More words? Sarah didn't know how to respond and so chose not to say anything, she felt Lorenzo swallowing before she gingerly released her wrists and stepped away from him.
Sarah made a show of rubbing them, even though the Alpha hadn't hurt her at all. Instead the omega seemed to have inflicted most of the damage on both of them. A few of her nails were broken and her fists were bruised from the few angry punches she had managed to land against his hard body. Sarah turned around to face her husband and was shocked to see that he was bleeding. He had scratches on his hands and face, including a deep, angry-looking one on his neck. He also had bite marks on his muscled forearms, and a darkening bruise on his jaw. Lorenzo saw her eyes land on the bruise and ruefully rubbed at it. "You pack a mean punch," lorenzo said sheepishly, before looking down at Sarah’s hands and swearing softly in italian. "You've hurt yourself." She lifted one and grimaced at the bruises and broken nails. Sarah snatched her hand from Alpha's, she was not sure what this weird act was about and definitely did not trust it. Lorenzo eyes darkened at her mistrustful glare, and she shoved her hands into her pockets. Sarah pushed her way past lorenzo before heading toward the staircase. "Sarah ..." Lorenzo called her she stopped but didn't turn around. "I really am sorry about what I said. It wasn't true." She knew Lorenzo’s apology was insincere. While Lorenzo hadn't ever said so, Sarah knew that he blamed the omega for the baby they had lost early on in their marriage. The fact that Sarah hadn't conceived since had merely cemented his low opinion of her "I'm going to bed," she whispered, ignoring the apology and still not looking at him. "Yes…." Lorenzo walked away heading towards the balcony while she climbed the stairs heading to her room still burying her hands in her trouser pockets. Lorenzo looked back ,Sarah was intensely aware of his eyes boring into her back as she walked away from the Alpha, and held her head up as she ascended the stairs to the second floor. Lorenzo snatched up his phone to dial a saved number. "Mr Malik?" "I assume you located your omega." His father-in-law's patronizing tone was likely directed at both him and Sarah , but lorenzo found himself feeling defensive only for Sarah . "I did. Wanted you to know so you wouldn't worry." "I wasn't worried. Sarah has always done as she's told and obviously you need to figure that out. Give her clear direction. Set your expectations. That way you won't be looking for her or have any other issues with your omega." Anger warred with shame as Lorenzo sought an appropriate response, managing not to point out Mr Malik own spouse had defied him in the end. Leaving her only daughter with him to deal alone. Sarah made her way to one of the luxurious guest rooms in the house and tears welled in her eyes, Lorenzo"s cruel words had struck a nerve. Sarah had lost the baby after just five months of marriage and three months of pregnancy, and Sarah had always felt that the miscarriage was her fault. When she had discovered that she was pregnant, she had wished the child away, her relationship with her husband had been so cold that she had been unable to fathom bringing a child into such a loveless environment. Worse, after she had lost the baby, she had been ashamed to admit that relief was mingled with the heartbreak, she had hated herself for that, she had felt that there was something wrong with her for wishing her own child out of existence, because omegas are known to be nurturing and fiercely protective of their children, she in those months after the miscarriage had thought that maybe she never deserved that child. Sarah had never shared what she had felt with Lorenzo or anyone, and they had mourned the tiny life's passing separately, never talking about it. Now she suspected Lorenzo had known all along, and that it had increased the alpha's contempt for her. Despite her extreme depression after the miscarriage, she had worked through it on his own. Luke and Elisa hadn't even known about her pregnancy. Sarah had felt so terrible about her own reaction to the baby that she had never told them, feeling that her behavior had been indefensible. But tonight, Lorenzo’s cruel taunts had quite simply sent Sarah over the edge. She sighed, trying to shake herself out of her maudlin mood, and after a quick shower, she fell into bed wearing only the T-shirt and panties that she had quickly grabbed from her chest of drawers in the master suite. Despite the drama of the day, she fell asleep almost immediately. Sarah didn't know how long he had been asleep before she heard the quiet knock on the door, she immediately awoke with shock and sat up, pushing her tangled hair out of her face."Sarah! Open the damned door!" Lorenzo angrily thumped on the wooden door again, and this time it was loud enough to make Sarah jump up and hurriedly unlock and open the door, for fear that the alpha would wake the live-in housekeeper. Despite the fact that his voice had been only a grim whisper through the wooden door ,Sarah was in no doubt that her husband was absolutely livid. Sarah stood staring up at Lorenzo in the dim light and was surprised by the flash of hot fury on his face, which was so quickly masked beneath the more familiar mask of icy indifference, that Sarah wasn't sure if she had imagined the emotion. "What are you doing here?" Lorenzo asked stiffly. "I've decided to move into this room," Sarah informed him, not quite succeeding in keeping the anxiety from her voice, and Lorenzo’s jaw clenched. Sarah had not anticipated having this conversation until morning. Lorenzo was full of surprises today. Sarah had known that he would be upset about her moving out
