This had to be a dream. There was no way he just said that. I pinched myself severally to be sure I wasn’t dreaming and no, I wasn’t waking up from this. My heart was pounding so fast, I thought I would die of a heart attack.
“How do you know I want that?” I asked, shivering a little, daring to hear his reply. He smiled and licked his enticing lips. “I see it in your eyes, bellissima. I see the way you look at me. You want something you know I’m very much capable of giving to you. You want a daddy and I can be your mafia daddy.” He told me and my whole system rearranged. He knew my darkest desires! I grew up with Daddy issues, wanting a man to care for and protect me. A man to provide for me, never letting me worry about anything in the world. A man to pamper me and give me endless orgasms. I wanted a father and a lover in one man. I wanted a Daddy. I’ve been scared to talk about my fantasies with the boys I dated. I didn’t want to seem weird about wanting to call a man ‘daddy’ as he spanked me or fucked me senseless. I wasn’t specifically attracted to older men, no. That wasn’t how my kink worked. I wanted a man with absolute authority but ironically, I avoided them like the plague because I was scared to live out my fantasies. But now, everything I wanted was right in front of me—Vincenzo. “What’s in it for you?” I asked, already thinking of his dark proposal. “I get to have you.” He simply stated with a shrug. I paused for a moment. I was having the greatest contemplation of my life. “So if I accept whatever you’re proposing for thirty one days, you’ll let me go?” I asked to be sure. “Yes.” He nodded. I exhaled and without thinking further, I came to a conclusion. “So what do you have in mind?” I asked, licking my lips, already tasting the steamy passion this dangerous arrangement promised. “A lot.” He said with a devilish smile. “Like what?” Details. I wanted details. “Why don’t we start off by you telling me what you like in bed” He suggested and I bit my lips, suppressing the urge to bit my lips at his seductive words. “Um..” I swallowed, carefully thinking of what to say next. “One time, a guy I was dating in my first year in college spanked me—." “Don’t tell me about other men touching what is mine, Princepessa. Except you want me to track him down and cut off his fingers.” He said, interrupting me. I was quiet for a second, wondering why his possessiveness was so hot to me. I loved the way he was watching me like a predator watching its prey. He was exactly my type of man. Handsome and dangerous. “Sorry.” I whispered. “I like spanking and a little dirty talk.” “Nice start.” He said. “What do you think about having a Dom?” He asked and I felt like my skin was being teased with flames. “I don’t know.” I shrugged, trying to hide the fact that a Dom was exactly what I want—no, exactly what I needed. “Stop lying to me, cara. You’re blushing and I wonder if you blush everywhere too.” He said in a sexy voice as he looked at my breasts lustfully. Thank God they were covered in a shirt, otherwise he would have seen how hard my nipples were getting. “I can try it out. Having a Dom, I mean.” I told him. “Good. Because I want you to be my Submissive.” I immediately thought of my favorite movie—Fifty shades of Grey. “Like Christian Grey?” I asked, stupidly. “I don’t know who the fuck Christian Grey is but it better not be a guy you used to be with.” He said, dangerously. “No, no, he’s a character from my favorite movie.” I quickly clarified. “I hate movies.” He muttered and that was a bummer because I loved movies. “So how do we do this?” I asked, getting too eager to get tied up and fucked and then pampered. Jesus, what was wrong with me? “First, you sign a NDA.” He said and I blinked, perplexed. “Why?” “Because it’s a contract. I give you what you want and you give me what I want. If you breech it you’ll face both legal and illegal consequences.” He told me and I wondered what illegal consequences there would be. “What if you breech it?” I asked. “I won’t.” He simply replied. “Okay.” I nodded, too interested to back out now. There was this intense silent for a moment. “So..” I began, breaking the awkward silence. “Let’s say I sign this NDA. Then what?” I asked and anticipated his reply. A slow wicked grin appeared on his face. “Then, I bring heaven to you.” He told me and that was just the sexiest thing a man could ever say. Vincenzo took me out to a private dress store and not his bedroom which I thought he would. I unashamedly wanted to go to pound town with this dangerous hot man and not a dress store. “Pick any dress you want.” He told me and then went ahead to sit on a couch and crossed his legs, his arms rested on the armrests. I turned around, feeling his eyes on me as I took a look at the dresses in front of me. There was a pretty white short dress with rose prints on it. I loved it. “I like this one.” I told him and that was a mistake because when I checked the price tag, I almost choked. Nine hundred dollars for a dress!? “Nine hundred dollars.” I gasped, staring at the price tag. “Put it on.” He told me as he stood up from his seat, ignoring the fact that I just mentioned the dress was Nine hundred. I prodded to the changing room and put on the dress, it looked really nice on me, accentuating my curves and was just below my ass. “Dio Mio.” Vincenzo muttered when I twirled for him. He prowled towards me and put his hand gently around my neck. “Don’t ever check the price tag of a dress when I’m paying for it. I run more than half of Chicago and I've got more money than you can ever imagine, mi amore. Whatever my kitten wants, she gets.” He said and I hadn’t even recovered from his sexy words before he slammed a possessive kiss on my mouth. It was our first kiss and without a doubt, the best kiss I've ever had. His tongue was hot and minty, twirling in my mouth as we sucked on each other like hormone crazed teenagers making out. But, Vincenzo was no teenager, he was a man and I could feel every part of his strong and muscular body. In the dreamy moment of kissing, I accidentally slid my hand to his crotch and felt something hard! I gasped into his mouth, realizing what it was. I moaned out loud, wanting to feel more by using my body to rub on it but just then, he ended the kiss abruptly. “Stay here while I go pay for it.” He whispered against my lips before walking away to the cashier who was probably watching us kiss seconds ago. I counted to