Nikolai.-Eleven years ago.-"I want out."Three words as simple as they were, yet their significance to the man before me was like fueling a fire that cannot be tamed. A fire so blazing and ferrous that I was the one to burn to ashes with it.I knew what I was doing and I knew what I wanted and nothing would deter me from asking for it. It was too much. This life was consuming me. I wanted a normal one.Not this."Что ты только что сказал мне, мальчик?"(What did you just say to me, boy?)My sperm donor took a puff of his Cuban cigar, the smoky scent invading my nostrils and forming a halo of sin around his head as he puffed it out. A beacon of all that was bad and ugly was the correct way to describe it because he was the fucking worst.From my peripheral my brothers shifted in their places, uncomfortable, their heads bowed slightly, their hands behind their back monotonous and unmoving. Like statues. Or like the obedient soldiers that he made of them. Dimitri and the other high-
Sofia.Skin to skin.Body to body.I was trapped, aroused and diligent in having what I wanted.Nadei's godlike naked frame was pinning me to Nial's equally delicious front. His lickable pecs were teasing me with how inviting they looked. I shook my head fighting the intention to lick, flick and bite them.Both of their hard members dug into my lower back and abdomen--Hence the height difference-- stiffening and twitching every time I moved or squirmed as the two beautiful men groaned grounding harder.Their hands groping and palming my curvaceous chest and bum. Nadei's hand cupped my sex, a low growl rumbling against my back and my eyes shutting close at the soft yet addictive touch."She's fucking dripping."I slouched my head against his shoulder feeling him run his thick fingers over my drenched lower lips.From my peripheral. Nikolai's tut abs greeted me as he smoothly took his t-shirt off, his muscled arms stretching inwardly, revealing the scars littering his creamy skin. The g
Sofia.Full shapely lips traced my neck from behind. I moaned feeling Nadei's teeth graze from my quadrangular area down my throat in a teasing manner, his wet smooth tongue caressing the flesh erupted a loud moan from my lips. Tilting my head to give him more access."D-daddy," I whined, my voice taking a turn to sound hoarse with a begging undertone as I felt Nikolai's mouth suckle on my maroon buds sending my body to a heady frenzy.I pushed my tits that shook with every indrawn breath and hard dig to my wet cunt into Nikolai's face as he eagerly palmed and squeezed the pillowy but heavy mound in his calloused hand with a pinch to the erected tips.Nial's thrusts were irresistible, long and primal. He grunted between each one with force and my loud moans only made him rut into me, harder and faster. That same knot in my stomach was begging to be unwound as I rode the huge hulking man beneath me.I wanted them, all of them and hoped that they'd be willing to give me what I want. Wha
Sofia.I was woman enough to admit when I was being a dumbass and this, ladies and gentlemen, was totally one of those times.It might have been the fact that I remembered what I had said to the trio yesterday. Okay, it was because of what I said and being cranky from waking up alone and sore. Everywhere.Damn them triplets.My irrational thinking was included in that cluster shit of fuckity fuckness. It messed with every sane thought that crossed my mind and replaced them with a hefty amount of self doubt. Nevertheless, I was glad that the trio weren't here to behold my dramatic ass have a heatstroke.I told them that I loved them.I did mean it, yes. But I still wanted to have at least told them while conscious and not dozing in and out of the restful death people called sleep. Shaking my head, a frown marred my face as I stared at the bottle of water and painkillers set on the nightstand.They didn't leave a note.They always did.I gulped down the water swallowing the two pills a
Sofia.Half an hour later everything was ready. I set the table letting Lena finish serving the food up and sent Nikolai a text asking when they were coming back. A pang of pain hit my chest when he didn't answer as instantly as he always did. Sofia you're too attached. I reprimanded myself for my lack of common sense. He obviously had things to do outside of the house but I was still too worried and immensely clingy. I set my phone down stepping into the kitchen as Lena placed everything on the counter pulling the fresh lemonade that I had made from the fridge."I'm going to fetch Nadei for lunch since Nial and Nikolai aren't here now, you can leave if you want. I'll see you tomorrow." I uttered turning around with a soft smile."Wait! Mrs. Alexeyev, h-he has visitors!" Lena shouted all of a sudden making halt mid step but I didn't bother correcting her knowing how I loved being called by their last name and how it made me feel. Reassured and important.But hold the damned phone.
