Chapter One Hundred And Fifteen.The silence in the Maybach, as Damien and Lana rode down the streets and towards home, was defeaning.Lana was sitting very straightbacked on her seat, willing her heartbeat to slow down, but it continued beating loudly in her ears.She dared not look sideways at Damien, who, surprisingly, was looking very calm and zen considering what had happened just a few minutes ago. She inhaled sharply and clutched the silky material of her dress, as her mind drifted back to what had happened in the garden.When she'd seen Zaire drag Rina out of the building, Lana knew something was very wrong.First of all, why were they together?She'd never thought Zaire and Rina knew each other, and why was he pulling her after him that way?Then, Zaire had slapped Rina and Lana's jaw dropped in shock, her eyes widening at the man in front of her. This was not the Zaire she knew. Zaire Ludovic, who was her friend, rarely got angry and would definitely not hit a woman but h
Chapter One Hundred And SixteenLana went very still as Damien's lips claimed hers. It was like every other thing disappeared at that moment and the only thing she could feel was his firm lips on hers, nibbling and tasting.It was electrifying and desire coursed through her veins when his tongue delved into her mouth, and Lana let out a moan, melting completely into him.Damien growled low in his throat as one hand moved from her face to her hair, while the other grabbed her waist and pulled her closer.She could feel how hard he was already as he pressed against her tummy. Lana felt her mind completely lose control of her body, as her hand wrapped around his waist and another cralwed up his body, tugging at his shirt. Their kiss deepened as their tongues meshed and dueled. Damien moved until he held her gently against the hedge and another moan escaped Lana, as his mouth started nibbling her ear and neck.However, the feeling of his palm fully cupping her breast brought her crashing
Chapter One Hundred And SeventeenWhen the car pulled into the driveway of the Romero Villa, Lana placed all her attention in unbuckling her seatbelt, so she would not look at Damien but strangely enough, the belt was stuck.She jerked at the seat belt in frustration, and Damien turned to her alerted by her movements. "Here, let me help you." He said as he took his off, and leaned towards her to help her with the seatbelt.Lana put up a hand quickly at him, her heart beating loudly once more at his closeness, "No." She said quickly, "I'm fine. I'll just do it myself."A tiny frown furrowed his brows as he reached for the buckle nonetheless, "Relax, Lana." He said to her, carefully undoing the clasp that kept her stuck to the chair, "I'm not going to bite."Lana let out a breath she did not know she was holding as she felt the belt release her but that relief was short lived as she realized that Damien was still leaning close to her.She froze, unable to take her eyes off his face ab
Chapter One Hundred And EighteenDamien stood arms akimbo in front of his desk, looking pissed as hell. He could not believe the news his assistant was giving him at the moment.The police could not find anything in the video linking Aryan to Lana's attack? The video was enough proof in itself, dammit!"Ludovic must have pulled some strings," he muttered bitterly to himself, "He really has a death wish.""That's bullshit!" He swore loudly after sometime, getting more and more annoyed as he thought about it, "What are the cops doing? Do I have to do everything myself?!""No, you don't."Both men turned to look at Lana as she strode into the room, confidently. She gave them a square look as she walked up to them, and stood directly in front of them.Damien scowled and turned away from her, "You're really not supposed to be here, Lana." He said in a cool tone, his expression impassive, his demeanor different from the seething man of a few moments ago, "And besides..." he turned to glare
Chapter One Hundred And NineteenDamien arched an eyebrow at her as curiosity drew him from the windows, and over to the desk."My grandmother?" He asked, his voice wary as he looked at the box. Lana watched him pick up the small black box and scrutinized it from all angles, his brows furrowed in a small frown.He did not reach to open the box as he eyed it, warily, "What's in it?"Lana collected the box from him and opened it, revealing the letter and the tapes before setting it back down on the desk, "A few months back, Diego gave me this parcel." She swallowed a hard lump in her throat as she reached for the letter and handed it to him, "Apparently, I was supposed to receive it five years ago. Right before she...before Laura died."Damien was reading the letter now, his expression unreadable but she saw the pain in his eyes. Raw pain and regret which he made no effort to hide as he looked up at her.Lana's heart ached for him. She knew it would be hard for him to read his grandmoth
Chapter One Hundred And Twenty"Uhm...you guys...I'm still here, remember?"Liam's voice crashed through the moment, released Damien from the spell of Lana's tearful eyes. He clenched his teeth as he turned to glare at the assistant, who gave him a defiant look in return.He could have easily walked out of the room to give them some time to themselves, but he was very much interested in their new found case. It was late and he needed to know the next line of action to take concerning this matter, and he needed to know it that night.Lana was so drowsy by then, that she could not sit still. Her eyelids drooped close as her head lolled forward, crashing against Damien's chest.He held her securely, and she did not resist when he hoisted her into his arms, and carried her bridal style out of the room."Wait here." He ordered Liam, who sighed heavily in reply, but did not utter a word.Lana snuggled against Damien as he carried her to her room, rubbing her cheeks against his hard chest.
