LOGINEmily assured me she would hold down the shop while I went to check on Lily. What was someone’s hand doing in her apartment? It made little sense to me.“Your friend is not my responsibility, you are,” Carlos said as he opened the door for me. Not only was he my bodyguard, but he was also my chauffeur.He was supposed to drive me wherever I wanted to go, and yet, he was complaining about taking me to Lily’s apartment to check on her because it wasn’t on the schedule I gave him. He also didn’t want to inspect the severed hand she found in her apartment.“I am your responsibility, and you will go where I want you to go. I don’t know why you’re acting like your services are free. Nero is either paying you in cash or he’s giving you something in return.”He muttered a few things in Latin that I didn’t understand because I couldn’t speak the language. He didn’t say anything to my face, though. He was really quiet the entire ride, but there was tension in the car.“I can see why you and Ner
“I didn’t think you would want to work with me after what people are saying about me online. They are calling me a criminal and someone who deserves to be locked up.” I said to Emily.She was at my design shop at the agreed time. She was ready to design clothes, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to design anymore. People were calling me all sorts of things online. Some were even saying I was an embarrassment to the fashion industry.Others alleged I was a homewrecker since Nero was engaged to someone else before he announced to the world in a newspaper that I was his fiancée and his future wife. He made sure all the major blogs published articles with his name next to mine.What he didn’t know was that women were usually on the receiving ends of scandals since the dawn of history. If a man was caught cheating, the woman usually suffered the consequences while the man was said to have had a moment of weakness.Or he was said to have been seduced by a whore or a slutty woman who didn’t have an
Nero was leaving, and I didn’t want him to. But I couldn’t be a baby about it. I understood that he had responsibilities, and so did I. However, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t miss him.He had sacrificed a lot just by coming to me in the wake of what was happening in Russia. He was making headway there. He didn’t give me any details, but he promised to do so once he was finished with his plans.“I’ll try to be back in a week. I can’t allow anyone to throw you in jail.”I hugged him, putting my head on his chest. His muscular arms wrapped around me, completely enveloping me.“I’ll miss you,” I said as I lifted my head off him and got on the tip of my toes to kiss him. He wrapped his hands around my waist and kissed me back.Before we knew it, we were stumbling back to the bed and taking off each other’s clothes. We hadn’t had sex since he came back after my arrest because we were so concerned with the charges against me and my safety.His hands were all over me as mine were all over him. He
“Nero! There’s a strange man in our living room!” I screamed when I walked in and saw a guy sitting there with his legs on the table.He was dressed in dark cargo pants, combat boots, a black tee that hugged his firm muscles like a second skin, and a dark jacket on top. His long hair was in a man bun, and he had a full beard on his face.He reminded me of Roman Reigns, the wrestling champion. He had a grin on his face that I didn’t like when I screamed. He was amused by my fear, and it irked me. What kind of sick bastard enjoyed seeing fear?Nero was by my side in seconds. When he saw the man, his expression turned from concerned to sour.“Get your feet off my fucking table,” he said, and the man laughed, “I thought I told you not to scare my wife.”“One, she’s not your wife yet, and two, it’s not my fault she scares easily. She was the one who saw me sit here, and she freaked out. That’s hardly my fault, Nero.” The man answered.He spoke as you would expect a man like him to speak. H
“What the fuck happened, Dante? I went to Russia with full confidence that you would be able to take care of my wife, and you were unable to accomplish a task as simple as that.” I said.Angry wasn’t the word to describe what I was feeling. Imagine getting a call when you were across the continent that your wife had been arrested for assault and could face up to seven years in prison.I thought Dante was the best because I had trained him myself. Memories of how I had taken him off the street and trained him came to mind. I was looking for a killing machine.I thought I found it in Dante. While he wasn’t trained as young as I was, he was a quick learner, and he was willing to do anything to please me. Over the past few months, he had been failing at the task of protecting my future wife.I wasn’t happy. I still let him attend college classes when he wanted to, which wasn’t often because he seemed to have no interest in education. I tried to get him to see that education was important,
Nero embraced me as soon as I was out. He sighed in relief when he saw that in perfect health.“I go for two weeks, and this is what happens?” He asked. “Why didn’t you tell me what happened at the restaurant? I would have had them erase the evidence that you were there at all.”“I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t want you to come back to New York without finishing your work in Russia, and that’s exactly what happened anyway,” I said, “I’m sorry, Nero.”“You have nothing to be sorry for, birichina. Don’t apologize for protecting yourself.”Viktor didn’t even bother to show up for the arraignment because he knew Nero would be there. He was a coward at the end of the day, and I hoped he would just get hit by a car and die.He was punishing me after I retaliated to his harassment. I was having dinner with someone I wanted to hire, and he dared to show up and scare me. When he said he assaulted Lily, I lost it.I just wanted to punish him, and I didn’t think he would report me to the fu
I sighed, knowing I didn’t have an excuse to tell my best friend. She knew me very well, and there was a chance that I wouldn’t be able to sell her a lie. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to.“We need to go to a café,” I said.It wasn’t a conversation I was willing to have where any of my co-workers cou
That evening, dressed in a pink silk slip dress, white stilettos, and silver jewelry, I went to meet Viktor for a date. My hair was free, and I had minimal makeup on my face. It felt like a betrayal to wear clothes that Nero had gotten me to go on a date with Viktor.But the clothes, shoes, and jew
Was I immensely attracted to Nero? Yes. Was he attracted to me? Possibly. But did I see a world where the two of us would ever work out? No.Being sexually attracted to one another was one thing, and having chemistry was a separate issue. We didn’t have any between. It was nothing but pure attracti
I nervously left the VIP room and tried to walk to the bathroom, but Nero grabbed my hand. I didn’t even realize he was walking behind me until he grabbed me.“I didn’t say you could go to the bathroom. I said, Go to your table and tell Viktor you won’t be seeing him anymore.”He wanted me to be hu







