ERICAI didn’t remember when darkness claimed me and thrust me back from one heart wrecking scenario to another, and in each of them I was calling out for Antonio, only to find him lying in a pool of blood, unresponsive. It was during such a nightmare that I jerked up with my lips parted in a soundless cry and looked around myself, my eyes searching for him, praying that he was alright.But as the white walls and clinical equipment around me registered with the antiseptic smell of my surroundings, I realised I was in a hospital room and once again Antonio wasn’t here. My head pounded with pain just as my heart beat in fear, I started to push the blanket off me when I heard a familiar deep voice. “You are awake.”I turned around to face the speaker and for a moment, I just stared. My mind replayed all that had happened, and I knew Gabriel was shot. Gabriel was shot. Antonio had come save us just like I knew he would. But now he wasn’t here, close to me, he won’t ever leave me alone wh
ERICA“You have ten minutes. And after that you need to leave.”I jerked back, my fingers tightening on around the soft fabric I still held in my tight fist as if it was a talisman which will make everything alright and looked at him with wide eyes, not believing what I was hearing but still I tried to misunderstood him. I shook my head as I said, “I can’t leave him and go back to the castle. What if he needs me? And he will, he wouldn’t like—”“Erica,” He stopped me and even as I shook my head in silent denial, he said the words I didn’t want to hear, “You need to go back to where you belong, on the other side of the ocean with your sister, and your family.”“I belong to him.” The words were out before I could stop them. Quiet and sure. “He told me that I belonged to him.” He’s my family. “If you want to see him, this is the condition. You’ll leave after those ten minutes. I can’t let this happen again and again, Erica.
ANTONIOOne Week Later...It was colder than usual and I didn’t think it was because of the snow falling around me. And I doubted it was because I had been weaker than I had ever felt in my life, there was something else: the reason for the cold that had made its home inside me, but I wasn’t too keen to look into that reason. It was better to leave that wound untouched but I couldn’t say that it didn’t hurt far worse than a damaged lever and an arm that hurt every time I moved it. It had been a week since I woke up in the hospital room which was two days after the day I went to save her and rescued Gabriel. I didn’t want to think about her because it makes breathing difficult like I was shot in my lungs too but the fact remains, I woke up to find her gone. She left. I had come to terms with it, or maybe not, because just the thought made anger burn through me replacing the cold. And it had been like that, I was teetering on a very fine line. One moment I was calm and in another I was
ERICAIs this what hell feel like?I turned to the other side, trying to find a comfortable position in this foreign bed. I missed him with every breath that I took. I missed his solid presence beside me and the strong heartbeat to which I slept. None of that was here which had made it impossible for me to sleep peacefully since I was brought here three days ago against my will. These three days had felt like a prison sentence and I was sick of it, literally and figuratively.When I had woken up the first day to Summer’s teary eyes and sobs as she had hugged me, everything had came back to me in a series of disasters that had happened. And what broke me was that it was Gabriel who drûgged me and kidnapped me, took me away from Antonio. Antonio, who was in the hospital because of me, because of him. The moment my surroundings had registered, everything inside me had rebelled and I had ended up hugging the toilet. Now, I realised what addiction was because it felt like someone took awa
ERICA“So you are saying that I can’t talk to him?” I asked, my fingers knotted together as helpless anger burned through me. We were in Gabe’s home office, Summer was standing beside him while I sat in front of them like a child put to task. Lily, Gabe’s housekeeper and a maternal figure to him and my sister, had prepared us lunch which I had barely swallowed a few bites of as I was too anxious to have this conversation but now whatever I had eaten it all threatened to come back up at what Gabriel just said to me.“I think it would be for the best.” Gabriel said now.“You think....” I couldn’t even form the words, I was so fûcking furious. “You think that you drugging me, kidnapping me and bringing me here against my will is for the best. You think that not letting me talk to him is for the best.”With every word I spoke, my anger became obvious and I started to lose whatever calm I had. “Rica, please, calm down.”I stared at my sister and asked of Gabriel, “Was that really your dec
ERICA “Then let him come to get you.” “Are you shitting me right now?” His blue eyes flashed at my disrespectful words. “He was in the hospital, we don’t even know if he woke up or not.” My throat tightened up at the words as I gritted out, “And you want me to wait for him so he could come for me just because you don’t believe me when I say that he loves me.” “We can’t just let you go, Erica. Even if what you are saying is true and if he really loves you then he’ll come, and there are things we have to talk about. A man like him doesn’t give up his revenge for nothing, what if down the road he hates you or comes after me and my family again?” I was dumbfounded as I listened to him, and I couldn’t council the man with the brother-in-law I was trying to protect. “He gave up his revenge for me, Gabriel. And he will never hurt me. And the family you are talking about is also my family that I protected and stood by and never took his side even when he promised me the world.” “Erica, I