Chapter One Hundred Twenty OneLana's hand flew to her mouth as she stifled a scream, when the door to her left was pushed open, suddenly. She watched with eyes bulging, as Damien walked out of what seemed to be the bathroom, toweling his hair furiously. She stood completely still, and Damien was still unaware of her presence as her eyes became glued to his body. She allowed her eyes to run slowly down his body and her mouth went dry.Damien looked glorious, with his taut body and ripped muscles. His chest was massive and she stared appreciatively, allowing her eyes to travel past his lean stomach and then to his...Lana swallowed hard as her gaze fell on his length, and her jaw dropped open slightly, unable to take her eyes off his massive rod. It laid in a semi-flacid state and as she watched, her eyes widened in fascination when she saw it grow hard.Wait, why was that happening?Suddenly, it occured to her that the only sound that could be heard in the room, was her breath coming
Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-Two"Miss Lana!"Lana jerked upright as Mandy tapped her arm, and the sheaf of papers she had been holding fluttered to the floor. Mandy looked alarmed but without another word, she bent down and started retrieving the papers from the floor.Lana blinked in surprise and quickly assisted her to retrieve the papers, muttering her apologies."So sorry about that." She said to her assistant, who smiled warmly, although she was worried about the head of design team. She'd been at Lana's desk for over thirty minutes, going over some designs and files when she suddenly realized that Lana wasn't listening to her.Lana sat still, staring into space and unblinking. Her breath was coming out in short gasps and her eyes were glazed, completely lost in whatever she was thinking."Is everything okay, Miss Lana?" Mandy finally asked, her voice tinged with concern, "You look flushed." She said, her eyes roving over Lana's heated cheeks "What were you thinking about?"
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-five "Let's go in, first." Anila said urgently as she walked into the corridor and pressed the button on the wall, watching with bated breath until the shelf slid back into place.She turned to Adrian then, "What about the young Miss?" She asked as she walked past him, "Is she okay?""Screw the young miss." Adrian spat out loudly in anger as they both entered the small room, "What the hell is going on? Who the hell were those men?!"Adrian was clearly frustrated. He did not mean to yell and rarely lost his cool, but he was pissed with what just happened a few moments ago in his own house.Anila sighed, "if you will only let me explain, then I will. Stop yelling at me." She reprimanded him as she walked over to Lana.Lana was huddled on the bed, cowering under the bed covers in fear. She and Adrian had stayed back in the room when Anila had gone out.She had been trembling and whimpering in fear as they heard the men ransacked the room, while Adrian pace
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-FourThe banging on the door continued and silence fell in the room.It took a while for Lana to realize that the banging was not actually on the door to the room.It sounded farther, but that did nothing to ease the trembling of her body or the loud thumps of her heart beat."I said, open up!" Another yell came and this time it was accompanied by a solid thump, like a vicious kick to the door."What the hell? Who knocks like that?" Adrian said, frowning in annoyance. He was about to walk towards the door when Anila stopped him."No Adrian! Don't go." She called out to him, holding out a hand to stop him.Adrian looked from the door to his mother, "What?" He asked, his confusion becoming more apparent. Lana exchanged a frightened glance with Anila, who was calmer actually.She patted Lana's hand then stood up and walked towards the door."I will go out and meet them" She said calmly to Adrian."Excuse me?" Adrian asked, arching an eyebrow at that state
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-ThreeThe words were hardly out of his mouth when the door to the room was pushed open and a middle-aged woman appeared.Lana turned to the door sharply, fear written all over her face as the woman walked into the room silently, and her eyes met that of Lana's. The next instant, they widened with joy and relief."You're awake! Oh thank heavens!" She said as she rushed towards Lana and took both of her hands in hers, "I knew you'd come around! Bless the heavens!"She turned to look at the red haired man, who went about his watering as calmly as before."Look Adrian, I told you she'll be fine." She said as she beamed up at Lana, because she was clearly four inches shorter than her."I know mother," The red haired guy, Adrian replied drily, "I treated her."Lana stared at him, "Treated?" She asked, eyeing the guy in surprise.He was a doctor?The middle aged woman nodded, "Adrian had found you in the forest when he went for his morning walk." She explained
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-TwoShe was in the forest, running with her hands stretched out in front of her as she stumbled over fallen tree logs. Her dress was torn and her knees were scraped. She was limping due to the cuts under the sole of her feet, which the cool damp earth of the forest did nothing to soothe.Yet, Lana ran.She was blinded by a film of tears and terrified gasps came out of her mouth as she stumbled through the dark forest."LANA!"He was close!He would get her and throw her back into that suffocating place. Taking control of her whole life."No, never..." Lana muttered breathlessly as she ran. The moon was hidden behind the huge rain clouds filling the sky now. Now, and then, lightening cracked through the sky, sending a flash of white through the forest.The rumbling of thunder will follow soon after and it made Lana shriek and shudder in terror as she ran.No! No! Stay away, please!Suddenly, a hand shot out from before her and grabbed her throat tightly,
