LILLIANA
Time was a torture in itself. I didn’t know how many days it had been since I was shoved into this room and cuffed to the bed, but it seemed like ages. I was tired and tormented, mentally, forced to stare at the enclosed walls around me—like the white torture used by the CIA. Surprisingly, I was well-fed and hydrated, but they were smart enough to shuffle the meals so as not to provide me with a hint of the time and day. Each time, there would be a different servant, accompanied by two armed men, making sure they wouldn’t utter a word or try to start a conversation with me. Although, after some time, I did give up, I was restless and frantic. Nerves churned me inside out as I waited—and waited indefinitely—for someone to come in. I had almost dozed off when the sharp clank of the door resonated, and my eyes flashed open. The demure servant walked in with a tray of food, with two men on her heels, as she silently dTHIRTY SIXUnlove me, I dare you. ~ seekerLILLIANABoy, Marco was right. Even though I had managed to stay wide awake the first half an hour, out of curiosity’s sake, the rest of the long minutes were insufferable.“I have to say,” I told Ralph, helping him into the car. “This was the last place I expected you to visit on a regular basis.”Ralph didn’t say anything but only smiled. It was when the car pulled into the driveway of Marco’s place, and I shut down the engine that he finally spoke, breaking into the long silence. “The first time I met Sophia, she was kneeling by the altar and praying with her Rosary beads.”At his revelation, my breath stopped for a moment.Even after twenty-four years of losing the love of his life, Ralph held onto her memories like priceless gems.This was the man who killed ruthlessly, who wa
LILLIANAA week later.I had never felt spiritually closer to my mother than before. It was those little things that Ralph told me about her that made my heart flutter in joy.Now I knew that her favorite flower was white lily because it often reminded her of her homeland—Italy; however, she equally loved the smell of rose. And even though she never really liked snowfall, she wouldn’t ever let go of a chance to spend time with Ralph even in the coldest of weather in Chicago.My mother had the toughest life being married to an animal such as Dante, and while her death was as barbaric as one could imagine, I know she found her peace in the afterlife—if there was an afterlife.“I know Sophia is smiling down on us now,” Ralph said to me the other day when I helped him to take a stroll outside the perimeter of Marco’s house.It might have taken a day or two for me t
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” ~ Kahlil GibraDOMINIC The moment those words slid out of my lips, I knew I had gone too far to come back. It hit her with force equivalent to a ship against an iceberg. Lilliana stilled under my hold; her brown eyes were wide and filled with a strange fear I have never seen before. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late. So, I released her immediately, resulting in her staggering balance to slump down on the bed with a thud. The echo her distaste was so strong, and the weight of her fear was so crushing that I could stand one more second in the room. I stormed out of there, dashing past the guards and servants peppered in every corner of this mansion, and finally managed to find an empty room. It was then the rage took over my mind, madness coursing through my veins like heroin in my bloodstream, and I needed
LILLIANA Time was a torture in itself. I didn’t know how many days it had been since I was shoved into this room and cuffed to the bed, but it seemed like ages. I was tired and tormented, mentally, forced to stare at the enclosed walls around me—like the white torture used by the CIA. Surprisingly, I was well-fed and hydrated, but they were smart enough to shuffle the meals so as not to provide me with a hint of the time and day. Each time, there would be a different servant, accompanied by two armed men, making sure they wouldn’t utter a word or try to start a conversation with me. Although, after some time, I did give up, I was restless and frantic. Nerves churned me inside out as I waited—and waited indefinitely—for someone to come in. I had almost dozed off when the sharp clank of the door resonated, and my eyes flashed open. The demure servant walked in with a tray of food, with two men on her heels, as she silently d
DOMINIC “It’s confirmed.”The words landed heavier than the thick white envelope Viktor dropped onto the dining table in front of me. My spoon froze mid-air, forgotten. I looked up slowly, eyes narrowing as Viktor loosened his charcoal-grey suit jacket and slid into the seat at the head of the table, unhurried and unreadable, as always.I waited. Nothing. He didn’t offer an explanation, not even a glance. Instead, he waved a manservant over with the same dismissive elegance he used to sign death warrants. The man bowed and began plating Viktor’s dinner.Typical Viktor—always in control, always one move ahead.I frowned, snatched up the envelope, and unfolded the paper without real interest. But then the words jumped out: DNA, probability, paternity—and suddenly, the world around me dulled into silence.Ninety-nine percent match.A fucking ninety-nine percent.My grip on the paper tightened. “How the hell
LILLIANAIt wasn’t the torturous waterboarding that clogged my senses but the unspoken truth, the ultimate hatred I saw in Dante’s expression. He was practically sneering like a wild animal at the mention of Ralph and my mother.I held no love for Dante in my heart, ever, but our only connection rested on the fact that he was my biological father.Love, in whatever form, was worth it.Backpedaling my memory, I recalled my mother’s words scribbled on the last page of a book. Did she find love in the arms of another man out of wedlock?The truth hasn’t shocked me as much as the reality of my parentage. But what has shaken the core of my existence was that I was used as a pawn for twenty-five years.I was nothing but a chess piece - to move and play, at the whim of a man who’d killed my mother.“Why?” I hissed at him from the bound chair they had left me behind.Dante’s shrugged w