A few months earlierSomewhere in the USAPaval Rudenko looked at this nephew, Dusak, the One-Eyed as they referred to him behind his back.He was a formidable fighter and his anger, his aggressiveness, was unmatched. Of course, the driving force behind his anger was to claim the life of Lucien Delano, the man who had blinded him and killed his beloved uncle, Dmitri Rudenko, before his eyes.But the monk was a man of the steely reserve.“Not yet,’ he cautioned the hot-blooded youth.Handing a photograph of Ria Delano, the eldest daughter of the Mafia Don, he said,‘Look at this girl, my son.’ he said in his soft tones, the wheedling voice he used when he wanted something from someone, ‘Look at her. For when you finally get her, you should know what to do with this beautiful creation of God.’And the youth calmed down as he traced a finger over the picture and he waited.*MexicoCole whirled around as he heard the woman who said she was his aunt, leave the house.It had all happened so
The Present DayProserpinaI settled back on the soft leather upholstery of the car and sighed. It still bore the slight scent of my husband, his cologne, spicy with a dash of citrus.*Shutting my eyes, I went over what the doctor had just told me.Old Dr Shah was the same doctor who had examined me when I was carrying Claude. He had studied me keenly.‘Mrs Delano,’ he said without any preamble,’ “you know that you are pregnant?’ I had sat down, the fluttering in my stomach making me feel weak.He went on, avoiding my eyes,‘You are now...?’ he raised his brows and studied me as I nodded weakly as he pursed his lips and tapped the pad on his desk thoughtfully,‘Early to mid-thirties, I assume?’I nodded weakly, my head spinning. "Congratulations, my dear,’ he said, a genuine smile on his face,’No need to look so worried. You are healthy and strong. You already have…ahem…six children?’I nodded again, my mind abuzz with so many thoughts.How would Lucien react when I told him that I
Looking BackProserpinaWhen I realized that he was insanely jealous if anyone dared to look at me, I had been pleased, thinking he really loves me, so he is jealous. That was till the night he took me roughly in the back seat of the car while his security men stood waiting for him to finish pleasuring himself… A light flirtatious remark by a friend of his during the only occasion he had taken me out when I was his mistress, had made him insanely furious and he had forced himself upon me to teach me a lesson.That humiliating episode was an eye opener. It was probably when I began to see myself through his eyes, and the eyes of the world.Just a body to be used to satisfy his urges...But I still continued to love him.*When I found out that I was just one in a line of women, put up at a house specifically meant for that purpose, to house his woman of the month, my little world had been shattered. To add to that, an article appeared in a sleazy tabloid with photographs of him openly
ProserpinaThe last time we had been together had been a few months ago, when Lucien took me to Portugal for a holiday. A truly magical getaway! Those days in Portugal had been memorable, the sunny days, the nights of intense lovemaking. Even after more than a decade, I still hungered for my lover’s touch, totally at his mercy and he continued to be the dominant, rough man he had been when he had first claimed me. Lucien could never seem to have enough of my body and I longed to have him take me the way he did, controlling my body and yet, taking me to the heights of ecstasy with his practised hands and mouth…and forceful, thrusting manhood… * I had come down with a tummy upset during our stay, a slight discomfort but I had stopped the Pill for a few weeks… * The doctor clucked his tongue sympathetically when I stammered out my explanation and said, ‘The medicines you took when you got the stomach bug…it could have neutralized the Pill.’ I sighed. * Lucien did not like to use
ProserpinaAround the same time as Lucien began to grow distant, the strange messages started to come.I had begun to write a blog. It had begun as a hobby. Egged on by my children and friends, especially James Schwartz, who kept praising my culinary skills, I began to write a blog on social media about cooking.It had become a runaway hit to my astonishment and I updated it every day, diligently, astonished by the number of followers I had!So I was mildly astonished at first when I came across the first comment that seemed strangely off.*A few weeks ago, I had been scrolling down the comments section when I stopped, startled by a comment. The recipe I had shared was one for a Slovakian dish and I had written a small note about having visited the area and tasted the dish there. The authentic recipe.It had been, of course, one of the worst times of my life. Lucien had disappeared in Slovakia and I had gone to find him, desperate and wretched.*The comment I noticed was bizarre at
ProserpinaI had the cabbie drop me in the middle of the street and I made my way blindly, to a coffee shop at a nearby mall, where I sat, hunched and trembling, unable to gather my thoughts together.Had all these years with Lucien been a lie then?Had he stashed his secret family away, hidden from me all this time? And when he left me to go on his business trips, had he really been going to visit them? The youth I had seen had been easily as old as Claude.So…? Could there be more children who would crawl out like worms coming out of woodwork?My thoughts went round and round like a rat on a wheel.I had left my phone in the car, I realized, when I was getting out at the Town House. But I needed to talk to someone. I looked around and caught the eye of a young man sitting close by, watching me. The expectant look on his face turned to one of elation when I made my way to him. With a small smile, stiffly, I asked,“Please, can you lend me your phone? ‘He almost fell off his chair in
