The sounds of the Casino were muted in this part of the building, the rooms housing O’Grady’s large glass covered offices. But time seemed to freeze for Bianca Cruz as she stopped in the doorway, the sight that met her eyes cutting sharp and cruel against the silence she carried with her. Full of disbelief, Bianca’s trembling brown gaze found him, her lover, her Master. Liam O’Grady.And she noted, with a dull , distant shock, that his hands were tangled in another woman’s hair, his lips hungry on hers.Wen Jing, she thought with an ache tearing through her sharply. the woman who had always seemed to be around O’Grady, hovering, like a moth…Bianca had stopped dead, her whole body jolting as if she had been struck, causing St Just, who had come in right behind her, to slam into her, grabbing her upper arms to steady her and himself.He let out a series of expletive as he saw what was happening.From a great distance, Bianca heard St Just calling her urgently,“PET! Bianca!!!”But fo
Bianca had been fidgeting restlessly on the couch, moving to the window, to stare out at the black night unseeingly.It was snowing. A light snow, with a prediction of more to follow as the weather forecaster had declared helpfully. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she stood, waiting for O’Grady.St Just, who was doing his best to stay awake, studied the profile of their Pet, his heart aching for her. He would never tire of looking at her.St Just’s tawny eyes slid lovingly over the curve of her cheek, delicate, yet full of the quiet strength he knew she was capable of. The long lashes fluttered as she lifted her lids to stare outside; the slope of her nose, the curve of her full lips, and her cheek…She was like a porcelain statue, standing there, rigid with tension but so achingly beautiful, he felt his heart swell with love for Bianca.He loved her, he knew he loved her more than she loved him; but it was something he had grown to accept. Wen Bianca looked at the charming, rakis
Bianca had been alternately hurt and then angered by O’Grady’s remarks; she had stared after him, open-mouthed, as he strode off, the fury in his body evident as he walked away, ignoring baby Cian, who sat in his high chair, stretching out his arms to his parent.He had spoken in such an uncontrolled way, she told herself, biting back her tears as Syl raced out of the kitchen to scoop up the bewildered-looking infant, who sat, his lower lip trembling, preparing to burst into tears. Liam O’Grady had not just been hurtful, he had also been unfair, she thought righteously, trying to stem her sorrow at having been unfairly judged. Finn St Just, the more mature of the two siblings, had read the situation at once. He knew that deep down, O’Grady wondered if there would come a time when Bianca would fall out of love with them. Because Bianca Cruz was smart, beautiful and definitely more intelligent than the Irishman. She had brought in more profit at the Casinos than the Irishman had done
Bianca settled into a new routine. Every morning, she spent time at home, sometimes working on St Just’s accounts and those of the Casino from her little room, that had been converted into an office for her.Baby Cian, of course, dominated her day, and she worked between breaks, her major time spent playing with her son. if the weather was good, she would wheel him in a pram into the sprawling park, opposite their apartment building. There she walked, observing the people around her, the couples, the joggers, the walkers, the young children and their mothers. It filled her with a sense of peace as she wandered around, always accompanied by Brick and another man, never alone. Sometimes she would sit down on a bench, her hand on her baby’s pram, as she spoke to himself, babbling happily as she observed the sky, the plants, the world around them. Brick hovered around; he took his job seriously and unlike some other bodyguards, he did not check his phone while he was on duty.But on that
Bianca yawned and stretched in relief. She had completed her final assignment for the course she had been working on.She shut the door behind her as she stepped into the large apartment. Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror in the hallway, she twirled in abandon.Bianca was a brown-eyed, brown-haired beauty in her twenties, carrying the kind of effortless glow that comes from youth and happiness. From being well-loved by not one, but two men!Her eyes, warm and lively, seemed to smile before her lips did, and her laughter—bright and unrestrained—had a way of filling the room with ease. There was a sensual confidence in the way she moved, every gesture infused with natural charm, yet softened by the tenderness of new motherhood. The curve of her smile, the faint flush of her cheeks, the quick sparkle in her gaze all spoke of someone both sexy and full of life—cheerful, radiant, and touched with the deeper beauty of a young mother who loved and was loved in return.Sniffing
Snake sat before the embers of the fire that had long gone out.He was staring into space, his one eye blinking rapidly, mind working furiously.Stroking his ruined face, he grimaced, making him look even more grotesque. His face was a ruin, twisted by some old violence that had never healed clean. One eye was gone, the socket collapsed into a shadowed pit, while the other glared with a feverish brightness that made his ugliness more menacing. The left side of his forehead caved in, as though some brutal blow had crushed the bone long ago, giving his skull a warped, unnatural shape. The scars dragged his mouth into a crooked sneer, so that even silence looked like mockery. When he moved, the thin skin over his ruined features tightened grotesquely, as if stretched across broken stone. There was nothing pitiable about him—his disfigurement seemed to have curdled into malice, the very shape of his face whispering cruelty before he ever spoke.Bottom of FormSnake had begun to move aroun