Sofia."Nik and Nial aren't home. Why?" I hurriedly implored trying to keep the disappointment at bay but terribly failing as it made my voice quiver. I missed them and the worrisome haunted me. It ate me inside out and made me question whether I was over analysing and dramatizing this situation. Were they at least okay? I wondered."They're on their way, Darling." Nadei gave a reassuring dimpled smile, his hands sneaking their way under my skirt as he lifted me onto his desk. The cold surface chilling my ass as he tiredly sighed, his warm hands on my upper thighs."We'll wait for them and then we'll talk, Da?" He laid his head on my lap and my fingers forthwith worked his corded neck muscles out.Nodding, "So tense." I giggled pressing a kiss on his stubbled cheek. He sighed but didn't say anything, instead, he buried his head into my tummy making my insides flutter in fondness. He and Nikolai had a habit of doing that."Nadei, can I ask you a question?" He hummed, "Anything."I
Sofia.I chuckled softly feeling my heart thumping as he started pulling my skirt down. Slowly. Tantalizingly. I was soaking wet by now and he didn't even touch me, properly.I hazily mumbled, "What're you doing?" He flicked the catch of my skirt pulling me up to remove my panties in the process. My naked ass touched the cold desk's surface sending shivers tumbling my spine."Tasting you." He licked his delicious lips, his jade-green eyes turning full-on dark but familiar tourmaline color I nicknamed him after, heavy with lust but tender. Mine widened at the ravenous man's antics.He hooked his arms around my smaller frame tilting my head back as he slid a rough calloused palm over my tummy, to my navel to my bare pussy cupping it. "So wet for me." His nostrils flared.I sighed. "Yes, for you, daddy." And that was his answer.Nadei latched his lips on my drenched folds whipping his tongue over my clit, over and over, again. I cried out as his mouth worked relentlessly sucking my sensi
Sofia.A harsh impatient knock came on the door. My lips automatically detached from Nikolai's as he kissed me to his heart's content. I throughfully enjoyed the feel of his mouth on mine as long it lasted.He tasted like mint toothpaste and pure sweet depravity and I needed more then I could take. My back arched when Nadei and Nial each grasped a hand full of my ass and tits massaging the lush skin."Что?" Nadei growled, his hands not seizing their way around my loose, heady and lustful self. Ripples of hot energy soared through my body and I moaned, Nikolai swallowing the sound with a harsh groan, his teeth pulling at my bottom lip."Сэр--" someone interrupted one of the guards. "Aye! Stronzo apra la porta del cazzo. Ho aspettato un'intera ora del cazzo!" The angry male shouted.(Aye! Asshole open the fucking door. I've been waiting for a whole fucking hour!)I giggled at the person's impatient utterances and somehow, I felt funny at the sound of his voice. Didn't recognize it but
Nikolai.The sun was beginning its slow descent, drenching the estate in a thick, golden haze. The gardens looked like they belonged in a painting, every blade of grass and stone path lit up like someone had dipped them in honey.The air had that crisp, early evening bite to it—the kind that hinted at colder nights ahead, the kind that made your breath puff out in little clouds if you waited long enough.It was the kind of quiet that settled not just around you, but inside you.I hadn’t realized how bad I needed that silence until I was drowning in it.Not the fake kind you get in the middle of chaos when your brain just...short-circuits.No, this was real silence.Healing silence.Aurelio sat next to me on the stone steps, hunched forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees. His hand curled loosely around the iron railing beside him, fingertips absently tracing the cold metal. His gaze was fixed out past the gardens, past the trees, locked on some point on the horizon only he could
Nikolai.The sun had just started its lazy climb when I stepped outside, coffee mugs in hand and sleep still clinging to the corners of my mind.The estate grounds were soaked in golden light, the grass jeweled with dew like nature had cried a little last night but decided to make the best of it this morning. A breeze swept through the lemon trees, carrying that light citrusy scent Sofia always said reminded her of summers in Italy. The air felt warm but not heavy, peaceful but not silent—alive in a way that made my ribs loosen.It smelled like hope.And after everything we’d survived—everything we were still clawing our way through—I wasn’t going to waste that. Peace like this was rare in our world. You had to hold it tight, two hands and all heart.Across the lawn, I spotted her first.Sofia sat on a picnic blanket under the olive tree—her olive tree, the one she’d stubbornly refused to let the gardeners trim because “It has character, shut up.” Lorelai was perched between her legs,
Sofia.The house was quiet again. Not the warm hush of family sleep like before—this was different. Tense. Coiled.I closed the door to the master bedroom behind me with shaking fingers. They weren’t here. I’d kissed them all goodnight. Told them I loved them. And then I’d said what none of us had ever dared to say aloud.“I want to be with him tonight too. I want Arsen.”There’d been silence. Tight jaws. Clenched fists. But they’d nodded , nevertheless. Not because they wanted to, but because they respected it. Me. Him.And now I was in the hallway, heart thudding like a warning bell.His door was open.The room was barely lit—moonlight spilling across the bed where he sat, shirtless, head bowed, tattoos twisting over his arms and shoulders like shadows, his scars full on display. He didn’t look up. “Are you going to come in,” he said, voice low, “Or are you just staying and leaving a second after?”My throat tightened. I walked in.He still didn’t move.“I'm sorry I couldn't stay wi