LucienHe had guessed right, he thought, fury coursing through his veins as the cavalcade of cars roared down the streets. She had run to Handsome James, of course. The terse message from Schwartz informing him about her desperate plea for help had confirmed his suspicions.Handsome James Schwartz; Her Best best friend, as Proserpina laughingly called him.Lucien felt the familiar waves of jealousy flooding him. He knew that he, her husband and only lover, was older than her by a few decades, a fact that made him more savage in his lovemaking with her. To make her see that he was still the virile man he used to be. When he took her, he plundered her body, leaving love bites on her lush breasts and throat so that the world would know she belonged to him, only to Lucien Delano.Not that she had complained ever; Proserpina was the ideal submissive in bed. She followed his orders, obeyed him and her body was his to play with, he thought, feverishly. But he was astute enough to know that h
LucienHe clenched and unclenched his giant fists, fighting the urge to punch Schwartz and tear his woman out of his best friend’s arms.She was wearing a smocked yellow dress designed with rosebuds and looked achingly young in it. Simple and so very desirable, he thought, his eyes devouring her, the familiar longing spreading through him. But she took one look at him, her eyes blazing, the coffee-coloured eyes now smoky with pain and he knew he had lost her.*“Woman,’ he said gruffly, advancing.“We need to talk.’She moved away, out of Schwartz’s protective embrace and stiffened her shoulders.‘There is nothing to say,’ she said, her voice flat. She turned her back to the room but he could see that she was shaking with emotion.Being with this woman, having her in his life, had brought happiness to his otherwise hollow life; he had become a tycoon and a crime lord, taking women mindlessly, uncaring of the damage he left behind when he dumped them. Money, women, alcohol- they had be
Piers's loud shout made the hall fall silent. For a minute, every head in the room swivelled to stomp in the doorway.Even Lucien Delano and Proserpina, absorbed as they were in their burning need to lose themselves in their desperate need for each other, stopped. Proserpina blinked as she turned to look, safe as she was, nestled in her lover’s strong embrace. And the Mafia Don scowled in annoyance, muttering,“What is with that fool boy?’Piers whipped his head to face his parents across the room, an arm around Hila, holding her to his chest as he cried, "Mumma! Pappa!’And when he was hurrying to them, his eyes were wild with excitement as he cried in joy, dragging his lover beside him,‘I…you… I mean… Mumma, I’m going to be a dad!”Proserpina was out of her husband’s protective arms as her son whooped and threw his arms around her, laughing with him. Lucien watched drily as Claude and Ria immediately crossed to him, pulling him into a huddle. Tara joined them, and after a pause, so
LucienHe began to make his way slowly through the milling throng of his guests to where his Woman was standing, in a daringly backless gown, her beautiful body making his staff harden with desire. Ria and Tara had chosen the slinky gown for her. When Proserpina had protested in embarrassment, her hands on her pink cheeks, the girls had declared,‘Mumma! Even after eight kids, you still look WOW!’It had been one of those rare weekends when Tara had come home. Ria had little Jamie on her lap, jiggling the fat little girl who was cooing at her Pappa, for the Mafia Don was hands down, her favourite person. Jamie was the apple of the Don’s eye, as Ria often teased her father.Lucien, who had been in the bedroom working on his phones and tablet, had been watching them in amusement.After the heart attack, mild though it had been, he had taken to spending time at home, working from his office or sometimes, his spacious bedroom.‘Please…but it’s BACKLESS!” Proserpina had gone on, her eyes m
A love like the kind her parents shared was almost like a fairytale…She sighed and touched her small belly. Big Philippe placed his large warm hand over hers and whispered concernedly in her ear,“Princess?”She looked up into his dark eyes and felt the rush of affection, of love that kept them bound to each other. Philippe, the Capo would bring the Moon and place it at her feet if she asked for it, she thought and unmindful of the crowds milling around her, the sound of glasses clinking, the chatter of people as, Ria reached up and pulled his head down. Murmuring against his lips,‘Philippe Diaz, I love you,” as she kissed him.***Piers Delano was staring at his phone. His mind was on other matters, although he had turned up for the party after his twin’s wedding ceremony. It had been a brief ceremony; Philippe had been born a Catholic, so there had been a small wedding service at Church. Old man Diaz had passed away a few years ago, and Philippe’s brothers, both of whom had been a
