Chapter 2

The instant the water drenched him, Quill's body went rigid.

He stared at me wide-eyed, his voice trembling.

"You... you actually dared to do that to me?"

The next second, his personal bodyguard, Raul Vega, whipped out a handgun and aimed it at me. "You're dead!"

Just as Raul was about to pull the trigger, Quill snatched the gun away, his voice dropping low.

"Did you forget the rule I set? Nobody is allowed to harm Claire on a whim. Including you."

Raul looked wounded.

"But she just disrespected you!"

Quill closed his eyes, a flash of anger crossing his face.

"I give the orders, Raul. Don't tell me how to run my business."

Then Quill pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his soaked hair, his reddened eyes locked on me.

"Claire, you didn't used to be like this.

"You used to be so gentle and obedient around me. You never dared to defy me."

His voice grew hoarse.

"Why is it that after only five months apart, you've become a completely different person?"

Quill's question brought back memories of my days with him.

After I entered that secret arrangement with Quill, he installed a tracker on my phone.

He dictated that I could only travel between the hotel and his villa each day.

One time, I went to my cousin's birthday party with my family.

It didn't wrap up until past eleven at night.

Terrified that Quill would be angry, I rushed to his villa without stopping.

The moment I reached the front gate, Raul charged at me with a dagger.

He pressed the blade against my throat, his face contorted with rage.

"Claire, you've upset the Don!

"He's been waiting for you since six in the evening. When you didn't show, he drank whiskey after whiskey until his stomach started bleeding!

"The private doctor is giving him an IV right now!"

Then he dragged the knife across my neck, leaving a thin cut.

Blood dripped from the blade's edge onto the back of my hand. I was so terrified I burst into tears, my voice shaking.

"I... I promise, I'll... I'll never go anywhere Quill can't track me again."

In the dead of night, Quill came to.

He tied me to the bed, roughly stripped off my clothes, and bit down hard on my chest, leaving a deep bite mark.

The pain brought tears streaming down my face.

He cupped my face, wiped away my tears, and gazed at me with those deep, consuming eyes, as if he wanted to swallow me whole.

"This bite is my mark.

"Your body belongs to me, Claire. No one else.

"Remember that. From now on, you are never to have contact with anyone but me."

I nodded frantically, my entire body trembling.

Quill was obsessed with porn.

He was always trying whatever he learned from it in our bed.

After each new experiment, he would ask me the same questions again and again.

"Am I the most incredible man you've ever had?

"Claire, I want every single time to be unforgettable for you, alright?"

Later, I got pregnant.

But when I told Quill, his face darkened instantly.

"You can't have this baby."

I asked through my tears, "Why?"

"The Moretti Family had one iron rule: every Don had to have his children with a wife of equal standing!"

The voice belonged to Luca Moretti, the Family's consigliere.

He walked toward me slowly, leaning on his cane.

Raul supported Luca's arm, shooting me a look of pure disgust.

Luca was also the Family's chief legal authority and its behind-the-scenes power broker. He directed every piece of dirty work.

That gave him the authority to deal with anyone who supposedly tainted the Family bloodline.

By now, Luca had reached me, his eyes full of contempt as he looked me over.

"If some lowborn nobody like you were to bear the Don's child, the Moretti Family would become the laughingstock of the entire world! And Quill would be cast out by every member of the Family!"

Raul quickly chimed in.

"You're nothing but a hotel housekeeper, a rat that can't stand the light of day.

"For Quill's future, get rid of this baby!"

I clenched my fists, fighting back with everything I had.

"No! This is my first child! I can't give it up!"

I grabbed Quill's hand.

"This is your child too, you..."

Quill's eyes were rimmed with red, his voice raw as he cut me off. He reached out and gently touched my face. "Claire, please..."

I turned my face away, stepped back, and fixed him with a look of pure hatred.

"I hate you!"

Quill took a deep breath, his expression torn.

"Claire, before we got together, I told you. My wife can only be my first love, Sherry.

"She's my equal in every way. I'll wait for her to come back from studying in Paris."

That night, my stomach was suddenly seized by violent pain.

Blood poured from between my legs.

My baby was gone.