"MARGAUX..."Alberta's voice didn't reach her ears when the now-familiar stab crushed her nerves again. Automatically, her hand found the back of her hips, trying to keep them from splitting in two. The drop of sweat that fell on her fist, resting on her lap, looked blurry. Her tummy was in pain—so much pain that she had to burst out of breath to stop herself from groaning."Are you alright?""Are you done talking?" She tightly closed her eyes. She saw double, and it was the last thing she needed."I said, I'm sorry."She didn't reply. She understood what the old woman, kneeling and crying before her, was saying, but then it just wouldn't entirely register with her. More so when everything in her mind was Rome and him alone. All she remembered was that Alberta mentioned something like 'the Don's son and mother.' Or was it mother that she said?Whatever it was, she felt her heart crunch painfully hearing it, but not half as much as the one she was trying to tolerate while sitting there
It was the worst battle he had fought. A war where he couldn't tell who was with him and who wasn't. A battle where he had to keep firing his gun while holding his cara and staring death in the face simultaneously.He lost count of the number of bullets his body took for her. His whole body was numbing, but then he just couldn't let go.His mind was empty, unable to recognize who his enemies were. Alejandro's soldiers were fighting like a group of hungry beasts. The group that broke through the gate minutes ago, which he had recognized as Marco's, was just as ferocious.He noticed one of the groups protecting him when he rushed to the parking lot. Some of its soldiers caught bullets for him, willingly giving their lives to assure that he would get where he needed to.He was in so much pain. But it wasn't because of the random bullets digging into his flesh. He knew that pain so well. It wasn't for him, but for Margaux. It was for the child barely holding on inside her.The whole world
The sun was soft as it shone over Reiti, Paso, Italy. Just like all the good days inside that villa, the gentle waves hitting the shore could be seen from where the Don sat. The mild breeze was playing with his hair as he silently sipped his wine. Soft white curtains were swaying on every open window too, making them look as if they were dancing peacefully with the mild tune he was humming. Alla mia Amata, of course."Papa?"Alejandro pretended not to see the tiny boy climbing on his lap. Instead, he covered his face harder with the newspaper in his hands, as if he were busy reading it. Nonetheless, his senses were at full alert, and he discreetly lowered one of his legs down to make sure that the child would have something to grab on to and wouldn't fall. Only God could describe how the child's mother turned into a monster whenever the child got hurt."Papa...""I'm reading, Romano," he said, dragging the child's name, copying how the baby dragged his. "Lots of news lately that could
MARGAUX ALMOST KISSED THE FLOOR AFTER HER HIGH HEELS BROKE. Her mind began cursing from A to Z, regretting why she even chose to wear that pair. She kicked off her heels and watched them glide across the floor a few inches. Getting to the Montenegro Group's offices had already been a nightmare: a late flight, a long commute, and adverse weather. She even thought God was drunk when he created Manila. Who, in his right mind, would build a civilization in a country with bipolar weather in the first place? Sweaty and exhausted, it took Margaux one more eye-roll to get over her shoes. With her lips tightly pressed together, she picked up the high heels again and let them dangle in her hand. She continued to drag her bags down the marble corridor, passing gigantic artworks one after the other. ‘What the... Where’s everyone?’ she asked herself, realizing how hollow that floor was. Other than a single guard outside the building, it was odd that none of their employees were around at all. Sh
MARGAUX WAS SILENT AS SHE SIT IN THE LOBBY ALONE. She was too absorbed in her thoughts while playing footsie with her broken shoes. There were hundreds of questions inside her head, and the worst of them was about what happened just hours ago.Everything came in a rush. The bloody, amber-eyed man passed out, and then things went out of control.She was scared for her life at first, but that changed when she heard his faltering breath. In an instant, she knew that he was dying.She couldn't remember how she managed to push his weight off her before she ran down to the guardhouse. She was shaking when she undressed him inside the company's car. Especially when she checked on his wounds and attempted to stop them from bleeding. He was shot twice.‘Undress him...’ She shook her head when his half-naked image crossed her mind. She then reached down to her calves and began messaging them. She couldn’t just sit there and admire a dying man, right? That’s too awkward."Miss?"A woman's voice
MARGAUX WAS STILL CONFUSED when she turned her head to the car’s window. She could barely see the droplets of water hitting and rolling down the heavily tinted glass. They had been driving for hours, but she still didn’t know where they were headed.‘This day didn’t happen? What does he mean by that?' Exhausted, she let her back fall against the seat. She was hungry, dizzy, and tired, but she couldn’t complain a bit. Instead, she just looked down at her hands, which were resting on her knees.They were already a few miles outside of Manila when the guards received a phone call from her father. The next thing she could remember was how one of the guards dragged the doctor out of the car forcefully with a gun pressed against her head again.The doctor begged for her life, cried aloud, and tried to escape. She wanted to help the lady back then, but she couldn’t. The guard that was left with her was eyeing her closely. Terrified, she turned in the other direction and pretended not to witn
*****FROM: margaux.montenegro@gy.comTO: alejandro.montenegro@montcorp.comSUBJECT: Where are you?Dad, How are you? Why aren't you answering my calls? The guy you asked your guards to bring here is doing well. He was feverish last night and was babbling incoherently. Your guards get Doctor Liza here every night, but they couldn't last night. It was raining hard, and Julio called in, telling us that the bridge they had to pass through broke. You shouldn't be worrying too much, though, because the guy's fever went down at around three in the morning after I gave him a sponge bath.*****MARGAUX'S FINGERS FROZE from typing on her laptop. She blinked a couple of times as she reread the last seven words of her email. Then, as if something had woken her with a slap, her eyes widened, and she began banging on the keyboard's backspace key anxiously.She rewrote, 'After our maid, Alberta, gave him a sponge bath.' She then cunningly looked at the old woman, who was busy chopping salad greens
MARGAUX PURRED when something soft and warm traced her spine. Her consciousness began to drift in and out of sleep. It was like that until those lips found the dimple on her back and bit. "Mmm..." She unwittingly buried her face in her pillow when thousands of sensations peppered her skin. "Do you want more?" "Yes." As if that was the only cue the man behind her needed, his hand instantly found one of her breasts and squeezed. The heat that traveled from his palm to her flesh was heavenly. "Oh, yes!" "More?" "Please!" "As you wished." With one swift move, the man grabbed her shoulder and pinned her down. The bed they were on was soft, but the man next to her... was lean. The brute unceremoniously dove for one of her sore breasts, just in time for her nakedness to be exposed to him. Forcing a sweet moan from her, he tenderly bit the underside of her breast, playfully leaving a mark. He wetly kissed the same skin to relieve the pain. "You like it this way, huh?" "Yes," she sai