ARIAA week later:When I woke up this morning, my stomach was swollen no more.The swell was gone.All that was left was a flat stomach and another scar I could add to my collection.I was happy for a moment.I thought that Fabiano must have shown me some mercy. I thought that his doctor would’ve cut the baby out of me.I thought I was going to see my daughter.I was a foolish girl holding onto something that didn’t really exist.Hours went by, I sat on my bed, waiting for someone to appear through the door with my daughter wrapped in a pink blanket.No one came.In the afternoon, Lina came with my lunch.She didn’t once look at me.I asked her where my daughter was.She remained quiet as she poured me soup.I asked again. And again.She told me that her Big Master was coming to see me.I didn’t ask her about Fabiano. I wanted my daughter.She told me that if I ate first, I could get out of this room.I ate.My daughter wasn’t in my room. So, it was correct of me to think that she wa
ARIA“Where’s my daughter?” I fixed my gaze at Lina.She knew the answer to my question but she kept her back to me.My fingers shook. Panic and hysteria flared inside me making me shudder.“My daughter.” I barked, trying not to wince at the pain that uncurled in my abdomen.“Where is my daughter?” My voice was full of raw fear.She turned and moved towards the door, trying to run from me.A woman searching for her heart and flesh.It took everything in me to ignore the pain as I hurried off the bed and towards her. She was so close to escaping when I grabbed her by her arm and whirled her around.Eyes shining with tears and pity, she took one look at my panicked self before she looked down at the floor.“I—”“WHERE IS SHE?” I shouted; spittle flew from my mouth as I dug my nails into her flesh.She flinched, eyes wide as she opened her mouth.“WHERE?” I screamed in her face, “WHERE?”“Dead.” She blurted out before she paled like she had seen a ghost, “I…I am sorry.”She shoved at me,
FABIANOThe past,One week ago;“I don’t want her to suffer a fate like Mara’s.” He whispered, staring down at the little being.He had brought her Nono to the room where Venus was.“How do you know she will?”He shook his head, his chest tightening as the broken fragments of past appeared before him;“Mara suffered because of me.” He said, not daring to look back at the old woman, “They knew I didn’t care about my father. Or the woman who gave birth to me. They knew you two were the only ones who mattered to me.”He inhaled sharply,“They took Mara because I was her friend.” His face twisted in harsh lines, “What do you think they’ll do to Venus once they get to know that it is my blood that runs through her veins?”He received no answer.He knew he was right.He also knew Aria wouldn’t understand him.“They won’t see an innocent girl. They will see a pawn. A puppet.” He hissed out, “They’ll ruin her.”“What do you have in your mind, Fabiano?”He ignored the question and told her eve
ARIAFour months later;“Close your eyes.”I did as he asked me to do.“Imagine her.”I tried to. I exhaled deeply, ignoring the tightening sensation spreading inside me.“Your skin.” He whispered beside me, his warm breath falling on me, his warmth seeping into me at the point where our legs were touching.I imagined it.I created an image behind me eyes, in the darkness.“Your golden hair.” His voice was going far away as I swam deep and deep into my imaginations.“My grey eyes.”Grey eyes like Fabiano’s. Not my blue eyes. I swallowed the ball of emotions forming in my throat.Did she have big eyes? Or were they small like I imagined them to be?“Big, sparkling eyes.” He continued, “Eyes that want me to become a good man.”Tears burned behind my closed lids. I bit down on my lip because I knew it was going to tremble.“Chubby, pink cheeks.”It was a beautiful picture.The picture I created in my mind.My girl.My daughter.This was my fate.I was a woman who had to imagine her daugh
ARIA “Why can’t you stop crying?” I don’t want to. The tears just don’t stop. “Why are you like this?” Because I am falling apart. “Why are you so weak?” Because I was once strong. “Who are you?” Her chapped lips stretched, she winced at the sharp pain. Blood seeped through the once soft flesh, coloring the pale lips crimson. Her lips parted ever so slowly, a small breath escaped them. She looked so weak. So torn apart. She looked like she was dying. She looked like she was suffering from some lethal disease that was sucking the life out of her. She was once beautiful with sparkling eyes, glowing skin, hair so glossy that it was envy of every other woman, curves so alluring that they attracted every eye, men or women. Now, it looked like someone was replaced her. Like someone had stolen that woman and threw a poor, cheap copy of her in her place. Skin so pale that her blood vessels were visible through it, hair a tangled mess, haunted blue orbs that were surrounded my
ARIA The sound of muffled grunts and whimpers forced me out of my sleep. I lifted myself on my elbows as I rubbed my eyes, my heat beat escalating as the pitiful whimpers filled the room. Swallowing, I looked over my shoulder and my lips parted in surprise. Fabiano was sleeping beside me. He still was but now, he was writhing in the sheets, his face twisted in pain. Pitiful sounds escaped his parted lips—grunts, groans and whimpers. I licked my dry lips, wetting them as I contemplated what to do. He seemed to be having a nightmare. I knew it. I knew the sounds he was making. I used to make them too when I was a teenager. I used to wake up my parents with my screams. I would wake up, with them hovering over me, horrified and sickly pale. They told me that I screamed in my sleep. I didn’t believe them first because I didn’t remember screaming but they were right. Fabiano groaned beside me, his body jerking but he didn’t wake up. “No.” He grunted in his sleep, his features tigh