three before rushing back into the changing room with something in my shaky hands—his phone! I wanted to call my sister, she didn’t deserve to be worried sick about me while I was out here about to sign a NDA to get all my dirty fantasies fulfilled by a handsome super rich dangerous mafia boss! But how the hell do I call my sister with his damn phone when it was locked!? “0-8-0-4-0-8.” I heard him call behind me and I slowly turned knowing I was in big trouble. He caught me!I sat hunched over my desk, staring at my computer in silence. I had a blank Word document open on my screen, titled: Application for Editorial Position. I was going to quit my job at Lexton's. It already felt like a bad past. I couldn’t keep working here, not when my boss and I are breaking work protocols. Not when Nadia actually caught us. Not when everything felt so wrong. A new job in a new place felt right. I was going for that.I began typing, trying to stay focused, but a gentle knock broke my train of thought.Before I could respond, the door pushed open.“Jess?”“Darren?” I stood up, eyes wide.He shut the door behind him, smiling nervously, holding a bouquet of tulips. He looked as handsome as always—tall, clean-shaven, wearing a navy-blue shirt and jeans.“T-this is a surprise… what are you doing here?” I stuttered, swaying a little from how light I felt.“I, uh…” He stepped closer, behind a chair, the scent of the flowers filling the room. “I brought these for you.” He han
The next morning at work, I felt hungover. I sat at my desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard, trying to focus on the editing brief I’d been meaning to finish since Monday. But my brain just wouldn’t cooperate. Maybe it was because thoughts of Vince kept barging into my head. It was like trying to type through a storm. My chest ached every time I thought about him—his face, his voice. Did he not miss me? Did he not think about me? That last look he gave me... I’d broken him, whether or not I had meant to. And I’d broken myself in the process. And then there was Julian. I can't believe we kissed. It had shaken me more than I wanted to admit... and now, small thoughts of him invaded my mind every now and then. Just as I stood up to take a walk—I needed it to clear my head—a new email notification popped up on my computer screen. Julian Lexton: Can you stop by my office for a minute? I stared at the screen for a few seconds. Why did he want to see me? For another kiss? To strai
It’s been two weeks since I returned from Seattle. Two weeks since I witnessed the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen. It left me empty, a hole in my heart, like someone had ripped out everything that made me feel alive and just… left the shell. Joyce and I started seeing a therapist, Dr. West. He’s good, really patient, but I could tell even he was a little overwhelmed by us. Especially me. I was still too sunk in grief, too haunted by everything I had lost to really open up. But I was trying. After another week, I forced myself to resume work at Lexton’s. Thankfully, Noah had spoken in my favor, put in a word about everything I’d been through. Still, I had to send a ton of apologetic emails and agree to a small cut in my salary. Honestly, it was better than looking for a new job. I didn’t have the energy for that kind of shenanigans. “Ms. Reese?” I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts. My eyes lifted slowly, and I found Mr. Lexton, my boss, standing by my desk. I was f
"Everything keeps getting worse," someone muttered near me. It was Joyce. She'd been staring into space, deep in thought. The mansion was quiet that night—the kind of quiet that made your heart pound just to fill the silence. I hadn’t been able to sleep. Not after the funeral. Not after putting Lola six feet deep. Her face kept haunting me, our last memories together. I couldn't have stopped her death, but still, guilt weighed a ton on my shoulders. "It isn't your fault, Jess." Joyce's hand grabbed mine, interlocking our fingers. "It's that evil bastard son of—" "Stop!" I stood up abruptly. Joyce looked shocked.I paced around the room, pulling my tangled hair from my face. There was no amount of therapy that would make me feel normal again. "Are you still going to defend him?" Joyce asked. I turned to her. Tears brimmed in her eyes. "It's not his fault either, Joyce. There was nothing we could do. It was like being trapped in a nightmare." I shook my head, trying not to r
~~VINCENZO~~Bianca stood in the center of the room, eyes roving slowly over the Cross mansion like she was assessing it for hidden bombs. Her delicate fingers brushed the edges of a marble pillar. After a long pause, her sharp blue eyes shifted to me.I leaned against the wall, still nursing the dull pain in my side. The wound burned with every breath I took, but I had worse wounds inside my heart.“What are you doing here, Bibi?” I asked, deciding to go sit on the sofa before I passed out from the throbbing in my head.“Were you going to bury her without me?” I was taken aback by that sudden question.“Bibi...”“You weren’t even going to tell me, were you?” I could hear the hurt in her voice.I sighed, letting my eyes fall briefly shut. “I didn’t think you’d care.”“She was my mother!” Bianca snapped.I watched that crazy look in her eyes for a brief moment.“A mother you hated.”Bad choice of words—but I’d said it already.“She hated me first,” she whispered, stepping closer to sit
It was against the doctor's advice to be discharged so early, but Vince was the most stubborn person I knew. He desperately wanted to leave the hospital, as though he were being trapped there. Luca had arranged for a private nurse to check on him at home, but that didn’t stop me from worrying. Vince was in no condition to be discharged from the hospital. He reluctantly allowed Luca and I to take him to the Cross mansion. Once there, he refused my help getting into bed. Somehow, he managed to remove his shirt, revealing fresh bandages wrapped around his torso. The poor nurse who had to check his vitals did so under the fear of being snapped at. I left his side only to return with a bowl of freshly made soup on a tray. When I stepped back into the room, Vince was lying still, his eyes locked on the ceiling, his body unmoving, like a mountain. “I made you something,” I said softly, setting the tray down on the bedside table. “You haven’t eaten since yesterday. You need to eat som