The screeching of my chair interrupts his lawyers from announcing her congratulations to a well-signed deal. There is nothing worth a congratulations to me, and I’m not going to wait around and pretend.I feel his heated gaze on my back as I walk out of the room, an unsettling feeling gnawing at the bottom of my chest at his mention of Nana and my brother's family. I chew on my bottom lip, a deep bubble of worry sitting in my soul for my brother. I know that his sworn allegiance lies with me, but what amount of torture could they have inflicted upon him to get this information? And if he didn’t tell Rino, then how did Rino know?Somehow, I begin to feel like my world is starting to close in around me, and I need to sort this all out one after the other.The first thing on my mind is to get a lead on reaching my brother in time, but that would mean having to speak to Rino—and my hatred for him burns harsher in this moment than ever before, after his indirect threat to take away the chil
I watch as Angelo recoils further into himself for a second before he tries to shake off the uncertainty of the man in front of him—but I already caught a glimpse of his weakness.And in that moment, I discovered that Angelo was scared of Rino, even with all his bluff on the phone.“K-King,” Angelo mutters, calling Rino by his title.I straighten my spine against Rino, realizing I’ve been holding my breath since he got here.They know each other?“I didn’t think you’d be attending.” The statement sits between a question and a declaration, his voice cold, empty, and detached.“Fabiano sends his apologies for not being present. He sends his congratulations and a gift to both you and your wife.” Angelo’s voice sounds stuffy, like it’s filled with sand.Rino waves off his words without lifting a hand. With my back still against my husband, I can feel the tension bristling within him—but I’m too wrapped in my own anxious breathing to fully process it.I feel Rino’s eyes dip toward me, scann
I sit on the bathroom floor, speechless and paralyzed.“Nana,” is all I can whisper.Why was all this happening to me?I rack my head, trying to remember what the 17th was supposed to be. My hand, trembling, rests against my lips.I hold my breath, clinging to my last sliver of hope. “Nana, did you come alone?” My voice is barely above a whisper. I shut my eyes tight, praying she truly came alone.“No, stupid, of course I’m not alone. Lucas was supposed to come back home to Vivian, but we haven’t heard from either of you. We’ve both been very worried, so we came along with the children. I thought it’d be fun to return to the big city for a while,” Nana giggles into the phone like she just shared some kind of secret—while I feel like I’m falling apart.She has no idea what she just did. I should’ve called to cancel her treatment.Nana is a mother figure to both Lucas and me, and a grandmother to the children. She was diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy—a heart disease—and she’s in de
I gasp harshly as I throw myself to the side, my quick reflexes saving me. My head whips around to the figure behind me.My eyes squint anxiously at the stranger clad in all black, a mask covering her face. Before I can process anything, she barrels into me, knocking me hard to the floor.The breath is knocked out of me, but I barely have time to gather myself before she pulls out another knife.I latch onto her wrist, gripping the knife tightly as I stare into the only visible part of her—piercing green eyes."I've been waiting for this moment for a long while, Shantel," the woman says, grinning madly through her eyes."Get off me, you bitch," I grit out, bracing myself and using all my strength to flip us over, straddling her now."Who the hell are you?" I pant out, my fingers reaching to yank off her mask."The Crowlers," she squeaks mockingly, and my heart begins to thunder in my chest.She uses my moment of distraction to swipe the knife at me.With my heart hammering wildly, I s
I wake up to the feeling of drowning, like something hard is pressing against my chest. I can't breathe.The Crowlers.My eyes fly open at the reminder of how I ended up in this situation, my breathing labored and heavy as I pant, my eyes scanning my surroundings to find it pitch black. But the feel of the beddings tells me I’m in Rino's room—our room.The heaving of my chest calms, knowing I didn't get taken by the scum of a woman who attacked me. I'm as safe as I can be under Rino's roof and breathing.My body tenses, goosebumps flare up my arms, and I know he's somewhere in the dark room—watching me."Rino?" I whisper, my tongue pulling out to wet my parched and sensitive lips.He doesn't respond, and I hear no movement. I sigh, pushing myself up to lean on the headboard, but my lower side flares up in pain and I groan out.My eyes snap to my belly to find that I'm only wearing a tiny shirt that fully exposes my stomach, which has a bandage wrapped around the side.How?"You got cu
I took in a long breath, my eyes on the man in front of me, my shaking fingers gripping the bed tightly as I mutter, “Get out.” I force my eyes to slither daggers at the man in question.Rino raises an amused brow at me but otherwise remains quiet as he saunters out of the room like the predator he was and still is.I collapse onto my bed the second I'm alone, the back of my eyes burning with unshed tears and my heart racing at his words.His coldness should mean nothing to me, but I'm unable to ignore the ache in my heart, and the helpless way he makes me feel makes me hate him even more.~*~*~*~*I wake up the next morning with as much a heavy heart as the night before, and I decide that the only way I can save myself is to start looking for answers as soon as possible.I sit in front of the window, looking out at the most peaceful view as my head spins around, trying to make any of this make sense.I think back to all that has happened since I got here—the accusation of me motherin
