Lucien He rushed forward, scooping up his wife into his arms even as she collapsed in a heap.The dead man fell down beside her, his heavy outstretched arm across her neck but Proserpina was too far gone to care.His gun clattered harmlessly to the floor beside them and Danielle darted forward and grabbed it.Lucien knelt beside her, cradling her in his powerful arms.Her long brown hair was matted and dirty as it hung around her. There was blood on her face, her left eyelid was swollen and a purple bruise was forming on her cheek. The soft lips he worshipped were swollen, the lower lip cut, a deep slash of blood on it. She was still the most beautiful, the most precious thing he had ever had, he realised, his heart aching as he traced her features with his eyes. Her eyelids fluttered for a minute, the cracked, dry lips trying to smile as she breathed,“Gaston…My love… I knew …”He looked into her eyes and then turned away, too choked to say anything. She squeezed his hand gently.
LucienHe sat, his eyes closed, his lips on her small hand.The nurses were speaking. They were conversing between themselves softly, fearful of the people on board. Lucien had asked Danielle to stay behind. Aiyana looked like she needed help, despite her tall claims. She had been white-faced and in need of a doctor. Yet the stubborn woman had opted to stay back and make sure that Lucien and Proserpina could get away safely.Now he tuned in to the words that came his way, filtering into his fevered, tired brain.“…surgery…”“Chances of survival…few…”Lucien’s head reared up. he looked livid, his eyes glinting harshly as he gripped the hand of the man near him, the small built male attendant who had just had a man hold a gun to his head.“What did you say?” he snarled, “What did you just say?”The little man looked like he was about to wet himself. The big blonde woman stepped forward. The cabin was cramped but she managed to make him look at her. In a no-nonsense manner, she snapped,
Lucien The ambulance aircraft touched down at a hospital in the city in a few hours’ time. Proserpina had slipped into a state of unconsciousness and he could see that the two nursing assistants were becoming increasingly agitated.He had already arranged for a group of his men to join him at the hospital and when they touched down, a large group of his trusted men was waiting there. A local arms dealer, who was also an important man in the government, was waiting for him too. Chico Martinez was a tall and elegant man, his thinning black hair neatly gelled and his clothes as dapper as ever. He was also a thorough gentleman if one could use the term for a gangster with morals.*“Your wife?” he said, coming forward, noting the grim-faced look on Lucien Delano’s face.“Is she alright?”He watched along with Lucien as the unconscious little woman was wheeled away immediately by a set of frantic attendants. Lucien made to follow her but Chico laid a restraining hand on his arm.“They a
ProserpinaI felt as though my body was being torn apart.I wanted to scream out but my body simply was not up to anything. Wearily, I surrendered myself to the welcoming darkness that rushed at me…LucienHe had bounded out of the lounge and grabbed the arm of one of the nurses in a vice-like grip.“What has happened to my wife?” he bellowed.“Sir, please Sir…,” stuttered the hapless young man, mortally terrified by the sight of the dishevelled, bloodied grey-haired man with pale, deadly eyes. Schwartz gently released the man, gripping Lucien’s arms, forcing him to calm down.Martinez had also appeared. Speaking in rapid Spanish, he managed to find out what was happening.“Your wife…” He looked strained as though afraid of Lucien’s reaction as he went on,“She… she has lost a lot of blood…”“F*CK!” roared Lucien, distraught and almost beside himself. He turned away, unable to listen to anymore.They had managed to save her from the clutches of the monster that was Dmitri, only to lo
ProserpinaI felt the white light around me fade away gradually.A sense of being in unexplored lands overcame me. I saw myself turning away, facing a land that lay in front of me, familiar and new, all at once.And then I was opening my eyes slowly.My heart swelled with trepidation and a deep unrest, a disquiet. And with it, a longing. A desire to return.Return where? asked my rational brain, kicking in at once.I opened my eyes slowly.*Cautiously.*My first thought was,” Where was I?”The room was unfamiliar. White walls, cool air…I squinted and winced. My body, especially my stomach, felt as though I had been under a road roller. The thoughts began to swirl in my head.What was I doing, lolling about in bed?I needed to fix breakfast; where was Claude…?And the twins? What about them? Was Lucien back home from wherever he had gone?Urgently, galvanised into action, I tried to swing my legs over the bed, but my body was too heavy.My legs refused to cooperate.And a large, d
LucienHe had just gotten off the phone with his children back in the mansion at Hollowford.Understandably, Ria was slightly piqued to hear that she had a baby sister. She took it to mean that there would be a contender for her father’s attention.She had had visions of lording it amongst an all-boys crew.Now …*But she had perked up when he had slyly insinuated that she could of course be the one in charge on account of her being the eldest.Immediately, she had bounced back, cheerful as ever.*But when she mentioned Paddy, the little autistic nephew of Sophia, he had been furious. The boy was still in his home although his aunt had been captured and was in one of his cells. Beatrice had said firmly that it was what Proserpina would have wanted.“The boy shall be sent away.” he snapped, thinking of how Sophie’s actions had resulted in so much pain and trouble for Proserpina.“No, Pappa.” said Ria earnestly. “Paddy loves Mumma. And Mumma adores him too. You know that.”And then, i
LucienHe stared, transfixed as his wife gently opened her robe, her eyes lovingly fixed on the little mite’s face. As she brought her large teat to the little one’s mouth, there was a change in him. He all but whimpered as he took her nipple in his mouth and began to suck greedily.Proserpina laughed; a breathless sound that caught in her throat and she looked across at him. The tender expression on his usually harsh face caught her unawares and she smiled, her dimples appearing. Even with her yellowing, fading bruise and her cut lip and haggard look after her dreadful experience, in Lucien’s eyes, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.He knew that he wanted to hold her in his arms and keep her beside him forever. *Lucien had been plagued by thoughts of uneasiness. of guilt, as he sat, those long hours, beside her bed, holding her hand, talking to her, while she was unconscious.Seeing her like that, her body attached to tubes, he had been inundated with guilt. Initiall
Proserpina I was yet to see the rest of Lucien’s ‘crew’ as he called them drily. So I was thrilled to know they were finally going to be permitted to come and visit me that afternoon.I was freshly bathed and the nurse had brushed out my hair, the long mahogany tresses finally feeling shiny and clean beamed the nurse, whose name was Camilla. Gently, carefully, she smoothed out the wild tangles.She commented on my husband.“Mr. Dello, he very much older than you?’ I smiled at her choice of expression, her curiosity and shook my head. Lucien was close to two decades older than me but in my eyes, he was all that I ever wanted. Every time she called him Mr Dello, I had the desire to laugh. *My babies were in cots in the same room as I. Now they slept in identical postures, mouths puckered, eyes squeezed shut, small pink fists clenched, the small fluff of blonde hair on their little heads. My heart went out to them. I had been shifted to a larger, VIP room, on the recommendation of Ma