A few years later.The years have been kind to him, thinks the Don fondly as he surveys the guests at his daughter’s wedding party.Lucien Delano has aged but in his predictably indomitable manner, he looks and of course, his wife is testimony to the fact, that he still behaves in the same manner as he used to.His still-muscular physique belies his years and he continues to practice in his gym and has a friendly bout of boxing in the Ring, off and on. His son Claude is now an established name in the world of boxing, simultaneously running the underground fight clubs he has set up, and partnered with Paddy. The two of them work in tandem, Paddy with his enviable skills on the computers, has managed to make the Fight Clubs very lucrative indeed! thinks the Don.The Mafia Don is still actively handling the matters of his mob, which has branched out to become a powerful organisation, but one that is totally against human trafficking. He has made his millions through his arms dealings, a
LucienHe looked at his Woman fondly. She was on the bed, her head lowered to the baby at her nipple, the little child whose brown curls were bobbing as she sucked hard at her mother’s swollen teat.Proserpina wore a look of divine bliss, and Lucien moved over to her, taking her chin in his hard grip and kissing her.It was all he could do, for she had been spending almost a month at the hospital now. A month during which the Mafia Don had practically lived in the hospital too, his only concern being his Woman.And of course, the littlest child of his, who had charmed him already, though she was too small, too tiny to utter a word. Yet she could be ear-splittingly loud, too!He found himself staring in wonder as the baby yawned, exposing her small toothless gums, pink in colour, as he watched her face adoringly. And when Proserpina laughed at him, at the way he fawned over his youngest daughter, the Mafia Don growled at her, his eyes hungrily wandering over her.“Woman, I want to bree
RiaShe was running down a corridor that stretched out endlessly. The sound of the man’s footsteps thundering after her made her pant in fear. He was after her. She stumbled and fell, picked herself up, and kept running, her hands reaching out in the dark for some door, some way out of this place. And then, suddenly, out of the blue, she grabbed a shirt sleeve.The face of the man looked up in front of her.She screamed as Dusak’s face appeared out of the gloom, grinning maniacally.He had blood pouring down his forehead and a large hole in his cheek where he had been shot. But he opened his mouth and spoke in a guttural voice she knew she had heard before.“LOVELY Ria, my Ria, I am going to be with you forever now...'He reached out a long skeletal hand with talons, and that was when Ria screamed.Dusak Rudenko began shaking her throat ungently, and she felt a gurgle of panic erupt within her. A deep fear, unnamed and unknown.And then Philippe’s voice came into her consciousness, be
Lucien stood, staring in shock as a beaming Camille reached out to hand over the little baby to him. He stared in confusion for he had never held any of his newborn kids; it was a first for him.But even as he hesitated, the little child, its skin pink and puckered, a thatch of dark hair on its tiny head, opened one eye and looked at him quizzically an eyebrow raised questioningly, weighing him up critically so to speak, before shutting her eye firmly and ignoring the people around her, her mouth blowing a red raspberry pout.Ria and the other children began to laugh as Lou cried, with a shout of laughter,“Pappa, Sir, she is not impressed by you!’But it was Ria who declared, wonderingly, as she leaned against Lucien, who was holding the precious bundle cupped to his chest fiercely,“Pappa, I think she has Mumma’s colouring!”***ProserpinaI opened my eyes slowly. It felt as though there were weights holding my lids down. It had been a dream that seemed to go on forever, tumultuous
Lucien looked around at his family who were in the large waiting room. The younger boys, Dom and Lou, were piled on a sofa, their mouths open as they snored softly; Tara was curled up in an armchair with Aiyana beside her, an arm draped protectively around the child. The ex-FBI woman sat, her legs folded elegantly even in sleep.James Schwartz was sitting in another chair while the Capo dozed uncomfortably, Ria’s golden head on his lap, Rudy nestled beside her. Lucien’s face softened slightly as he looked at James. As though his thoughts had touched his second in command, the Scotsman stirred and stretched, sitting up, alert in an instant.He looked around himself and met Lucien’s eyes, an unspoken look passing between them.Snoring loudly, Claude was sprawled in abandon, sleeping on a mattress someone had thoughtfully provided, which was spread on the floor, his arms thrown wide, while Paddy had chosen to settle in an armchair close to the corridor leading to the theatre door, positi
She mumbled,"Yes Sir...' and her molten brown eyes, clouded with desire and want, with pain and pleasure, misted over as she looked at him, beseeching him to release her from her need.Her absolute submission aroused him tenfold, and the big man growled shakily, for the sight of her large breasts with the evil clamps fastened to her tender nipples was too much for him.“I shall f*ck your t*ts today, wh*re,’ he said hoarsely, "to punish you. Pain, wh*re, and pleasure."She made a sound, her breasts wobbling as she tried not to shift too much, but he lowered his head to sink his teeth into the fleshy mounds savagely, and she cried out.He tugged lightly at the clamps with his teeth, and she met his eyes, her own filled with tears of pain but she dimpled slightly as she said breathlessly,'Master... I am yours, Lucien Delano..."He grunted.F*ck, but he could never have enough of this delectable offering laid before him: this lush body, the thighs wet with her want, her shining pink c*n