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-One.Lana turned sharply and looked into the darkness behind her. It seemed as though she'd heard something scream. Or was it her imagination?Imagination or not, it was definitely the cue she needed to open the fucking trapdoor. Luckily, the trapdoor wasn't locked and opened up easily before her to reveal another darkness below.Lana swallowed hard as a sudden rush of cold air hit her face. She shivered uncontrollably and willed her beating heart to calm down.This was just the same as walking into the passageway, she reminded herself, Everything will be fine. There are no snakes waiting down there.The way the wind whistled from below made her wonder how far the drop was.She laid down the trapdoor, and peered down into the hole with her torchlight. The beam flashed on a slab of wood below her, then another and another all connected with a rope.A ladder!She allowed the light of the torch to travel down until she finally saw the ground.It was not ve
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty Zaire was still in his study with Aryan, who was making numerous calls.It really seemed like Romero was on his way to Moreno, due to the tip off that Rina had given them.Zaire regretted ever revealing this place to Rina. He had brought her here as well and a bitter taste filled his mouth, as he realized how her presence must have tainted his precious sanctuary."I really should have killed her a long time ago." He thought to himself as he downed the contents of his second glass of whiskey.Well, there was still time.He could still kill her and also give the same treatment to his beloved half-brother. A slight smile curved his lips as he relished the thought of Damien coming to challenge him on his own turf.He'd be able to come in easily but to go out will not be so easy.He also regretted the fact that he'd brought Lana to Moreno. He could have easily taken her to Italy or Cuba, but he figured they were too far away and he needed to still be able to
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-NineGripping the metal torchlight to her chest, Lana hurried back into the room and climbed unto the bed once more.She glanced back at the door, her ears picking up every little sound. She expected it to open up at any moment and Zaire would walk in.She'd get caught before she even started anything and faced with more torment than she could imagine."There's no time to waste." She reminded herself as she edged closer to the wall, "Let's get out of here, Lana."Slowly, she reached out her hand to the wall and pushed it. The wall did not budge.Lana swallowed hard as her heart started beating faster once again.What the hell? Why isn't the wall opening up now?She pushed the wall again with all her might and still nothing."Okay Lana." She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Remain calm and think. We have to open this wall."She closed her eyes and tried to remember how she'd had managed to open the wall earlier that day.Her memory was fuzzy w
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-Eight"It seems Romero has been able to gain access into our base.""The fuck did you just say to me?!" Zaire snarled as he pulled the door to Lana's room close behind him, "He accessed our base? How the fuck was he able to do that with his weak system?!"Aryan swallowed hard as he spoke carefully, "It seems he had help from Fernandez." He informed Zaire, "The email which we sent to Miss Vermont was the key to the base, sir."Zaire immediately gripped the collars of Aryan's shirt, fiercely and drew him to him, "You said there was no way they'd be able to trace it!" Zaire said harshly, baring his teeth at Aryan, "What is the meaning of this sloppy work?!"Aryan averted his gaze from Zaire, even as the strain of his collars being gripped was making it difficult for him to breath."I'm sorry, sir." He uttered in a small voice, looking more than a trifle apologetic, "I made sure I looked through it all but Fernandez has one of the best IT teams and system i
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-SevenLana laid perfectly still in Zaire's arms, hoping, praying silently that he falls asleep.It was still freaking daylight and if she was to get out of the house and still manage to find her way around this place, then she needed to do it during the daytime.The thought of making her way around the walls of the house at night filled her with fear, but it did not kill her determination.Besides, it would even be easier to do so when Zaire and Aryan are asleep. Zaire does not usually come to check up on her at nights, but the bastard was changing.He was getting bolder, climbing into bed with her. It was only a matter of time before he convinced her they were lovers, and there was nothing wrong with them being intimate.She had only managed to put him off for so long using the fact that she did not know him so well.Zaire had been decent all along, patiently waiting but she guessed his patience ran out with this little act of his now.The words he'd s