ARIA I shuddered in his hold. He tightened his hold, squeezing me into him, holding me as if he feared that I was going to run away. “What did you dream about?” I asked. He tensed, his muscles going rigid and taut under me. He was quiet for a few moments before he let out a breath. “My mother.” “Oh.” He pulled me back, cupping my face, he stared into my eyes. His gaze drifted down to my neck and I knew what he was looking at. The bruises he had left. “Forgive me.” He brushed his fingers over the tender flesh but I was very shocked to register the pain. “I just…” He sighed, “I…thought it was her.” I brushed his words off. Fabiano was way too dominant to apologize. “Why would you react this way?” I whispered to him, grazing my hand over his stubbled cheek, “You could’ve killed me.” “I didn’t mean to.” He shook his head. His eyes flickered to the bruised flesh before they met mine, “Forgive me.” I raised my brows at him. He was asking me to forgive him. He was demanding t
FABIANO“I’ll make a man out of you.”The words kept circulating in his mind, taunting him, keeping him from enjoying his wife’s company as he laid on the bed beside her.Aria was asleep.She had fallen asleep as soon as she recovered from the second orgasm. Fabiano had cleaned her with a washcloth and covered her with duvet but couldn’t sleep.His body was sated, his needs were satisfied. He hadn’t expected Aria to let him touch her but she didn’t protest. It was clear to him that she hadn’t faked any orgasm or those moans that made him loose control. She enjoyed the fucking as much as he did.“Come to me, baby. I’ll make you a man. A real man.”An arm under his arm, Fabiano stared at the ceiling, trying to focus on something. Anything.But the haunted words were being whispered in his mind, keeping him awake.He shook his head, pushing himself up from the bed and sat down, legs dangling from the bed and feet on the floor.He breathed in deeply.Staring down at his naked form, he gla
THE LETTER FROM FABIANO;This is where I first met you; in this very room and this is where it will all end.I couldn’t say it to your face so I wrote it down to give it to you.There is a question that we both asked ourselves many times but only I knew the answer to it.‘Why you? Why this woman?’Because you were the lone rose standing fall in the field full of wilted flowers.Injured yet strong, broken yet standing, failing yet surviving.Beautiful and different.Maybe that was your curse.I saw you. I saw your photo in Adriano’s office and I was obsessed with you from the very first moment. You were like a lioness, protecting your sister when you could have lost your life. Like a Queen.I knew that I’d go mad without you so I did what I wanted to.Stole you. Broke you. Tainted you.I gave you pain but you gave me something else.A home. A family.Venus. Massimo. You.You gave me something the little boy in me desired to have. The little boy whose dreams were shattered long ago, bef
ARIA My heart ached for us. “You can’t imagine how much I missed you.” I whispered. My sister whose side I had never left after she was born, was seeing me after two years. “There’s someone we want you to meet.” Adriano spoke up from behind, making us pull apart from each other. I turned and looked at him. My brother-in-law was the definition of tall, dark and handsome. He stepped towards me and patted my head, almost affectionately, making my eyebrows shoot up. We didn’t have the best relationship. “I almost missed you.” He smirked, making me crack a smile, “He’s waiting for you.” My lips dipped at his words. I frowned as he gave me a slow, small, smile. He nodded in my direction and then took a step aside. He jerked his head in the direction. I followed his gaze until I saw a tall figure, standing a few feet away from us. I saw color. Green. My lips formed a trembling smile when the figure’s face came into my view. Damon. “Go on. He is waiting for you.” He urged. I
FABIANO “Venus is alive.” Why did he say that? To punish her? To hurt her for betraying him? To hurt himself? He didn’t know but he saw the disbelief on her face as he continued to speak, “She was never dead. I took her away from here.” Aria’s lips against someone else’s. He changed what he was going to say and swallowed, his demons rattling their cages, wanting to break free and they did. “This is your punishment, Aria.” He sneered at her shock-striken features, “You wanted freedom? You’ll have it but you’ll never see your children again. You’ll die without seeing their faces. Venus is alive but you’ll never see how she grows up. Saint will know that her mother is a whore you left her son for another man. Enjoy your freedom you always begged for.” “I’ll stay. Please.” He didn’t pay her any attention. “I’ll do anything. Fabiano? Don’t do this.” She was in his feet, holding her legs, begging him, “Don’t…Hit me, whip me, do whatever you want but not this punishment. I’ll do wh
