Eliana POVThe giggles of the little girl filtered through the house, bringing a smile to my face. It seemed as if it were yesterday when I had told Luca that we were expecting a baby, and now we were about to celebrate that little baby's second birthday.“Papà!” Gianna squealed just as the two of them burst into the kitchen, Luca holding the toddler on his shoulders. “You're wrinkling up her dress,” I warned him with a stern expression plastered on my face. He shrugged nonchalantly, eliciting more giggles from Gianna. “So? She's two, no one is going to expect a perfect outfit from a two year old. Just wait until she gets her hands on the cake.”I guess dressing her up in a satin white dress wasn't the smartest idea, but I had wanted her to look like the little princess she was - at least to her father and myself. “Are your parents coming?” Luca asked, lifting Gia from his shoulders and setting her firmly on the floor. “They will be late, as always,” I responded, handing him a tray
Chapter 1Cassie POV“Show me your tits!”The creepy middle-aged guy shouted again at me as I swung around on the pole. He picked up a shot and downed it before he slammed the glass down on the table, running his hand over his shiny bald head. I ignored him, like I always did. The more wasted Gerald was, the more he'd shout and the quicker he'd get kicked out. “Come on, sexy! I came to see your tits!” He shouted again, and I hid a smile when I watched Ms. Ho summon the bouncer. Cue the shouting in three, two, one. I flipped upside-down into the “Russian Layback” pose and held it as Gerald started shouting about the lack of flesh in the club. “Third time this week. I don't know how many times the guy has to be told that he's got the wrong place,” Glitter said as she passed my podium with a tray of drinks for a corner table. She was right about that. What he was needing was a hooker, not a stripper - especially not a stripper in a bikini bar where flesh was served tastily clad in b
Chapter 2Cassie POVI ignored the feeling of being watched, knowing that it was too late to run now. There was no running away from someone like Vasilios. Even the first time had been a bitch of a task, and I'd had Eliana and Yvonne's help to do it. Now, I was as good as alone and there was no fucking way I'd manage it. “Whiskey, neat,” I heard his voice like silk, as he gave his order to Jessie. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he leant casually against the bar, his eyes glued on a pair of ladies who were dancing seductively against each other. “Yes, sir,” Jessie replied, and I swear she used her arms to push her gigantic breasts together, trying to entice him. Only the Vasilios I remembered was impossible to entice. He was practically a walking, talking statue, trained from the moment he turned eighteen to be the alpha he was born to be. Not that he was alpha yet - although, a lot can happen in three years, so perhaps he had in fact become alpha in the time I was away.
Eliana POVI didn’t go looking for trouble - in truth, it found me well enough without my help. I was just doing my thing, trying to make ends meet, and then BAM! Trouble.I walked away from table number three, surreptitiously rubbing my backside as I tried to rub away the sting from Wilson's slap to my arse. I hated that he always sat at the tables assigned to me, his eyes creepily staring at my chest whenever he gave his order like he was able to see through my clothes. He was a decent tipper, but I would totally skip out on the tip if it meant I could go home not feeling violated. Slipping behind the counter, I refilled the coffee machine and switched it on, reaching for my phone as I waited for the coffee pot to refill. “Eliana! What did I say about no phones during work hours?" my boss barked at me, his red rimmed eyes and creased clothes showing he had probably spent last night with a bottle of vodka.I rolled my eyes internally, but didn’t dare let my irritation with him show
Eliana POVDays passed without any incident, and I almost forgot about the run-in with Wilson and “the guy”.Almost.Wilson hadn't been back, not that he was missed. In fact, all the younger waitresses celebrated his absence. I personally suspected he was hiding out waiting for his face to heal up before he'd return, and there was no way in hell I was going to tell anyone what I had seen. The way he looked at me still made me shiver with repulsion."No use thinking about that waste of flesh," Ayla grumbled, irritated that I was ruining our celebrating mood with thoughts of Wilson. She was right. It was my mom’s fortieth birthday and my twin brother, Elijah, and I had planned to go all out for the surprise party - streamers, balloons, a massive birthday sign and the most delicious cake from the bakery down the road."I'm sorry I can't help you set up for your mom's surprise party, but I promise I'll be there as soon as I can," Sarah sighed, unlocking her car. "I'm secretly hoping Dann
Eliana POVMy voice was unsteady, my eyes fixed on the whip which was coiled and secured to her belt. A slow smile spread across her lips and she bent down to take my face in her hands, looking deeply into my eyes. "The auction, of course. And you, my pretty little one, will fetch quite a nice price." Her cackling laugh echoed in the empty room, a sadistic gleam in her eyes. Fuck. I was in for it now.Swallowing the panic attack which threatened to return, I sniffed the bread and smelled something slightly off about it, throwing it into the corner of the room instead of eating it. It was clearly doped with something, and I didn't want to take a chance with it. I could deal with my rumbling stomach for now. About ten minutes later, the rogue with the face tattoo came in and snapped an iron collar around my neck, pulling me to stand by the short chain he held tightly in his fist. "You're just like the little human girls tonight. Wolfsbane has made sure of that, no wolf is goin
Eliana POVAfter the auction, I'd been guided toward a black SUV with tinted windows and told to wait until my master joined me. Master! Someone fucking owned me now! It felt like forever before the door opened again and the guy who had bought me - my mate, my master - joined me, his face blank. He looked me up and down as the car began to move away from the haunted looking house before he nodded and looked away. I felt dirty, worthless, violated. All of a sudden the panic attack which had been teetering on the edge of my consciousness shattered over me and nausea washed over me. I covered my mouth as I gagged, trying to force whatever was in my stomach down so that I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of him."Stop the car," he instructed the driver. I gratefully clambered out of the car and into the bushes on the side of the road, emptying the contents of my stomach into the foliage. Just what I wanted my mate to witness! He handed me a bottle of water and I rinsed my mouth out be
Luca POVThe more Nina continued her rampage, the more I felt like putting my hands on her shoulders and shaking her until she shut the hell up. She was making the headache which had plagued me from the moment I had joined Eliana in the SUV infinitely worse. “Enough, Nina. I understand your concerns, but this is a business deal, not romantically linked at all,” I told her firmly, slumping down on the plush sofa at the foot of the king sized bed. “But she is your mate, you cannot tell me you won’t get your heart involved and neglect all that we have worked toward,” she threw back as she headed to the sideboard and poured a splash of brandy into a glass with ice before she handed it to me. I gratefully took a sip, savouring the oak notes before I swallowed and pressed the cool glass to my forehead. “Nina, I rejected her for that very reason. If it weren't for the fact that I spent far too much money getting her out of the hands of my enemies - and that she has a skill which we are d