Sofia.The house had settled into sleep. Deep, contented sleep—the kind that comes after too much food, too much laughter, and just enough wine to make your muscles hum. I’d tucked Lorelai in with Aurelio, kissed her goodnight, and left them curled up like something sacred. It made my chest ache in the best way.But now…Now I was tiptoeing back into the room I shared with my husbands.The lights were low, golden and soft like candlelight, spilling across skin and sheets. Nadei was sprawled on the bed like he’d been sculpted there—shirtless, his long legs tangled in the duvet, green eyes glinting as he scrolled through his phone. Nikolai stood at the mirror adjusting his watch strap, because even undressing was apparently a production with him. Nial was at the foot of the bed, all quiet storm in his black tee and sweatpants, sipping his herbal tea from a mug like he wasn’t watching me like prey.My mouth went dry.“Hi,” I said, breath catching a little.Nadei grinned, stretching like
Author’s POV.The house had quieted down into that soft, post-dinner lull—where even the shadows on the walls seemed to breathe slower. Distant murmurs echoed from the living room, where the others were watching some awful old mafia film Luca claimed was “a classic.” Someone was already asleep on the couch. Probably Renzo. He always passed out after too much pasta like some kind of carb-loaded bear who was getting ready to hibrenate.Aurelio wasn’t with them.He was in the hallway upstairs, sitting at the edge of his old bedroom—the one he hadn’t dared sleep in yet. Too many pieces of him still scattered like glass inside it. Too many ghosts watching from the corners.He stared at the room like it might bite him.The bed was made. The same comforter. Same shelves. Someone had even fixed the frame of the photo he’d apparently shattered during one of his more violent post-surgery episodes. A picture of the five of them—Sofia in the middle, arms folded, eyes rolling. Him grinning with an
Author's POV. The dining room buzzed with the strange, delicate noise of almost normal. Silverware clinked. Someone—probably Valentino—had already cracked a joke that made Sofia roll her eyes but smile anyway. The scent of roasted garlic and marinara filled the air like nostalgia on steroids. Aurelio sat at the long table—not at the head, but somewhere in the middle—flanked by people who were supposed to be his family. Despite their warmth, their laughter, the endless attempts to make him feel at home, he still felt like the odd man out. But he noticed things. Like how Nial grumbled at his overcooked chicken while quietly passing napkins like he was trying not to breathe too loud. Arsen sat at the far end, balancing Alexei on his lap, slicing soft bread one-handed while talking to Sofia, who had Jade snuggled against her side. They were so, in their element. In their nature. Then— “Uncle Liooo!” A high-pitched squeal cut through the hum of conversation. A tiny bolt of cur
Aurelio.The toy soldier hadn’t moved.It still sat like a goddamn sentinel on my nightstand. Plastic. Ugly. Important.I don’t know why I hadn’t thrown it out the window.Maybe because it felt like it belonged more than I did.Jade had curled up next to me earlier, warm and trusting like he didn’t know I was broken. And even after he left the room—pulled away by his father—I could still feel the ghost of his tiny arms around my waist. And that? That shook something loose inside me more than any punch ever could.-Later in the day.I was in another room, arms up against Nial as we circled each other. We were sparring. That was their fucked up version of making me remember, it wasn't conventional. Wasn't something in one's right mind would do but I was willing to try as long as it meant they wouldnt look at me in that empathetic way they all did. I was going to try to find me.Whoever that was.“Stop thinking.”Nial’s voice snapped like a whip. Cruel and unforgiving.He was circling
Aurelio.The name was just a sound. Letters. Noise.But the weight behind it? That wasn’t noise.That was pressure. Gravity. Like I’d been dropped into a life that expected me to perform, to remember, to be this person they were mourning like he was already dead.Aurelio Verticolli.Everyone in this room knew who he was.Except me.And the worst part?I felt like I was disappointing them just by existing.Sofia hadn’t let go of my hand. Her grip was gentle, but I could feel the tension in her fingertips—like she was holding onto hope with every fiber of her being, and the second she let go, she’d fall apart.That made my chest ache.Even if I couldn’t remember her.I studied her profile—soft lines drawn tight with exhaustion. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Weeks, maybe. Her eyes were red-rimmed but fierce. Protective. She was a fighter. I didn’t need memories to know that.Sofia Verticolli. My sister.“Why are you all still here?” I asked suddenly, voice rough, a little cra
Aurelio.The man on the other side of the glass had a smirk that felt like it belonged to someone I should know. Someone important. Someone close.But I didn’t know him.I didn’t know myself.I clenched my jaw, something burning in my chest—frustration, maybe. Anger. A gnawing sense of wrongness that had been there since I woke up.The name they kept calling me—Aurelio Verticolli—felt like a suit that didn’t fit. Too tight in some places, too loose in others.I should recognize it. I should recognize them.But when I searched my mind, it was just… nothing. blank.Like looking into a fogged-up mirror and knowing there was a reflection behind it, but never being able to see it clearly.The man at the window tilted his head, still watching me like he was waiting for something.“You ready to remember who the fuck you are?”The words scraped against something raw inside me.Was I?I didn’t answer.He smirked again, but there was something sharper behind it. “Don’t worry. We’ll remind you.”