare up at Elena’s house and lean back against my car, my eyes on her window.“Are you ever going to talk to her?”I jump in surprise, my eyes widening when Sarah walks up behind me.“You’ve been coming here every night for two weeks now. This is getting creepy, Alec.”I smile nervously. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were aware of my presence. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I keep telling myself that I’ll do what’s best for her, that I’ll let her go. When she married me, she never had a choice. I want her to find her own happiness, I don’t want to hold her back and chain her to me. Yet I can’t get myself to sign the papers.Sarah smiles and leans back against my car, standing next to me. She looks up into Elena’s window the way I just did and shakes her head.“So instead of calling her, you just stand here for hours in hopes of catching a glimpse of her?”I look away and shake my head. “No… I… I don’t mean to come here, yet someho
ElenaI walk into my house after an incredibly long day at work and pause in the doorway, my eyes roaming over the hundreds of peonies filling the room. Mom smiles up at me, a beautiful bouquet in her hands.“Honey, if you don’t speak to him, he’ll just keep sending you flowers.”“Donate them.”We’ve been donating flowers to a different charity every day, for weeks now. Alec knows I don’t ever keep them, yet somehow new flowers appear in my house every single day. Mom denies it, but I know she’s colluding with him.I shake my head and walk towards the staircase, ignoring the flowers. How does he even know that peonies are my favorite? Was that part of his background check too?“I had the staff put the bouquets with notes on them in your bedroom,” Mom says, and I pause on the stairs. The notes… it’s the notes that always get to me.“You should’ve thrown them out.”My heart is racing as I walk into my bedroom, dozens of bouquets covering every horizontal surface in my room. I hate mysel
AlexanderJust having her sitting next to me has my heart racing. It’s been weeks since I last touched her, and part of me thought I never would again. I didn’t think she’d ever speak to me again. For weeks, she’s been ignoring my presence at her house and every gift I’ve sent… she’s been ignoringme.“Don’t take me anywhere public.”I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and glance at her. “Why not?”She looks at me, her expression unreadable. “I don’t want people to think we got back together. I saw the speculations in the tabloids, the rumors. I want no part of it.”My heart wrenches and a sense of loss washes over me. I park the car by the side of the road and glance out my window, unsure what to do, what to say.“Are you seeing someone?” I ask, the words leaving my lips involuntarily.Elena looks at me, her eyes flashing with something I can’t quite decipher. She’s never been hard to read, but tonight she’s shutting me out.Elena turns away and opens her door, stepping out of the
ElenaThe way he looks at me… I’ve never seen such raw pain in his eyes. “You’re taking me home?”Alec nods and holds the door open for me. He leans in when I sit down, as though he’s about to buckle me in the way he always does, but then he pulls away. He swallows hard and takes a step back before closing the door.He’s silent as he steps into the car and leans back in his seat, covering his face with his arm, inhaling deeply.“Hey, are you okay?” I ask, suddenly worried.He pulls his arm away and nods at me, a bittersweet smile on his face. “Yes, of course.”Alec raises his hand to my face and brushes my hair aside gently. “Thank you for tonight, Elena, even though I didn’t give you much of a choice. When it comes to me, you’ve never had much of a choice—you didn’t even have a choice when you married me. I’ll respect your choices this time, Elena. I’ll do as you asked. I’ll let you go.”Fear grips me at his words. “Why? Why so suddenly?”I was convinced he was only going after me bec
AlexanderElena walks into the kitchen and looks at me with raised brows when she sees me standing behind the stove.“What are you doing?” she asks, her tone careful and curious.I laugh at her expression, but I can’t even blame her. On one of our dates we tried baking a pie together, and I almost burned down our entire kitchen. She’s right to be cautious.“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “I got instructions from Grandpa. You go get ready for dinner.”She glances at me suspiciously and looks back at me as she walks away to get ready for tonight’s date.Fifty-six dates. Elena and I have gone on fifty-six dates since we got back together exactly a year ago, and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of her.It took me four months to convince her to move back in with me, and in those four months, every single time that I had to take her home after a date was pure torture.I’m excited as I set the table. I’ve managed to transform our terrace into a floral sanctuary. It’s filled with white peonies,