Lorenzo’s eyes were still locked with hers and she felt the sudden change in Lorenzo’s breathing and his heart rate. He leaned even closer, his mouth nearly touching Sarah’s lips their breath mingled and came in jagged gasps. If Sarah moved her head, just a fraction of an inch, their lips would touch, she couldn't resist and she tensed herself to do just that, when Lorenzo swore under his breath and stepped away from her. Sarah blinked and felt like someone coming out of a trance. "Just go to bed." Lorenzo put his hand in the small of his back and gave her a gentle push toward the bed. "I'm not going to have..." Sarah began to protest. "I know. I'm not exactly in the right frame of mind for it either." He prodded her again. "You won't touch me?" "Not unless you want me to." He shrugged as if he didn't care either way. "I don't want you to," Sarah asserted firmly. "Then you have nothing to worry about." Lorenzo turned away from her and stripped off his casual shirt,
Sarah clenched her fists and curled into a ball, trying not to think of the tantalizing naked male flesh lying next to her, she knew Lorenzo was awake, she could tell from the rhythm of his breathing, and obviously he knew Sarah was awake also, because the omega was way too tense to be asleep. "Just go to sleep for God's sake." Lorenzo’s impatient voice suddenly rang out in the darkness. "I said I wouldn't touch you and I won't...so you can relax!" She tensed even more at the sound of his voice, and Lorenzo swore softly. "If you can't sleep, I have the perfect solution for your insomnia," Lorenzo murmured suggestively, leaving Sarah in no doubt as to what his "solution." was. "You're not helping matters," Sarah gritted through clenched teeth. "Well, if neither of us can sleep..." "We haven't been in bed long enough to fall asleep...just hush!" Sarah interrupted and hissed. "You know you're being ridiculous, right?" Lorenzo murmured in his most patronizingly logical voic
The air at breakfast the following morning was still thick with tension. The unobtrusive staff had set out the usual Sunday morning breakfast buffet on the sunny patio next to the pool before disappearing into the woodwork. Lorenzo didn't like distractions on Sunday mornings, so he preferred not to see the staff, and usually, even though he insisted Sarah have all meals with him for appearances' sake, he ignored Sarah in favor of his Sunday Times. That morning, despite his usual barrier of the newspaper up between him and the rest of the world-meaning Sarah —she could all but feel Lorenzo’s fury. After an unbearably tense half hour, Lorenzo balled the paper up between his fists and tossed it aside before glaring at Sarah across the glass table. "I want to know exactly where you were yesterday Sarah ," he demanded. "Why do you even care?" Sarah asked tiredly. "You've certainly disappeared without explanation enough times for the both of us." "We're not talking about me
Making a drink, Lorenzo walked to their bedroom, meticulously appointed by the designer, but hardly welcoming, despite Sarah’s obvious efforts to introduce some color and soft fabrics. Everything sparkling clean. Did she spend her days dusting and vacuuming? Scrubbing? One of the corners had been converted to a makeshift office, and she studied the small laptop on the table by the window, the files neatly stacked beside it. Lorenzo reached out to open one before allowing his hand to fall away,he was about to turn back, before he noticed a page peeking from between the laptop, this time he couldn't help himself and took it out, it had Sarah’s elegant cursive handwriting, and another writing a messy scrawl caught his attention, and then the words written their, and his breath caught his throat when he read those scribbled notes.. "DIVORCE PETITION." "irreconcilable differences," "lack of communication," "emotional neglect." He frantically looks through the drawers and find
"Yes...that damned girl can't do anything right, can she?" her father suddenly grated, and Sarah’s head came up when she realized that they were talking about her. What on earth did..? "The one thing you'd expect an omega to be able to do and she botched even that." Oh God! Sarah finally understood what they had been referring to in such dry terms and she nearly doubled over in pain. "No one was to blame for what happened," Lorenzo shocked her by saying, but not for one second Sarah could believe that he actually meant it. "It was just one of those things." Lorenzo said after a pause. "Regardless," her father dismissed. "Sire an alpha on the brat and be done with it. Surely the task shouldn't be too difficult for a strapping young alpha like you? After that, you're most welcome to obtain your divorce and live happily ever after with Martina , that alpha woman of yours. 'The love of your life, that's what the press once called Sarah , right?" Martina? Sarah didn't