“What do you mean?” Mario asks.“A week after I returned here, someone called me to tell me that they knew about Alfredo,” I mumble out anxiously, my eyes going to him.“You also only knew about just Alfredo, didn't you?” I ask, and Mario nods distractedly at me.“When I was attacked, someone left me a handwritten message. It said my grandson was still alive. I wasn't certain—thought it was just some joke—but your reaction at the hospital confirmed it.” I let out a strangled breath at his words.“W-what if they sent something to Rino too?” I ask, holding my breath as I place my palm against my belly anxiously.Mario's eyes meet mine. “If my son even as much as suspected that his kids were alive, he would have combed through the earth to find them, Freya,” Mario tells me, his features twisting into one of discomfort.“It would be foolish of you to underestimate my son's ability to read people and pick a lie. He definitely knows you're hiding something—he just might not know what. And k
“Get her now.” one of the large men behind me roars heavily but I don't stop running, I can hear the erratic thumping of my heart in my ears. I hide behind a tree in the woods.“Make sure you find the bitch, we cannot afford to lose her today.” Another deep voice says. I look towards the bleeding in my stomach and hiss at the amount of blood I'm losing, and by the time I realize the bleeding must have left a trail behind me, my left ear rings loudly and I fall to the ground groaning.“Fucking bitch, so the is where you were hiding.” The man says with a dark smirk. I crawl across the ground in a hurry and when he bends to reach for my shoulders, I land a heavy blow to his nose. “You will pay for that.” The man screams, dragging me by my hair.“Matteo, get your hands off her, boss wants her unscathed.” another well built man in a suit says calmly.Matteo hisses angrily before roughly putting me over his shoulders and I begin to scream his ears off.“Put me down you bastard.” I bang my
“What do you mean?” Mario asks.“A week after I returned here, someone called me to tell me that they knew about Alfredo,” I mumble out anxiously, my eyes going to him.“You also only knew about just Alfredo, didn't you?” I ask, and Mario nods distractedly at me.“When I was attacked, someone left me a handwritten message. It said my grandson was still alive. I wasn't certain—thought it was just some joke—but your reaction at the hospital confirmed it.” I let out a strangled breath at his words.“W-what if they sent something to Rino too?” I ask, holding my breath as I place my palm against my belly anxiously.Mario's eyes meet mine. “If my son even as much as suspected that his kids were alive, he would have combed through the earth to find them, Freya,” Mario tells me, his features twisting into one of discomfort.“It would be foolish of you to underestimate my son's ability to read people and pick a lie. He definitely knows you're hiding something—he just might not know what. And k
I took in a long breath, my eyes on the man in front of me, my shaking fingers gripping the bed tightly as I mutter, “Get out.” I force my eyes to slither daggers at the man in question.Rino raises an amused brow at me but otherwise remains quiet as he saunters out of the room like the predator he was and still is.I collapse onto my bed the second I'm alone, the back of my eyes burning with unshed tears and my heart racing at his words.His coldness should mean nothing to me, but I'm unable to ignore the ache in my heart, and the helpless way he makes me feel makes me hate him even more.~*~*~*~*I wake up the next morning with as much a heavy heart as the night before, and I decide that the only way I can save myself is to start looking for answers as soon as possible.I sit in front of the window, looking out at the most peaceful view as my head spins around, trying to make any of this make sense.I think back to all that has happened since I got here—the accusation of me motherin
I wake up to the feeling of drowning, like something hard is pressing against my chest. I can't breathe.The Crowlers.My eyes fly open at the reminder of how I ended up in this situation, my breathing labored and heavy as I pant, my eyes scanning my surroundings to find it pitch black. But the feel of the beddings tells me I’m in Rino's room—our room.The heaving of my chest calms, knowing I didn't get taken by the scum of a woman who attacked me. I'm as safe as I can be under Rino's roof and breathing.My body tenses, goosebumps flare up my arms, and I know he's somewhere in the dark room—watching me."Rino?" I whisper, my tongue pulling out to wet my parched and sensitive lips.He doesn't respond, and I hear no movement. I sigh, pushing myself up to lean on the headboard, but my lower side flares up in pain and I groan out.My eyes snap to my belly to find that I'm only wearing a tiny shirt that fully exposes my stomach, which has a bandage wrapped around the side.How?"You got cu
