Erica“Heyyy...” I crouched down to pick Thor up as he was trying to get my attention the whole time we walked to the elevator and rubbed the soft spot behind his ear, making him let put a happy bark “Give him to Gio, he’ll take care of it.” Antonio grumbled from my side.I paused and held Thor up in front of my face so he faced Antonio, my poor baby let out a whine and I said, “He is not a it, Antonio. And look he’s so cute, just needs some love.”When I didn’t get any answer, I tilted my head and peeked at the man. He looked like someone turned him into a statue and the way his brows were drawn in a frown and how his jaw was clenched, I wondered if I crossed a line. Afraid that I had triggered some bad memory, I quickly passed Thor to Gio and stepped closer to Antonio. “Hey,” I whispered softly as cupped his face and asked, “What is it?”He blinked his golden brown eyes and flicked his eyes over my shoulder to his men as he ordered just as the elevator doors opened, “Take the next
ERICAI only sat there for a few seconds as I pushed my chair back and ran after him. I didn’t know why I suddenly felt like it was my fault when I had just pointed out the very true fact and yet still here I was. As soon as I stepped out into the dim corridor, like Antonio had mentioned there were four guards and they tried to stop me but I bypassed them as I called out his name.I watched as his broad back tensed and he stopped, but it took him a few precious seconds to turn around and face me. When I saw his face, I scolded myself for bringing the reality back when all of it had been turned into a fantasy that was too good to be true, even for that.When I reached him, I said, “I didn't mean it like that, Antonio.” I really hadn't meant for it to go this way, I didn't realise it would affect him this way. But maybe, in all of this there was a silver line where I could see that he wanted to move on from the past, from how we had started. And maybe we will start afresh.But his next
ERICA"Hey."I blinked open my eyes and met his golden ones. At some point during the drive, I had dozed off and he had pulled me into his side. And as I looked into his eyes, for a moment forgetting about what had happened in the restaurant, I leaned toward him and softly brushed my lips against his. "Hi,” I whispered.He trailed the tip of his fingers down my cheek and tucked my hair behind my ear. His eyes were soft unlike the way they were so dark with anger earlier as he said, “Come, we are here.”I looked out the window and asked, “And where is here?”“You will see.” He murmured as the car came to a stop and he waited for the car door to be opened before we stepped out.Antonio put his arm around my waist, tugging me to his side as we made our way to an unidentified building that looked like it had no windows. There was no sign on the black door or even the neighborhood looked a little bit shady with other unnamed establishments on either side of it. I glanced at Antonio but di
ANTONIOMy blood still raged in my veins even after beating the bastard to a pulp until my own knuckles bled and my fingers felt swollen. But this rage wasn’t just because of what the man had done to my little devil, touched her without her permission when he had no right, for that alone he deserved to die. But this inferno of hot rage, it also constitutes the fact that I still couldn’t come to terms with how she didn’t give me an answer when I asked her if she wanted to go back to her family. No matter how much I tried, my mind circled back to that and it fûcking enraged me enough that I felt the ache of that in my chest.And, now as I fisted her hair and claimed her mouth, it wasn’t just for her. She might’ve asked for it but it was all for me. I kissed her like a starving beast who wanted to devour her bite by bite. Make her a part of me and never let her go. I bit down on her bottom lip, ravaged her mouth and sucked on her tongue. She gasped into my mouth and I breathed for her, s
ERICADuring the drive, all the way to the hotel, my mind was filled with what just happened in that warehouse. The fact that I stood so close to one of those men who tormented me and filled my life with constant nightmares was surreal, but it wasn’t just that... My mind would circle back to the moment when I stood in front of that man and held the gun in my hands. It wasn’t the first time, I did it before too, when I tried to run away from Antonio and had tried to shoot at his men but then no one was kîlled. This time I took a life while the man was pleading on his knees and I felt invincible. And it was because of the man who had stood beside me and gave me the power when all this time I had felt weak.But now as the adrenaline and the thirst for blood of those who wronged me faded away, and the reality of what I did came back it made me question myself, my own character— a bloody thirsty part I didn't think I harboured. Every time I thought of that, my eyes would go down to my hand
ERICA I got dressed as he told me, I felt like I was in a space where I would break down or start hyperventilating if given the chance. So all I focused on was the man I left in the shower. From the open door of the bathroom I watched as he stood in front of the washbasin with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was shaving and for some reason that mundane act made my stomach flutter as I sat on the corner of the bed and watched him like a peeping Tom. It was surreal the way my emotions had settled to a calm hum by just watching him. The villain of my story was giving me everything that no hero ever could, I was sure of it. But what scared me was the fact that when I allowed these emotions to unfurl their wings in my chest, they were bigger than I ever imagined. All this time I suppressed my feelings regarding him, I pushed them back and put on a film that turned him into the despicable man who was arrogant and cruel but I didn’t realise that those feelings that I was ignoring were
ANTONIO“Do you even know what you are doing?”I looked up from where I was chopping an onion and met her brown eyes, she was looking at me with a mixture of shock and amusement like she still couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I was cooking for her. I said, “I think you’re really begging for punishment.”She pursed her lips in a pout and my obsessive self wanted to push her down on her knees once again. But I refrained, focused back on the task at hand. I only knew a few things to cook and if she didn’t distract me I was sure I could make her some very tasty bread omelette. Initially I wanted to make her some Arancini balls, Caterina used to love them. Buy it would take a lot of time to prepare them, so I settled on the less time consuming thing. I learned to make that from Mario when I was young and wanted to not depend on anyone too much. The only person I trusted with my food was Mario and Ephraim, so I had to learn to cook. “Do you want me to help?” Erica asked as she cam
ANTONIOErica fell asleep halfway through the horror movie she was watching while I sat there, caressing my fingers through her hair as she laid down with her head in my lap. Ephraim was busy on his phone but I knew he had something to tell me, so I switched off the tv and carefully picked her up in my arms. I ignored Ephraim’s speaking look as I took her to the bedroom. Laying her down on the bed, I pulled the covers over her and took a moment to look at her. I trailed my fingers down her soft cheek before I picked her hand, and circled her ring finger. “You are and always will be mine. Forever and irrevocably.”When I returned to the living room, Ephraim looked at me and remarked, “Do I hear wedding bells?”I narrowed my eyes on him. “Shut it before I do it for you.”“Didn’t you tell me to get father Powell for your midnight rendezvous? I was just asking a follow up question?”“Is it done?” I questioned, ignoring his comments.“Yes.” He pocketed his phone and asked, “Are you sure ab