ARIA “It’s fine.” He sobered up, “I’ll take you there one day.” I stilled at his words as he smiled at me before I turned my back on him and walked the path that would lead me back to the garden. It took us several minutes to reach the garden. Once we were out, he closed the door and set the hinges before covering it with vines, arranging them in a way that didn’t look suspicious. When we walked a little more, he started to speak. I wanted to cover my ears with my hands. “You are caged here. I never see you with a phone. Do you even have one? When was the last time you talked to your sister?” He paused, staring at the ink on my neck, he glanced up and continued, “Your husband doesn’t love you. He has an unhealthy obsession with you.” My eyes were wild as I stared at him. he was right. I was caged. I didn't know what happened so suddenly but I exploded. The feelings I had bottled up inside me had burst out, overflowed. They trailed over my cheeks in the form of tears and then
ARIA I want you beside me. “There.” I stepped back moments later, thrusting the knife towards him with my shaky hands. “We look good side by side, ocean eyes.” He commented, taking in the names we had just carved and winked at me, making me feel all those things inside me again. “Don’t do it.” He paused, his brows dipping, “What?” “Don’t do this to me.” I whispered, my emotions overflowing as I stared into his eyes. “What are you talking about?” He leaned over, gripping my face in his palms. And I knew it, I was leaning to his touch. His eyes were filled with concern and disbelief as he searched my eyes. “This.” I pointed around, my eyes watering, “You’re making me get used to you. To this light you bring with you. To this freedom you introduce me to.” A tear rolled down. I didn’t know why I was feeling so emotional suddenly. “Did I hurt you, ocean eyes?” He asked, eyes brimming with concern. Concern for me. A woman he barely knew about. A woman who was married to another.
ARIA “Come on, ocean eyes.” I scoffed, “I am not going inside. God knows where it leads to.” He rolled his eyes, “You said it yourself before. I’ve been using it. There’s nothing wrong.” “How did you even know this thing,” I pointed to the door, “was here?” I arched my brow. He smirked, playfulness swimming in his eyes before he stepped out and came close to me. Really, really close. And he leaned down, his face a few inches away from me. I licked my lips, nervously. Playfulness vanished from his eyes as he glanced down at my lips, his eyes darkened before he glanced into my eyes, his lips brushing against my ears, sending shivers of unknown feelings over my skin. “Nothing will harm you, my goddess.” With that, he pulled my arm and pushed me into the darkness, his laugh following my scream. “I thought you were different than other men.” He let out a laugh behind me. I looked over my shoulder, glaring at him but he only poked out his tongue at me. Despite all my attempts, my l
ARIA He didn’t move. One minute passed. Then two… Then three… Hesitantly, I threaded my fingers through his black locks, feeling their softness on my palm and enjoying it. It felt foreign. Fabiano never let me touch him except…on some certain occasions. But with him…this man I knew nothing about, with Damon Xanthos whatever-his-last-name-might-be everything felt new, light and…good. After a few moments, my moves were more confident. My strokes firmer as I ran my fingers through his head, tugging lightly. I felt so…normal. I didn’t know my lips had moved because it was him who informed me about that when he murmured without looking at me; “You have a beautiful smile, my goddess.” **** One night, Fabiano came into my room, covered in blood. His steel eyes were darkened with a maniac energy that made my skin pop with goosebumps. His body, his eyes, everything about him was screaming danger, different than his usual kind. He placed his hands on my face and I flinched when I
FABIANO She was his. She might have jumped from the cliff to escape him but that wouldn’t happen in this life. His wife. The mother of his children. His lioness. His Queen. Fucking his. And he’d fight the fucking Gods to keep her with him. They might be Gods, but he was the one who fucking ruled over Hell. *** The doctor said Aria's condition was critical; he fucking knew that but his lioness hadn't opened her eyes in three days. He stared at her pale figure, silently questioning her. Why? But he knew why. Because of him. He had driven her to a point where she chased death; begged for it and was ready to jump into its arms even if it meant being away from him. Why? To escape the cage he kept her in. To fly even though he had cut her wings. He tortured her. He did. It wasn’t her fault. It was his. He couldn’t rein his demons. He couldn’t control himself. He always gave into their demands. He always let hem control him. They were worse. And they wanted to destro
FABIANOThe rain had slowed down, turned to drizzle but still, the clouds were rumbling and lightening was illuminating the sky when he rushed with an unconscious and bleeding Aria. He and his men had pulled her body out luckily but she was as close to death as one could be.He swore he could feel the Gods above there, partying and laughing down at her, celebrating their victory.But fuck Gods!Fuck them and fuck their plans!He wouldn’t let them take her away.She wasn’t theirs.She was his.She might have jumped from the cliff to escape him but that wouldn’t happen in this life.His wife.The mother of his children.His lioness.His Queen.Fucking his.And he’d fight the fucking Gods to keep her with him.They might be Gods, but he was the one who fucking ruled over Hell.***The doctor said Aria's condition was critical; he fucking knew that but his lioness hadn't opened her eyes in three days. He stared at her pale figure, silently questioning her. Why?But he knew why.Because