GIANA POV
“Max” I moan my voice loud in the bedroom As he pushes me to the wall “I see the way you look at me, with those seductive eyes” he whispers in my ears pulling back and our lips mesh together again, sealed in a passionate kiss His fingers trail my thighs almost like he wants to carry me around his waist but I halt him immediately, “You can’t,” I say my cheeks turning pink from embarrassment, Dante could never carry me due to my size and always ended up with me on the floor and being laughed at by him. He rolls his eyes, grabs me easily, and throws me over his back, he turns to the dark bedroom my squeals the only sound he can hear. He gently places me on the bed, “I've wanted to fuck you since the very first day I saw you enter that bar” he says his lips leaving trails of kisses on my neck. Tingles fill my body, my nipples rising and trying to escape my shirt, “Please Max” I moan as his lips move down to my neck, my shirt still covering my body. “Patience Giana,” he says sweetly, his fingers slowly removing my clothes revealing my breasts to him, he cups them in his hands but they spill due to their size, I look up at his eyes shining brightly in the dark, like a child that just got handed a lollipop “You are absolutely beautiful Giana” you're literally perfect he purrs his finger tracing my nipples and leaving me in shivers “Don’t worry I know what you want,” he says in the quiet room, his lips pulling my nipples into his mouth I'm overtaken with ecstasy, my fingers claw at his shirt, begging thin to remove it. “Max please remove your shirt” I moan out loud He detaches from my breast removing his shirt immediately, he stands right in between my legs, tattoos covering half of his body, they are printed on him like ink is to paper. “Do you want me to fuck you Giana?” he raises a brow at me, bending forward slightly and holding his body up, his eyes meet with mine “Yes Maximilian, please fuck me” I whisper in his ears when I hear a loud bang. I wake up to a knock on my door, sweat soaking through my skin despite the room being cold, I breathe hard looking around the room realizing what happened last night. “Miss Giana, Mr. Maximilian is waiting downstairs for you” I hear the maid's voice, and her footsteps falter, walking away from the door I lay back down, eyes wide open, why did I dream about that? Am I that attracted to him that I would have a sex dream? I sigh thinking about last night, I accepted his offer yes, it was the best offer I've had, I would be his wife in exchange for him getting his inheritance and I would be supported and protected for a year as the contract stipulates. For someone just coming out of a marriage it's pretty fast for me. I quickly have a bath and dress up in the white dress he had given to me last night, like he knew I was going to say yes, we were going straight to the registry to get married first and then he would introduce me to his family. I think about the sex dream while I dress, the way he held me, the way he touched me, its enough to make a woman cum in real life “Giana” I hear a knock on the door, his deep voice following “Are you ready? Can I come in?” he questions “You can come in,” I say turning to the door He opens the door and his shoe-covered feet hit the floorboard his eyes rising to hit mine, we are locked in a state before he opens his mouth “You look gorgeous” he says, his mouth and eyes saying the same thing. “You are a very confident man aren't you?” I raise a brow at him “For my age, it would be weird not to be” he walks forward grabbing my hand in his hold, “The dress looks breathtaking on you” “Thank you” I step back, sending him a soft smile, “This contract, when can we sign it? And it's only for a year right?” I raise a brow at him “Right” he nods, “we can sign the documents downstairs and after that, we can head to the registry” “Thank you, Maximilian,” I say my hands folded in front of me nervously “I can't thank you enough for saving me and now, marrying me, a woman you just met” I shake my head still confused about his offer “Are you sure you want to do this?” I raise a brow at him He nods steady on his feet, “At my age, I think I know when I'm sure about a woman” he takes my hand directing me outside “How old are you even?” I raise a brow at him as we walk down the stairs, his eyes following my every move. “I don’t look my age?” he turns to me with a brow raised, the contract placed firmly on the table, I wanted to sign it last night but he asked me to go to bed and think about it properly despite me already saying yes last night “Are you supposed to look a certain way?” I turn to him slightly taking a seat and grabbing the pen, my hand hovers on the page, am I really about to do this? Marry some unknown man? I turn to him slightly, “How old are you, Maximilian?” I say my tone low and serious. “I turn 40 in a few weeks, I might be old but-” he says but his voice halts at me placing my signature on the page. “Your age doesn't matter but I just want the truth told to me at all times” I turn my narrowed eyes to him, “I don’t like lies,” I say “You have the truth” he nods, let's head to the registry, my family awaits us. “I Giana Marino, take you, Maximilian North to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish and obey, till death do us part and there to I pledge to you my faithfulness,” I say the words, he pulls out two black rings shocking me, I grab his good band placing it on his fingers waiting for him to continue his vows I Maximilian North, take you, Giana Marino, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, till death do us part and there to I pledge to you my faithfulness” he says his voice deep and low like he has gotten what he wanted without me realizing it. “You may now kiss your bride,” the Priest says Maximilian doesn't waste any time, his arms pull me closer to him, his fingers gripping my waist tightly, his fingers lift my chin to him seductively and my heart pumps so fast in my chest I think he can hear it, his lips join with mine in a short and passionate kiss, his lips moving with mine in a dance and soon he removes his lips from mine and I almost want to tell him not to stop. The priests shares a smile with us and instruct us on what to do next. Soon we are in a car heading to the biggest mansion I've ever seen, and I don’t come from a poor home and neither was I married to a poor man, I know luxury, I know money but this. “This is a castle” I mutter to myself turning my eyes to him my eyes wide open in shock “This is our new home” he replies his eyes beaming with pride as the car comes to a stop, in front of the door is a litter of people, his family. I walk forward with him, his fingers grasping mine gently and his arms around my waist in a possessive hold, my feet falter when my eyes rise to meet someone I've known for half of my life, who threw me out on the streets without looking back. “Dante” I mutter to myself “Everyone this is my new wife, Giana North” Maximilian says causing everyone to erupt in gasps like it was unexpected. “Giana, my mother, my aunt, my cousins, and my nephew” he points finally to Dante. My eyes stay wide open in shock sharing a locked look with Dante, “Lord I married my ex-husband's uncle.”