CHEAP SEDUCTIONTulio was innocent of Janio and Paco's scheming. Not entirely, because he knew that the big boss was free from Interpol and imagined that Janio had his fingers behind it, as the leader and his rival, he was certainly involved. He also knew that Paco might be speaking in Janio's ear to oust him from power within the gang. Tulio knew that this was his dream, to be alone and free from the boy, whom he treated as a kid.Paco had been very quiet and had not called him except to get his and Janio's attention. Besides that, he hadn't called him to resolve anything.Tulio walked through the community's streets thoughtfully. He thought that many of the things that had happened to him lately must have reached Paco's ears. Like Cloe's rape, Milla's death, and his girlfriend's abrupt departure, it was impossible not to have reached his ears. Including his mistakes in the gang, as he had been drinking and had let things slip a bit, he was back now, but he had been unfocused.Paco h
MACHIAVELLIAN MINDS WORKING TOGETHER.Shay had never been so humiliated in her life. She thought Tulio's punishment and rejection this time were cruel. She had been humiliated more than once by him, had ended up in the hospital and had been unable to speak for days, fearing that he had damaged her throat and she would never speak again after the night they slept together. Now, being dragged out of his room by one of his men, naked no less, was the worst humiliation for her. She felt the old wretch's eyes on her as she was taken away. She hated the damn old woman. Even in the dark, she noticed that the old woman was laughing and mocking her. She was as evil as her grandson.She saw Layla looking at her when she was there, and her gaze was always one of disgust, and now she would sleep happily knowing that her grandson had chased her away. Naked!Her face burned when Sopapo pushed her through the gate with force, throwing her into the middle of the street. Few people saw her there on th
THE PASSION FOR THE PIANOTulio didn't know that Cloe had returned to Milla's house on the hill. When Shay came looking for him at the hill house, he rejected her and they left together. He tried to find out about Cloe, without realizing that she had returned there. Innocently, Cloe didn't know that Shay had come looking for him and went to the nearest town to buy supplies to stay there for a few days. She bought food for her faithful companion, Ant, and was relieved when she returned to find that Tulio was no longer there. She needed the silence and solitude, the seclusion so she could think about her life.Her life had taken a complete turn. It was nothing like the life she had dreamed of when she fell in love with Tulio. She was so innocent and young when she fell in love. Her mind was different now, more mature, more centered. Of course, she still loved him and sighed just thinking about him. Cloe knew he regretted having pushed her away. He had been as confused as she was and had
IT'S JUST DREAMING AND DREAMING DOESN'T PAY ANYTHING!"I want to repeat a few more times how much I love you," Túlio said as Cloe rested on his chest after they had made love again and the early morning was already high. She smiled and looked at him."Know that I will never tire of hearing that.""Neither will I of repeating it.""I love you too, love, very much.""But I need to be honest with you," he sat up in bed, leaning his back against the headboard and his expression suddenly becoming serious. Cloe knew they had to talk about it, as much as it would hurt her. They had to start over with an open game, they couldn't pretend and ignore everything that had happened. Their relationship wouldn't sustain if they swept under the rug what had happened. "When I found out what happened to you, I went insane and instead of supporting you, I ran away. I ran away like a damn coward! I spent a few days getting drunk in a hotel and Shay, I still don't know how, showed up at the hotel and I was
ANIMAL RACESThey returned from their mini-vacation happy and as the couple they were before everything happened and separated them. Tulio wanted to make it up to her for having distanced himself from her during moments when she needed him so much, and everything was so good. Cloe, in turn, was doing the same for him, and they were living in a cocoon of love and fantasies. She loved him and demonstrated it in every way. It sustained her to love him, and it filled her heart to be loved by him."Grandma, you needed to have seen the scene Cloe made when the plane took off and landed," he told his grandmother when they arrived, and Cloe laughed and gave him little punches."Liars, Layla, I didn't make any scene! He's exaggerating. I was scared, of course, it gives you butterflies in your stomach! But I sat quietly in my seat, praying softly.""Oh, I would definitely make a scene like that! I would only get on a plane if they drugged me!" Layla laughed at the two of them."Right? Even thou
HALF A BOTTLE OF WINE…After making love and both thinking, without commenting, that every time they made love it was even better than the last, they smiled satisfied with Tulio still on top of her, their bodies sweaty, their breath still returning to normal. He kissed her once more, and when he was about to get off her, she held him, still inside her, and gave him another hot kiss."I'm too heavy, love. I'm afraid I'll hurt you," he said affectionately and rolled to the side, taking her in his arms.Endorphins and adrenaline still ran through their veins, and they were joyful after the sex, and he chuckled softly."What are you thinking about?" she asked, propping herself up on one elbow and looking deep into his eyes, which were still dilated."How much I love you.""Oh, tell me more about it. I never get tired of hearing it."He turned over onto his stomach with her lying on his chest and smiled again."Can I confess something to you, from the bottom of my heart?" he asked, strokin
TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER, PLEASETúlio and Cloe made love almost every time they were alone, never getting tired of each other, and the guy was living his best moment. The best moment of his life. He would wake up in the middle of the night and watch her sleep, and love would overflow from his heart, just like it did from hers."Who started it?" she asked, laughing one early morning when they woke up making love."I thought it was you. I woke up halfway through!" he replied."No, it was me who woke up when I was already cumming.""It doesn't matter, love, we have a unique coordination. What matters is that I was inside you, and waking up like that is the best feeling in the universe, damn it!" he said, and she clung to him, agreeing that it was truly magical and surreal."Does she understand what we're doing?" she pointed to Ant, who was sleeping in her doghouse in the room. It was winter, and the little dog refused to sleep outside when it was cold or raining, and on that particular day
COVARDY"Tulio, don't hang up, please!" It was the first thing Shay said when he answered, and he groaned at the sound of her voice. He was looking at the square, and his love was waiting for him there. Something told him he should hang up, that this crazy woman would only bring him trouble. But just as he was about to end the call, she said, "I need you. I know I shouldn't be calling you, and I swear if I could, I would never call you again. I hope you and Cloe are happy, I swear to you, but this one last time, help me!"He listened to her, but he saw Cloe waiting for him with that wonderful smile he loved so much. God, how he loved this woman! Cloe ran across the square, and he smiled, imagining what she would do. She went to the fountain and bent down, taking a little yellow flower from the garden and putting it behind her ear, and something inside him clicked.He saw her exactly as he had the first time, when she was playing the piano so many years ago. In that little room with a
FINAL ENLACE "Layla, do you think I should wear white?" She asked the lady who was walking through the dress store with her mother, pulling the hem of one dress after another. "I think your mother is right in saying that you can choose whatever color you want, Cloe. It's your wedding, and I believe it's the only one you'll have." "Yes, the only one. Unless one day we marry again, Túlio and I, and renew our vows." "I think vow renewals are so beautiful," Liz said. "Listen to your heart, my dear. How did you imagine marrying Túlio, in white, ivory, or off-white?" "When I met him and fell in love, I imagined marrying him in white, actually." "Well, then get married in white, my dear. Just like you imagined marrying him." "Oh, but I don't know. I'm no longer a young girl, and I have a grown son. Don't you think it's strange? Please tell me the truth!" "Oh, sorry, but I have to interfere!" One of the lovely saleswomen in the store, Sônia, joined the conversation. "Your mother and gr
EVOLUTIONNow there he was. Years later, with Jânio dead, Paco dead. It took him years to eliminate one by one the powerful men he wanted to avenge Paco's death.Eliminating Paco was easier than he had supposed, simpler than eliminating Jânio, but what made it more difficult and complicated was that with the fall of the mob boss, he had to hide and keep constant watch over Cloe and her son and grandmother. And it was a great torture to stay away from his son and Cloe and still have to keep them safe, and it was almost impossible for him to trust their lives and safety to others. But there was nothing he could do about it, since if he appeared, many could die.And it was worth it. Seeing Cloe after so many years, seeing her fall to her knees relieved, crying and saying she loved him, made everything worthwhile. Now he was the leader. He was in Paco's place. And at this very moment his son slept in between him and Cloe and he felt suffocated looking at the two of them there. Túlio Filho
THE FALL OF ONE MORE PAWNBefore he died, the last thing he heard was the voice of his beloved. The voice of the only man she had ever loved."For God's sake, Shayenne, don't do this!" - and that was the only time he called her that, and she let out a choked laugh and replied only in her mind, "I finally touched you, huh?" - that's what she wanted to say to him, but she didn't say it, her mouth didn't open to speak. She was done here. This was where their friendship and complicity ended, and then the explosion almost made his ears bleed, his eardrums hurt with the noise of the blast.And Shay was gone. She sacrificed herself for him. Paco wouldn't know he was alive. He had not been alerted by Jânio thanks to Shay.From where he was, Túlio couldn't see anything, but the crackling of the fire was very audible in his headphones, and he fell to his knees more than a hundred kilometers away from where Shay had lost her life."Oh, God," he exclaimed with a choked voice.So much death, so mu