GABRIELThere was a time when I didn’t know right from wrong. I was too hard-headed and stubborn to sit and think about the consequences of my actions. But then I fell for my little red and I had to be a man she deserved. I tried to forget about the guilt of all my past decisions that ended badly, but past has a way of catching up with you. And mine was finally here. Looking back I wondered if I had talked to the man— Bosh Lori, my mentor who taught me everything and took me in when I came to New Orleans then perhaps he’d have listened to me and Summer would’ve been safe from the Mexicans without me killing him to make it happen. But I killed him, I was too afraid for my little red, scared to lose her and angry at the fact that her father made the deal with Mexicans with the help of Bosh. That time it had felt like I didn't have any choice and I did what I knew will guarantee Summer’s safety and the fact that I could control her father so he won't put her and her sister in that situat
ANTONIOI have never let anything control my life. Never became obsessed with something so deeply that now it was like an addiction that I needed to survive. But right now I felt like one, an addict. And all because of one person, a woman who came into my life and upended everything. I didn't want to even think her name of, I had refrained from it for my own sanity. For some reason it felt necessary to not say her name even in my own mind. Her memories already pained me enough that even bottles of scotch hasn’t helped in erasing it.“Antonio, you haven't eaten anything.”I looked up from my fifth or maybe it was sixth glass of scotch to look at Yuri. We were at his house with a home cooked meal between us. I had only half listened to his plans for the redevelopment of the warehouse and building a new one because no matter how fucking hard I tried I couldn’t push her out of my mind. I couldn't forget our last night together, the way she had clung to me and had given into my demands. Sh
ANTONIO“Fuck me, husband. Make me scream.”My balls drew up tight at her words, the sparkle in her brown eyes were my undoing and I slammed into her in one hard thrust. Fuck. More than twelve years of having this woman, of having her tight pussy wrapped around my cock and it still somehow feels like the first time. If I could, I’d turn into three of me and fuck her mouth, arse and pussy at the same time, claim every inch of her, every part of her like I wanted to. My hunger for this woman hasn’t abated in all these years and I doubted it’d ever until the day I died. “Oh, god, Antonio...”I grabbed her face, my fingers digging into her cheeks not so gently. “Yeah, baby, tell me.”“Don’t stop. Please.” Hearing her someone might think that she didn’t get proper and regular fucking, but they’d be fool to think that. The truth was my little devil was just hungry for my cock, was still covered in last night bruises and still was begging for more like the dirty little slut that she was fo
EPILOGUE IITwelve years later...ERICA“Mamma, perché siamo qui? Voglio tornare a casa e invitare i miei amici." My daughter asked, her golden brown eyes like her father’s stared up at me in exasperation. It was the third time she had expressed her displeasure to be here at the charity event Gianna has hosted at my behest because I wanted to do something good for their father’s birthday which was tomorrow. But knowing Antonio wouldn’t want anything to happen on the actual day of his birthday as he likes to spend it with us instead of celebrating it, we had made all the arrangements for a day before. (Mom, why are we here? I want to go back to the house and invite my friends over.)“I don’t understand why you want to be with your friends they are all stupid.” Unlike my daughter who had inherited all the explosive characteristics of her father along with his eyes, my son got all the indifferent genes from his father which make him look like an unfeeling brute most of the time but there
Epilogue ITwenty eight weeks later...ANTONIO“So, I thought you wouldn't come again?” Mrs Khan asked.We were sitting in her office. My wife was sitting opposite her own therapist a few doors down, as I sat here after two weeks ago when I had declared I won’t come again. But the problem with anxiety was it never fucking disappears and as the time for Erica’s delivery drew closer, my anxiety only grew bigger. For some reason I feel like I won't be enough for them. That there were hundred different things that could go wrong and my family would've to suffer, it keeps me up at night and makes it hard to get through a day.I rubbed a palm down on my face and I leaned forward to pick up the glass of water. Any other time I might’ve not drunk it but therapy had helped enough to not make me paranoid all the time. After taking a sip, I put the glass down and met her eyes as I said, “I thought that too. But,” Fuck. It was still fucking hard to express myself, to put my fears into words. “But