Sarah tried to view her features objectively, but all she could see were too large eyes framed by long, red eyelashes, a straight nose that wasn't too big or too small, high cheekbones that sometimes made her face look gaunt when she was tired and lips that looked too big for her narrow oval face. Nothing impressive-just an ordinary face that looked tired and strained at the moment, she pushed her long hair out of her eyes and was startled when Lorenzo’s reflection appeared in the mirror behind her. "I'm going to visit Elisa," Sarah told him. "Why?" he asked sharply, and Sarah shrugged, and said nothing. "I thought..." Lorenzo hesitated and Sarah’s eyes snapped up to his face in surprise. The hesitation was so unusual in her supremely confident husband. "I thought that we could go out somewhere and have lunch together. We haven't done that in a while." "Try never," Sarah half laughed incredulously. It was a laugh filled with misery and grief, and Lorenzo’s brows beetled s
"I thought I'd join you all for lunch." Lorenzo shrugged, nodding apologetically to a still-gaping Elisa. "May I sit down?" He indicated the sofa was Sarah occupying. "Yeah, if you may." Luke nodded, scowling. "No!" Both Elisa and Sarah yelled at the same time luke agreed. Lorenzo smiled humorlessly before choosing to ignore their vehement rejection and sitting down beside Sarah. Sarah shield as far away from him as she could, but Lorenzo chose to ignore that too. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his spread thighs, with his large, masculine hands dangling down between his legs. He focused intently on Elisa. "How have you been, Elisa ?" he asked gently, and Sarah could sense Luke bristling. Elisa couldn't stand Lorenzo at all; she hated his coldness toward Sarah . Only Sarah’s edict that Luke and Elisa not interfere in her marriage kept Elisa civil around Lorenzo . Luke had known almost since the beginning that Lorenzo and Sarah’s marriage was troubled, and whi
Lorenzo paused, his gaze lingering on Sarah before he continued, his voice low and reflective. “She’s the kind of woman I always pictured myself marrying. Poised, sophisticated, beautiful...She keeps all her emotions locked up tight, which suited me fine because I never appreciated messy emotional scenes. We dated and got along pretty well when we were in college. I fancied myself in love with her. It was a very neat, clinical, and uncomplicated version of love. I thought that we were perfectly suited, before things got difficult and we broke up. We both have grown up since then and realised we weren't as well suited and we thought. I- when we were together, we were...practically kids, jesus. We were so young, and just- privileged with the youth we had, free of responsibilities and societal expectations." Sarah tried to keep her expression neutral, but it hurt so much listening to her husband talk about the other woman. "Then I came here to meet your father and saw you for the fi
Sarah woke up some time during the early hours of the morning when she felt Lorenzo leave the bed. Sarah blinked in confusion, not sure how she'd gotten to bed. She was stark naked, and she didn't remember getting undressed or even coming upstairs for that matter. Sarah could hear Luciana fretting through the baby monitor and was about to get out of bed when she heard Lorenzo’s gentle voice crooning to the baby. Luciana calmed down a little, and Sarah smiled as she listened to her husband sing to the baby, Lorenzo’s sleep-roughened voice slightly off-key. His voice faded and Sarah sat up, switching on the bedside lamp and adjusting the pillows behind her back when she discerned that Lorenzo was probably bringing Luciana into the bedroom for her feed. Lorenzo appeared moments later, looking completely rumpled and wearing nothing but white boxer shorts. He smiled when he saw Sarah sitting up in bed. "Your daughter's hungry." Lorenzo’s nodded down at the fussing baby, and Sarah rea
At first Sarah hadn't been comfortable with the blatant nepotism, but both Logan and Jackson had convinced her that they genuinely saw value in her work. "Looks like she's not wanting for attention, so I'll take her beautiful mother out for a spin on the dance floor in the meantime," Giovanni said, and whisked a laughing Sarah away from Lorenzo before the other man could protest, twirling her around to some upbeat music. He'd had Sarah for barely two minutes before someone cut in, and after that Sarah was passed from partner to partner for the next half hour before Lorenzo finally claimed her. "Think you can spare some time to flirt with your husband, cara?" he asked sulkily, and Sarah blinked up at her husband uncertainly until she recognized that Lorenzo was a little jealous and most definitely pouting. The fact boosted Sarah’s confidence and brought a delighted smile to her face. "I have a few minutes to spare between dances." Sarah nodded after a considering pause, and L
"So what are the plans for tonight?" Elisa asked curiously as Sarah enjoyed the decadent slice of chocolate mousse cake she was having for dessert. "We'll probably have a quiet evening." Sarah shrugged. " Lorenzo doesn’t know it's my birthday." "Oh." Elisa glanced away for a long moment before turning back to Sarah . "Do you want me to tell him?" "No, he'd feel awful if he knew." Elisa’s lips tilted at the sides. "Well, at least he wouldn't be indifferent," Elisa said. "Which is probably what he would have been a year ago." Sarah nodded. "I know." She paused. "Lorenzo told me he loved me...about a month ago. And he's said it every day since. But, I can't quite seem to bring myself to believe him." "Sarah, it's been pretty obvious to me for a while now that he's in love with you," her cousin startled Sarah by saying. "It has?" "Yes...I think I started to see it when he tried to forgive my debt for no good reason and then when you fainted after your amniocentesis and star
