LEIGH-ARI
The party was well in full swing, and funny because nothing serious was actually done. We just arrived here and started drinking from expensive, bling wine glasses with gold linings, then the classic music came along and we all began dancing. I guess the event was more of a social event than anything else. So Laura and I went with the flow.I was sipping on my champagne when Valerie stormed to our table looking so flushed. Her mask was slightly tipped to the side and she was shoving something in her purse."Are you okay?" I asked leaning towards her. She looked up at me and smiled,"Yah sure. Why are you asking?" She breathed out and pulled a glass of wine from the collection in front of us, and chugged the whole thing down."Ahhhhhh... You don't look fine." She fixed her mask and began glancing around as if she was afraid to be seen."No. No shit. I am good. really." She insisted and I decided to let it slide. I knew she would eventually spilLEIGH-ARIThe merry times in Dubai eventually came to an end, and we all had to fly back home. After the incident at the masquerade party, the twins doubled my "security" and restricted my movements in all ways possible. I was against it at first, but I had to deal with it because they weren't going to change their mind. They never did. They were hell-bent on protecting me and after a glance at what they actually did, I wasn't going to ask questions. It wouldn't do me any good.And Laura, she flew back home. She had a life, and it sure as hell didn't involve underground lords with guns and tattoos and mercenaries. Although it was hard to let her go, knowing that I was going to be alone again, I had to. I had to let her go.And I missed her already, so much. She made living this life a hundred times better in all ways than one. But here I was, back in Dark Woods where it all started.Behind the closed stone walls of Dark Woods castle, life was well boring. A lot of maids
UNKNOWN POVThe street was buzzing with the afternoon traffic, cars honking their horns and chatters could be heard from every corner of the street. People were milling on the sidewalks under the blazing sun of mid-autumn. I spotted the 'said' restaurant a few meters from where I was parked with the engine running, then turned the key and killed the ignition.I looked around to see if anyone was looking and then slipped out of the car, keeping it secret, yet normal to avoid attracting some unnecessary attention. Although I didn't understand why he chose this place, where Vernero's men were literally everywhere, I was at his mercy and needed his help, so I had to run with whatever he said.I pushed the door of the restaurant open and stepped into a very shabby interior. The seats were round leather couches which were well off finished from how worn out they were, the table with bumps of moisture. This place may have been quite a diner back in the days. But now, not so much!
LEIGH-ARIThe following days passed in a blur. The twins decided to have a new security system installed and doubled up on the guards on patrol. The motion sensors were upgraded by a hundred, the CCTVs in the west wing were also installed. I had fought with them tooth and nail for installing the cameras in my room. They claimed it was for my safety and I understood that, but I wasn't going to be under surveillance even when I was sleeping. The bedroom was my safe fortress, where I escaped to when everything got too much. It was the only thing that was keeping me sane even though it didn't belong to me alone (since the twins had taken the liberty to sleep with me against my will.). Having the cameras installed was going to deprive me of the little sense of privacy that was left and I wasn't going to let them take that little piece of me away. They had taken too much already and I didn't have anything left of myself.Vernero wanted to be pig-headed about it, and then I told him
LEIGH-ARIDays flew by and the secret grew heavy in my chest. With each passing second, I weighed my options and the pros and cons of telling the twins about Xander. It was just way too much. But I had decided against it when Xander took four full nights without visiting.Maybe he had found whatever he was looking for. Because he just disappeared without much of a word. But still, I felt guilty for carrying all this by myself. Xander was the twins' enemy, and he wouldn't waste a chance to destroy them and vice versa. The twins had to know.At the same time, I feared for what they would do to each other. It was their world, it was what they did, what they knew. I get that very well. But I wasn't going to allow any bloodshed. Not under my watch.So instead of telling the twins, I decided to put on my smallest bikini and sunbathe by the poolside just right outside the west wing.Raquel was also with me and the other maids were dismissed. We were sitting in a very comfort
LORENZO POVArriving at the castle, it took me a heartbeat to climb the stairs to the west wing. I was a heaving mess with my eyes wide open, and my nose flaring as I tried to breathe all the air I could possibly master.The thought of what might have happened when the mines went off ripped all the air out of my lungs. No amount of oxygen could make up for the burn inside of me,I was fuming. But to top it all, I was weak in the knees. The fear was heady on my mind and senses.Upon arriving in the west wing, I kicked Ari's bedroom door open to find it empty."They are in the medicine room, boss," Raquel informed as she emerged from the closet holding pieces of Ari's clothes.I gave her a simple nod and took off again. It didn't take me an age to arrive in the medicine room which was on the other side of the castle, 3 floors down.I had had all the energy when I was coming, but standing in front of the closed door of the medicine room, I felt powerless. Feeble. I
LEIGH-ARIIt has been TWO-FULL dang days and the boys haven't said a single word to each other. I was honestly out of words or even means to try to get them to make up. I have tried. Trust me I have. But they were way too stubborn to even listen to me.They even stopped coming to bed at night. They slept in their separate rooms to avoid bumping into one another. They were that pigheaded.The first morning after the incident, at the breakfast table, the atmosphere had been so tense that all you could hear was the sound of knives and forks clanging against the plates, the rapid chewing, and the swallowing. I swear you could have taken an ax, then plucked it out. Even a steak knife wouldn't cut through it. No one said any word, and heck, I was so out of it.Dealing with the Cattanio twins reduced my life span by a hundred years. I swear if God meant for me to live 130 years, then I was going to die at 30, young and ugly.A sudden thought suddenly crossed my min
UNKNOWN POVWith every passing second, my loathing and animosity Leigh-bitch bloated by a ton. But what she did recently was just way out of my imagination. She had been pressing all the wrong buttons since the beginning of forever and now, she pressed the red one. I had reached my limit with her.Never have the boys ever laid a hand on each other and then gone days without talking. Never! They loved each other more than anything on this planet, well except for the bitch. They had a deeper bond than anyone, they shared a womb, they grew up together. They got each other on greater extends.But because of this bitch, my boys fought and they were not on good terms. This girl was destroying everything I have achieved and all she did was just exist.I was
LEIGH-ARI“Something to drink?” I offered already reaching out to pour my weapon for the night. If I was going to deal with these babyish boys, then I had to use my brain.I didn’t wait for them to reply, just poured the brown liquid into the glasses and handed them each a glass, then proceeded and swam to the middle of the giant tub. They remained quiet as they sipped on their whiskey unhurriedly. They were still mad, I get it.“Listen up guys. “Ooooooookay. I have a confession to make.” I waited on a baited breath as I watched each one of them shifting in their positions, strongly gazing at me. They were going to murder me for this one.“Sooooooooooo… You are kind of going to get mad at me, but please promise you won’t raise a ruckus.” I said with a stupid grin as I tried to clear the path before things got way out of hand because I bet a million they were going to go berserk.I took a deep breath, and ripped off the band-aid;“Xander has been here. For multiple