ERICASome people say the happiest moments come after you’ve lived the saddest ones. And for sure I have had my fair share of sad moments in my life so I guess my husband here was a god’s gift for all those tears and heartache I suffered. And if someone asked me now if I was given a choice to suffer through the same things, same monsters, if it meant getting him at the end of that dark tunnel then I wasn’t sure if my answer would be a no. As we pulled apart from a long hard kiss that wasn’t appropriate for a wedding, I heard our family and friends cheer around us and then a moment later I felt something soft touching my cheek. I looked up and a delighted laugh left me when I saw twp choppers circling over our heads and rose petals being thrown over us. A literal shower of roses. “Antonio!!” I exclaimed, my happiness unbound, and then I ended up squealing as Antonio lifted me up in his arms and took me to the little raised stage set up for dancing. As I danced in my husband’s arms, e
ANTONIO“What’s taking them so fucking long?” I muttered, tugging on my cuffs to straighten them for the sixth time. For the second time when I had woken up in the early hours of the morning, my little devil wasn’t in the bed where she had fallen in a exhausted sleep after I had carried her from the tower. But unlike before this time it was Mario and Summer who decided that it was a great fucking idea to keep Erica away from me until I see her walk down the aisle. It had been only a few hours but I already felt impatient and on the edge. I wanted her glued to my side for every breath I take. It was fûcking impossible to put into words how much I was obsessed with her, how much I loved her. But I swore to myself that I’ll try to convey that to her for the rest of my life. “Are you nervous, Antonio?” Ephraim asked from my side. I refrained from looking at him, unless I’d end up punching him in the face for what happened last night even though he didn’t do anything that I didn’t ask o
(Skip this chapter if you have problem with exhibition and voyeurism and other related elements).ERICA“Here.” As soon as the word left me, Antonio stepped back from me, leaving me feeling cold and adrift. I turned to him, panicked that I made a mistake but found him lowering himself in a loveseat. He crooked his finger and demanded, “Come here.”A calm washed over me when I saw the dark look of arousal in his eyes. When I took a step closer to him, he leaned back in his seat and pointed to his lap as he ordered, “Bend over my lap, baby, present me that arse.”My lower belly clenched at his words and a heated desire coursed through my veins. My eyes went to Z who was still staring at Kat but when I looked at her I found her gaze fixed on me. She arched her brows, silently telling me to go on. I smiled at her, feeling my blood heat at her attention as my heart started to beat in excitement. That smile turned to a hungry look when I faced my dark villain who grew impatient and grabb
ERICA“My handsome Duke!!” Ami stood up, waving on her two feet that were encased in heels and stumbled her way to Raphael, who looked only a little bit amused but his blue eyes darkened as they raked down his wife. She was wearing a red sequin dress that ended just below her arse and by the look on Raphael’s face, I’d say Ami will finally get what she was wishing for. “See, what I did? Are you going to punish me for it!” She asked, blinking her eyes at him as she stumbled and he caught her in his arms.Kat snickered behind me and I couldn't help as my own lips pulled up in a smile. Raphael picked her up in his arms and announced for our benefit or maybe to the men standing on either side of him. “I’ll leave you to deal with your wives, mine needs a strong hand.” We could hear Ami squeal in excitement as they disappeared from the view.“Gianna, go to your room. And for fuck’s sake get rid of that dress.” I shivered at his deep voice, my eyes barely fluttering to Gianna to take in the
ERICA“OH MY GOD! I think I am drunk!!” Ami squealed as the half naked man with a cat mask twirled her around and then took Gianna in his arms who was also half drunk.We were in one of the back towers that I was admiring earlier in the day and Kat had managed to invite the party we were supposed to have here in the castle right under the watchful gazes of our husbands and their men. She was a tricky one. I didn’t know how she managed it but it was awesome and I wasn’t complaining.There were four women out of which two were filling our drinks— unfortunately, non-alcoholic for me, and giving us snacks to munch on while the two men were entertaining us with half their bodies bare and muscles painted what seemed like glitter that shined in the lights. The music was loud but we had checked and the noise couldn’t be heard to the main part of the castle. It was really the bachelorette I didn't think I’ll be having after Antonio fucked me so har
ANTONIOI don’t know what woke me up but when my eyes opened, I instantly became aware of the fact that my little devil wasn’t by my side and that I wasn’t alone in the room. There was a heavy presence in the room that couldn’t be ignored. I slipped my hand beneath my pillow and pulled out my gun as surreptitiously as I could.I wasn’t afraid for myself but my mind was on Erica, she was sleeping in my arms and now she was nowhere in the room, I didn’t even have to check the bathroom to know she wasn’t there. Her absence was like an open chasm in my chest every time she was away from me. After dinner where we were joined by her sister and Gabriel, we had come to sleep in the bedroom but not before I had exhausted her by fûcking her in the mirror room where she had screamed her pleasure that I was sure everyone in the castle heard. Erica was really a voyeur, she came so many times by just looking at our reflection as I fucked her hard, warning her to not go anywhere her friends and sis