I gasp harshly as I throw myself to the side, my quick reflexes saving me. My head whips around to the figure behind me.My eyes squint anxiously at the stranger clad in all black, a mask covering her face. Before I can process anything, she barrels into me, knocking me hard to the floor.The breath is knocked out of me, but I barely have time to gather myself before she pulls out another knife.I latch onto her wrist, gripping the knife tightly as I stare into the only visible part of her—piercing green eyes."I've been waiting for this moment for a long while, Shantel," the woman says, grinning madly through her eyes."Get off me, you bitch," I grit out, bracing myself and using all my strength to flip us over, straddling her now."Who the hell are you?" I pant out, my fingers reaching to yank off her mask."The Crowlers," she squeaks mockingly, and my heart begins to thunder in my chest.She uses my moment of distraction to swipe the knife at me.With my heart hammering wildly, I s
I sit on the bathroom floor, speechless and paralyzed.“Nana,” is all I can whisper.Why was all this happening to me?I rack my head, trying to remember what the 17th was supposed to be. My hand, trembling, rests against my lips.I hold my breath, clinging to my last sliver of hope. “Nana, did you come alone?” My voice is barely above a whisper. I shut my eyes tight, praying she truly came alone.“No, stupid, of course I’m not alone. Lucas was supposed to come back home to Vivian, but we haven’t heard from either of you. We’ve both been very worried, so we came along with the children. I thought it’d be fun to return to the big city for a while,” Nana giggles into the phone like she just shared some kind of secret—while I feel like I’m falling apart.She has no idea what she just did. I should’ve called to cancel her treatment.Nana is a mother figure to both Lucas and me, and a grandmother to the children. She was diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy—a heart disease—and she’s in de
I watch as Angelo recoils further into himself for a second before he tries to shake off the uncertainty of the man in front of him—but I already caught a glimpse of his weakness.And in that moment, I discovered that Angelo was scared of Rino, even with all his bluff on the phone.“K-King,” Angelo mutters, calling Rino by his title.I straighten my spine against Rino, realizing I’ve been holding my breath since he got here.They know each other?“I didn’t think you’d be attending.” The statement sits between a question and a declaration, his voice cold, empty, and detached.“Fabiano sends his apologies for not being present. He sends his congratulations and a gift to both you and your wife.” Angelo’s voice sounds stuffy, like it’s filled with sand.Rino waves off his words without lifting a hand. With my back still against my husband, I can feel the tension bristling within him—but I’m too wrapped in my own anxious breathing to fully process it.I feel Rino’s eyes dip toward me, scann
The screeching of my chair interrupts his lawyers from announcing her congratulations to a well-signed deal. There is nothing worth a congratulations to me, and I’m not going to wait around and pretend.I feel his heated gaze on my back as I walk out of the room, an unsettling feeling gnawing at the bottom of my chest at his mention of Nana and my brother's family. I chew on my bottom lip, a deep bubble of worry sitting in my soul for my brother. I know that his sworn allegiance lies with me, but what amount of torture could they have inflicted upon him to get this information? And if he didn’t tell Rino, then how did Rino know?Somehow, I begin to feel like my world is starting to close in around me, and I need to sort this all out one after the other.The first thing on my mind is to get a lead on reaching my brother in time, but that would mean having to speak to Rino—and my hatred for him burns harsher in this moment than ever before, after his indirect threat to take away the chil
Rino nods at him before leading me out of the hall and into a different room.My heart hammers beneath my chest, knowing I’m about to seal my soul even tighter to Rino's.We walk into the room to find six professionals, all clad in black suits—two women and four men.I glance at Rino, wondering why everything seems so organized and serious for a contract. The last time we did this, only three people were present: myself, Rino, and Mario.Uneasiness creeps in, especially with the unreadable and withdrawn look Rino wears—a stark contrast to the man he's been all day.“Rino?” I call out pathetically, my voice barely above a whisper.A flicker passes through his eyes, but it’s gone before I can decipher what it means.Rino takes a seat on the opposite side of the table, and the rest of his supposed lawyers follow suit.“Please sit, Mrs. Garcia,” one of the men says with a charming smile. It does nothing to calm my nerves.I tell myself it’s just a simple gathering—the process is just bein
Rino continues to lead me past the large crowd of reporters with their massive cameras.There's a round of applause welcoming us into the hall, along with loud whispers from people whose faces I can’t see—tucked as I am against Rino’s side.“Are you alright?” Rino’s voice, reverberating so close to my neck, sends a shiver down my spine.I nod in answer. We stop right in front of his family as bright lights flicker on and point directly at us, highlighting our features.Rino stands stoic and rigid, like he’s preparing to defend us from an attack. If he’s this uncomfortable, then why go through all the trouble of hosting this event? I hiss inwardly.“Freya.”Mario’s voice calls to me tenderly, leaning on his walking cane.I haven’t been able to look in his direction since my visit to the hospital. I’m afraid I’ll see loathing in his eyes—loathing that I hid his grandchild and lied. I don’t think I’d be able to handle that look.“Mario,” I greet stiffly, reluctantly peeling myself away f