SHAYHer joy was short-lived. She felt relieved when she saw the car go up in flames and Tulio spoke on her earpiece:"Shay, the first bomb is done. Do you think we should detonate the second one?"Mysteriously, a van was coming down the dirt road where they were and it made her stomach churn. She did not expect Jânio to have left more men on alert, and apparently, they were coming from the farmhouse, alerted by the explosion. The second detonator was in her hands. "Wait!" she said to Tulio.To her complete amazement, she heard Jânio's cough and the guys who got out of the van next to the upside-down smoking car. One of them shouted:"The boss is alive! Help me get him out of the wreckage!"Tulio could also hear through Shay's earphones and became desperate. The driver of the car where Shay was also got out of the car with a fire extinguisher in hand, and screams could be heard from inside the burning car. Shay looked at everything without believing that her and Tulio's well-planned p
SHAYShe no longer tried to seduce Tulio. That phase was already over. She joined him for revenge. Yes, both wanted revenge, pure and simple.When she visited him at the cabin, and now that the critical moment of his health had passed, now that he was out of danger, stronger and even exercising to recover the muscles atrophied by months without using them, the old man, Camilo was his name, had already become friends with the two. Camilo was no longer afraid of the strange girl. Shay no longer scared him and she laughed when he told them that he imagined that as soon as Tulio recovered, she would kill him:"Well, you should be afraid of him," she laughed and pointed at Tulio, "He's a thousand times more dangerous than me. Why do you think I asked you to take care of him?"Mr. Camilo widened his eyes at Tulio, who waved his hand, indicating that she was lying."It's true, sir Camilo. He is none other than the famous Incendiary Boy - and seeing that the man did not know who he was talkin
SHAY Shay thought Gringo and Sopapo were going to kill her when they found out she had been involved with Jânio in order to get Túlio. She was waiting only for Cloe's order. She saw in the eyes of the three men, Túlio's closest, best, and most loyal men, the desire they had to kill her. Nothing would stop them from killing her with refined cruelty, and she knew they would take turns inflicting as much pain on her as they could. But that was the first time she felt tenderness for Cloe. All the harm she had wished upon the girl fell apart at that moment. The pain she saw on the girl's face hit her deeply in the heart and soul. The emptiness, the discouragement, and the genuine pain she saw written all over the girl's face whom she tried to imitate tore her apart. And she could apologize, but she didn't deserve forgiveness. How could she have never seen this? Or had she seen it and not cared? Why had she done this to someone who had done nothing to retaliate? What was a broken finger w
REMINDSTulio could not forget, there was no way to forget every step he took away from Cloe. He was completely happy to have her by his side and would soon see their son. He thanked the heavens for her having their son during the years they were apart. For many years, he hid and had only insane thoughts of hatred, death, and revenge. His heart was bitter. The nonconformity of what had happened, there were many bad thoughts that he had and what kept him above the quagmire was thinking of his Cloe, their son, and his grandmother. Many years were unjustly taken from him of being by the side of the people he loved. He remembered when he saw her years later, when he could finally leave his hiding place and see her, even from afar, it soothed his heart and validated the love he felt for her. There was also guilt, of course he had, had and still had.Tulio blamed himself for putting Cloe in his life, a life she did not deserve, and had caused her a lot of pain. He took her away from her hap
THIS LINK WILL NEVER BE BROKENThere was her good friend, and Cloe started crying again as she hugged the woman. Layla was much older now, and as Cloe hugged and kissed her all over her face, she noticed the extra years on the old lady. Her fingers, once so agile, were now twisted with arthritis and she seemed more hunched over than before. Signs of senility peppered her skin and Cloe loved feeling the smell of rue that seemed to be forever ingrained in the old woman.She had so much to tell her, but before anything else, before telling her so many things that had happened to her in those ten years, she opened her phone and showed her pictures of her grandson. Layla cried like a child, her hands trembling as she held the phone and watched video after video of her grandson."He looks so much like his father," she said, repeating it over and over again as she eagerly looked at the photos and videos. "Even his voice reminds me of Túlio at that age.""He's also named Túlio, Layla!" she to
I LOVE YOU SO MUCHShe cried and smiled at the same time. She thought she was going crazy, that she must be going crazy! Sitting on the ground with both hands on her head, her voice lost, and Túlio, her Túlio, the love of her life, was coming towards her. He walked up to her with that walk she knew so well. A movie played in her head as he walked towards her. That same smile that made her fall madly in love with him. He was older, his hair was cut differently, but it was him. She would recognize him anywhere, even in the midst of a crowd she would recognize him.Nothing else existed, only him coming to her, and through the curtain, the veil of tears, she looked at him and all she wanted to scream was that she loved him!Túlio knelt down beside her, took her face in both hands, kissed her lips and pulled away, but she wanted more. She wanted him to never stop kissing her. But he needed to tell her something first:"Love, it's very important that I tell you something. What I'm going to