It was three months later and Sarah headed down to the kitchen for breakfast and found her husband already seated at the table, newspaper in hand. He'd already dressed Luciana and had her little baby carrier placed on the table in front of him. Luciana was asleep and Lorenzo was so absorbed in his paper that he didn't notice Sarah at first. It was Ms. Brown day off, so Lorenzo had fixed himself a bowl of cereal, toast, and some coffee. Sarah smiled at the sight of them, her heart overflowing with affection for them both. "Good morning," Sarah greeted cheerfully as she headed over to the breakfast nook. Sarah dropped a kiss on the baby's cheek and then, after the briefest of hesitations, one on her husband's lean cheek. While Sarah was a lot more affectionate these days, Sarah still felt a certain reserve around Lorenzo, not sure if she could touch and kiss her husband as freely as he did to her. Sarah knew she was being silly, but she seemed unable to overcome her emotional bar
Lorenzo smiled bittersweetly. "I know you don't believe me yet," he whispered. "But I'll make it my life's work to convince you." Lorenzo bent his head and kissed Sarah gently, his lips moist, gentle, and sweet on Sarah’s. Lorenzo raised his head much too quickly, and Sarah went up on her toes to prolong the contact. "Enzo..." Sarah didn't know what to say, but Lorenzo shook his head and smiled gently. "It's okay. I just wanted you to know." Lorenzo kissed her again, a little bit more urgently this time. Sarah’s dormant hormones sprang to life in an instant, and she pushed closer to Lorenzo, deliberately rubbing herself against Lorenzo’s hardening cock. Lorenzo deepened the kiss, his tongue plunging into Sarah’s mouth in clumsy desperation, and her lack of finesse made Lorenzo even hungrier for her. "The doctor gave me the all-clear for sex last week," Sarah reminded Lorenzo, and he groaned at Sarah’s urgent words. "I didn't tell you how I felt because I was trying to
The thin sound of a distressed infant's wail jerked Sarah from a restless sleep. She sat up and fought her way out of bed before groggily trudging to the nursery. When she got there she blinked up at the already-present Lorenzo who was cradling their crying daughter tenderly in his strong arms. He was wearing only a pair of boxers and held the tiny baby up against his strong, naked chest. He was crooning gently to her and Sarah was transfixed by the sweet picture they presented. Lorenzo looked up and saw Sarah standing in the doorway. Lorenzo’s hair was messy and standing up in spikes. "Hey." Lorenzo smiled over at her. "I was hoping you'd sleep through this. You looked exhausted earlier. I don't think she's hungry. Just cranky. I think her wet nappy woke her up. I changed her and she's all dry and comfy now, but she hasn't worked the bad mood out of her system yet." Sarah walked over to them and peered over one bulging bicep into Luciana’s scrunched-up little face and smil
"I think it's time you left, Father," Sarah said voice rigid with pain, and her father sneered one last time before he pivoted on his heel and strode from the room. "Don't you dare believe what he just said, cara," Lorenzo whispered rawly, focusing his desperate glare on her. "Don't you dare!" "I know that you love her, Lorenzo," Sarah whispered. Lorenzo wasn't sure if she meant the baby or Martina, and Sarah could tell by the look of uncertainty on Lorenzo’s face that he wasn't sure either and so he was at a loss as to how to respond. "Would you try to take her from me?" "NO!" Lorenzo practically screamed, and the baby startled. Sarah soothed her with slight rocking motions until she started suckling again. Lorenzo reined in his temper and gentled his voice with visible effort. "I wouldn't do that to you. Cara I'd never hurt you like that." Lorenzo looked stupefied and hurt at the question. "But you want her..." Again the ambiguity and Lorenzo’s frown deepened. "If yo
Sarah awoke to the sound of angry, hushed voices and blinked groggily as she tried to get her bearings. "I don't want you anywhere near her." Sarah heard Lorenzo hiss furiously and tried to concentrate on the drama unfolding in her doorway where she could see two large men silhouetted. One was unmistakably Lorenzo, and the other...she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to focus a bit better. It looked like her father. "She's my daughter and I'll damned well see her when I want to," the other man blustered, confirming that he was, indeed, John Malik. "So that you can damage her more than you already have?" Lorenzo asked, almost shaking with rage. "I won't let you get close enough to hurt her like that again. And you can forget about getting that heir you want anytime soon. I refuse to give you that pleasure." "Well, then stay married to her until you do, or give up the vineyard," her father sneered. "The vineyard never meant as much to me as it did my father. You can hav