DARIOOne Month LaterIrise to my feet, clapping my hands so hard they almost hurt. Beside me, my mother and father join in on the standing ovation. On the other side, Giulia and Rosa are also clapping, though Rosa can’t stand yet. However, she has far more energy than just a month ago. The small theater is filled with admiration for the play’s first production, and I know that most of it is because of my woman’s performance.“Wasn’t she amazing?” I beam, turning to my mother and father.My father, who’s noticeably less grumpy now that his land grab is complete, is smiling from ear to ear. “Fantastic, son!” he yells over the clamor.“Wasn’t she great?” I grin, turning to Giulia.Elena’s friend smiles at me, nodding. “She always has been, but that was next level!”The curtains close, and the actors walk onto the stage to take their final bow. Elena looks gorgeous in her fifties-style dress,her hair styled as if she just stepped out of an old-timey magazine advert. She nailed the whole
ELENA“Where are you taking me?” I say, sitting in the passenger seat of his sleek sedan as he glides through the city.It’s been roughly two weeks since the standoff with Salvatore in the dining room. Since then, Dario and I have spent so much time together: lying in bed, talking about the future, making love, watching movies—trashyandclassy. We all even had a meal together. Dario, Salvatore, Maria, Rosa, Giulia, and I sat at the same dining room table as we shared stories and jokes and bonded, something I could never have believed was possible.“It’s a surprise,” he says.“Don’t you think we’ve had enough of those?”He glances at me with a smirk. Since all the roadblocks to our love have come crashing down, Dario has seemed so happy-go-lucky, as if he’s been waiting his whole life to let go of the mafioso darkness. I know it’s still in him. I know that if anybody ever threatens the Family or me, he’ll go full savage again. Yet, it’s so sweet to see how happy he is now.“This is agoo
DARIO“I know you didn’t approve at first, Miss Santoro,” I say, sitting beside Rosa’s bed.Over the past week, her health has taken a definite upward trajectory. No recovery will ever be miraculous, but watching my woman become more optimistic has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Just last night, when we were lying sweaty and content in bed, she said,“She’s becoming her old self. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but…”We both share that sentiment, not getting our hopes up, but we can’t help it. Our hopes are flying.“Maybe you still don’t,” I say when the frail woman watches me silently. “I wouldn’t blame you. Elena has told me about the fire. I hope that’s okay.”“It was always hers to tell,” she says, “and you can call me Rosa.”I count that as a victory. “Rosa,” I say, “I need you to know I would never hurt your niece. Just the idea of causing her pain makes me sick. I can’t imagine it. All I want is for her to behappy. When this started, I was a cold, miserable bastard, b
“Please, listen, Salvie,” Maria says. “I can tell you’re thinking about what Dario has said. I can tell it’s affected you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even still be sitting here.”“I’m sitting here because I love you, Maria, and you look like you may cry if I leave.”“I may cry because the two people I love most are behaving like they hate each other,” she says in a shaky voice.“I don’t hate my son,” Salvatore snaps.“Thenlisten.”“Fine, I’m listening.”Dario looks at me, his eyes filled with emotion. I saw the demon in him before, the savage, but this is something else. I’m peering through the layers of mafiosi bravado at the little boy beneath. I touch his forearm, letting him know I’m here for support. Ialwayswill be.“Your concern about Elena having a career comes from your desire to make the Family look strong, correct?”“It’s more complicated than that.”“If we keep with tradition, if we keep our women in line, it’s a testament to how much control we have. Don’t lie to me, Father.