/–Melody–/I didn’t sleep. The lights stayed off, the hallway stayed quiet, but I kept my eyes open.The woman from dinner had said too much to be just another patient. She knew things, about this place, about how to move through it without making noise.The next morning, the knock came earlier than usual. Firm. Not the nurse. Not breakfast.“Melody,” came the voice. Calm. Male. Professional. “Please come with us.”I opened the door to find two orderlies flanking Dr. Halpern. She wore a different outfit today—dark green slacks, crisp white blouse. Hair pinned back neatly. Serious. Clinical.“This way,” she said.They didn’t speak as they led me down a hall I hadn’t been through before. White walls. No art. No windows. Just a sterile corridor that smelled like cold soap and resignation. I didn’t ask questions. Asking questions makes you look unstable.We entered a new room—larger, more formal. The walls weren’t padded. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead. A long table stretched across t
/-Melody-/I couldn't believe that my own brother was trying to force me to go to a psychiatric hospital simply because he felt I was obsessed with him. So what if I was?That didn't mean I was crazy or anything. My head was working perfectly and if it wasn't, I wouldn't need anyone to tell me that.It was all because of that woman. That god-forsaken gutter bitch nobody he picked up from wherever. She was rhe one making him believe that everyone else was the problem when it was clearly her. It was more annoying that Maxmillian wouldn't want to hear me out. But it didn't matter. I was going to get out of here by all means necessary. All I had to do was pass their stupid evaluation and after that, I was very certain that he would hear me out. A soft knock on the door. Then it opened.A woman walked in. Lab coat. Clipboard. That smug, professional calm that all these therapists practiced in the mirror. Like they were doing God’s work. Her eyes scanned me like I was a case file before
/–Eric–/The prison gates swallowed us like a steel-jawed beast.It wasn’t the first time I’d seen the inside of a place like this, but it was the first time I looked like this walking in. Blood on my collar. One eye nearly swollen shut. Lip split wide open. Ribs cracked like dried twigs.The guards noticed. Of course, they did. They always do. But no one said a word, not at first.Lane walked two steps behind me, acting like he didn’t just beat the soul out of me in the middle of some abandoned shipping yard. The rookie kept his head down, barely speaking since we left the scene.The intake officer squinted at the bruises on my face. “Jesus. He fall down a flight of stairs on the way here?”Lane didn’t flinch. “Resisted arrest. Tried to run. Slipped during the takedown. Looked like he hit the pavement with his jaw.”The officer gave him a long look, then glanced back at me. “That true?”I could have said no, even though Lane didn't seem bothered about what my answer might be. It woul
/-Eric-/I should’ve known better than to expect a clean ride to booking.The cruiser veered off the main road twenty minutes ago, and we’d been cruising through what looked like the industrial back end of the city since. Broken warehouses. Abandoned loading docks. Not a streetlight in sight.Detective Lane hadn't said a word. Neither had the rookie. The only sound was the hum of the tires against the cracked asphalt.Then the car stopped.“Out,” Lane said, his voice flat.I cocked my head. “Don’t we usually do mugshots at the station?”He opened the door. “This isn’t about processing.”That got my attention.The rookie stepped out first, clearly jittery. Lane came around and opened my door himself. Rough hands yanked me out, and before I could say another word, I was slammed chest-first against the hood of the cruiser.“Is this the part where you tell me I’ve got the right to remain silent?” I sneered.Lane leaned in close, breath hot against my ear. “No. This is the part where we re
/–Eric–/I should have known it was a trap.From the moment my contact went silent. No calls, no texts, I felt it. That low, crawling chill in the pit of my stomach that told me something had shifted. Something was wrong.Still, I played it cool. Sat in my office like I was untouchable. Like I hadn’t just lost half my crew in a midnight raid. Like Maxmillian hadn’t just outplayed me.But inside, I was boiling.Betrayal.It reeked. I didn’t need confirmation to know where the leak came from—Piper. I should’ve cut her off months ago. But I’d underestimated her. Again. She’d always been smart, but I thought I had her scared enough to stay in line.Apparently not.I slammed the glass of whiskey down on the table hard enough to crack it, the sharp ring echoing through the room. The docks were gone. The cargo was gone. My men—arrested, dead, or in hiding.It was only a matter of time now.My phone buzzed. An unknown number.I answered, not saying a word.“Eric Mercer.” The voice was calm, s
/–Gianna–/I stood on the balcony, watching them leave. Maxmillian led the way, calm and unreadable. Dante and Piper followed, keeping just enough space between them to show that trust was still shaky.The house felt too quiet, like the kind of silence that sinks into your skin.I wasn’t going with them. That had been understood from the start.Maxmillian never asked me to join, and I didn’t offer.This life,.his world, wasn’t mine. Even though I’d been dragged into it, even though I bore the scars, I had drawn a boundary. Tonight, I stayed behind it.Still, I gripped the balcony railing tightly, as if letting go would somehow make everything fall apart. I watched until the black SUVs disappeared into the night.The fight was out there.But the waiting—waiting was harder.I paced the halls. Checked my phone again and again. Time felt slow and heavy. Midnight passed, but sleep didn’t come. Somewhere, Maxmillian was facing danger. Either walking into Eric’s trap—or ending it once and fo