ELENAWe’ve come full circle. The four of us—Salvatore, Maria, Dario, and I—sit in the same dining room where we shared our first meal. Memories return to me as Clara brings in tea and coffee, the etiquette I completely messed up, the nerves that made me ache like I was going to break down.Once Maria pours the drinks, I say, “Thank you, Maria.” I don’t let myself give a single frick about the look Salvatore gives Dario. Since we’re going nuclear, I don’t have to worry about being too nice to the staff.Salvatore’s sharp eyes flit between Maria and Dario. “You wanted to see me?” he says after a long pause.Dario rests his elbows on the table, almost like a challenge, declaring that he’s finished with his old uptight ways. He looks dashing and capable in his pale blue shirt, sleeves rolled up, his taut forearms taking me back to last night. My body aches in the best way, my inner thighs throbbing as if demanding more. I never dreamed it would be so effortless.“I hired Elena to pretend
“I can feel your virgin pussy getting close. I can feel you throbbing for me. I can feel you wanting to spill more wetness all over my dick. I can feelyou, Elena. All. Of. You.”I pound into her body, making the mattress whine with each thrust, bringing our future closer to the present with each movement of pure, unbridled lust. Maybe she doesn’t want me to promise and thinks I’m not serious, but I know now that I am. I’ve never been more confident about anything.“You’re fucking creaming up for me,” I groan.“It sounds so hot,” she moans with that same tempting fascination.“You’re right … Oh, fuck, look at you. You’re not acting now.”“Nuh-nuh-no …”She bites down, her cheeks turning entirely red as she wraps her hands around my neck and pulls me in for a hot kiss. But the explosion of her release is too overwhelming for us to maintain a kiss. Instead, she opens her mouth, moaning right into mymouth, like she’s desperate for me to share this moment with her.Her entrance pulses arou
DARIOWhen I lay her down on the bed, she sits up on her elbows, her hair falling beautifully onto the bed, her breath coming quick and making her chest rise and fall, highlighting the sumptuous curves of her breasts. She’s wearing loose-fitting PJs and no bra. Her perky-as-fuck nipples poke through the fabric.“Is the door locked?” she whispers.“It’s like I told you in the limo,” I groan. “Nobody gets to see you like this. Only me.”“Like what?” She sits up. “Naked, you mean?”“Oh. My. God.”My voice wavers as she stands up, pulling her shirt over her head. She bites her lip as if anxiety is warring with her, but then she grabs her shorts and wriggles out of them. She stands in front of me naked, her wet haven glistening, her thick thighs tempting me.“Your turn,” she says, her old sass back with full force.My hungry flesh couldn’t be harder. I tear my shirt off, buttons popping, then grab my pants and yank them down. My lust springs up, precome flinging from the head, making her g
“I never said that.”“You didn’t have to.”“What if I do?” I snap. “Is there a problem with that? Are you going to hate me for it? Judge me?”“It was never about him,” she murmurs. “I was trying to exorcise my demons. You’re old enough to make your own decisions. Even before that was the case, you’ve always been mature enough. I can’t stand in your way,” she chuckles miserably. “I can’t even stand.”“Yet,” I say forcefully. “All of that’s going to change soon.”“So you don’t hate me?”“I could never hate you, but this is. So. Messed. Up.”She lets her head fall back on the pillow. “I know. I wish I didn’t have to tell you, but it’s been long enough. I should’ve told you a long, long time ago.”“Yes,” I say firmly. “You should have.”“Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”Yes. I know I will. I could never hold a grudge against the person who’s cared for me for more than half my life. “I don’t know,” I say. “Maybe. Possibly.”“That’s more than I deserve.”“Will you sit with
ELENAI sit next to Aunt Rosa, holding her hands as she sleeps more peacefully than I’ve seen in weeks. We’re in the suburbs in the most prominent house in the neighborhood, with tall walls surrounding us and what feels like an army of Mafia men patrolling the grounds. Aunt Rosa has her doctor and her nurse here, too. For once, Giulia is getting some rest.I talk quietly as she sleeps, mostly to distract my mind from what Dario might currently be going through. I’ve asked Maria, who came to the safe house with us, to tell me if there are any updates. So far, there’s nothing. I guess he’s still handling things in the city, or …Not letting myself think about theor, I whisper, “He said that he loved me, Aunt Rosa. I don’t think he even realized he said it. It’s like it just came out, but maybe that means it’s more likely to be true, right? It’s as if he just said it without thinking, like a reflex. If you were awake, you’d hate me talking like this. You’d say something about him being w