LACHLANMy little kitten let out a beautiful gasp as her lips parted for me. She let me devour her, melting into the kiss. Her tongue coming out to tease mine and when I sucked on it, her hands gripped my shoulders. I banded my arm around her and adjusted her until she was straddling me. I deepened the kiss, tasting her gasps as she settled over my hard cock.I had been hard since she’d come down to the dining table, just the sight of her had made me want her and take her. And then Jeremiah had humiliated her in front of everyone. I didn’t like that he had humiliated her for his revenge. It would’ve been different if it'd been for her pleasure and for ours but he did it for his revenge to shame her. And yet still, I had become hard when I had seen her eyes, for one single moment she had almost looked like she wanted me amidst her ordeal.Now her labored breathing fanned across my cheek as I trailed my lips down to her chin, jaw and neck. She arched, and sighed, as I placed open mouth
JEREMIAH I watched her.Her eyes were wide with curiosity, lips parted as she hung onto every word that left Lachlan’s mouth. I should have been the one telling her our past, not him. But no— I had been too distracted, too consumed by thoughts of making her pay now that she was finally in my grip. I had forgotten to begin the history lessons as I had planned.Instead, I had wanted her out of my sight as soon as possible because I wasn’t sure what I would have done next. Every time I looked at her, all I saw was fire closing in around me— then waking up in a dark cell, my body marked with the scars of her betrayal.There was a time when I had stood where Lachlan was now, wanting to shield her, keep her safe, wipe away her tears, and offer her the solace of my presence. But that time was gone. It was never going to happen again.And I would make damn sure my little shadow didn’t fall for her lies and end up scarred, too.Last night, I had thrown her out of my bedroom and stopped Lachla
Twelve Years Ago ____Innessa: 18 years oldJeremiah: 24 years old ____JEREMIAH I sat in Giorgio Sicilian’s office, was poured the finest whiskey the man had as he sat across from me.Now, you must be thinking— why would a man who came to Italy with the sole purpose of destroying Giorgio Sicilian be sitting in his office, sipping his whiskey?The answer was simple.Because at this moment, I wasn’t Jeremiah Sokolov, heir to the Bratva. I was a businessman from New York, looking to invest in his third-rate weapon manufacturing industry.My disguise was flawless.A slate-grey Armani suit, Italian leather shoes, and a French beard— just for effect, I like to check all my boxes. Contact lenses concealed my grey eyes because Lachlan claimed they always gave me away as a predator. My little shadow was perceptive and I always take his advice with a grain of salt. After all he was the only man I trusted with my own life and not to betray me.And to top it off? I was wearing spectacles I di
NINA The low hum of the car was the only sound filling the thick silence between us as the three of us sat, going to my first public appearance as Jeremiah Sokolov’s wife. I was tense, nervous, not knowing what to expect and the two men surrounding me like I was there pet to display were sitting back like they couldn’t feel my growing agitation. But there was the tension in the air around us, too suffocating to go unnoticed. Outside, the foreign city stretched in all directions, neon lights bleeding into the darkened streets, casting fleeting shadows against the tinted windows of the Rolls-Royce. The car was sleek, all black with an interior of deep red leather that smelled of luxury and power. Everything about it screamed and represented what the owner was — polished, controlled, with an underlying edge of danger. What it couldn’t show was how lethal and fucking arsehole the man who owned was. I leaned back, trying to relax. But it seemed impossible to relax with was Lachlan sit
NINA “What will it be, my little shadow? Your hand or my belt?”Before I took my next breath, Lachlan’s fingers curled around my wrist and he was pulling me down on his lap. I fought, tried to twist my wrist free. But Lachlan held on. “Lachlan! Are you mad? How can you listen to him? Let me go!”The monster tsked. “Look at her, she thinks you’ll do whatever she wants. She thinks she has you wrapped around her fingers just because you fucked her and made her come.”Lachlan was staring at Jeremiah, his eyes still locked with his. And it felt like he had shut me out and no matter how much I tried he won’t listen to me. I touched his face with my free hand. “Lachlan, please…. You don’t have to—”“Shut up.” I froze. And in the ensuing silence the monster chuckled.Lachlan met my eyes with his green ones, they were reserved now as he said, “You heard him. We disobeyed him. Do you want to get the belt?”My throat went dry.Until now Lachlan had never talked to me so coldly and treated m
NINAMy phone.I almost lunged out of my seat, but held back. Barely.He chuckled. “Patience, wife.” He stared down at my phone. “I'm going to give it to you. It’s your gift after all.”“But?” I gritted out, my pulse still running rampant and my heart beating fast. I could feel my whole face covered in a pink flush from what just happened, but looking at the men sitting across me no one could tell what they made me feel and how. “Aren’t you smart?” His grey eyes gleamed. “You’ll get this at the end of the night, but only if you behave for the rest of the evening.”I glared at him. My teeth clenching.“And first step to getting your phone is showing us how wet you are.”“No.”All the amusement left his face. “What did I say about that word? Do it. Or, I’ll fûcking parade you naked in that party.”“I hate you.”“Hate me while you obey me.” He gestured at my dress. “Remove your panties, part your legs and hold yourself open.”I wanted to scream. Not for what he wanted me to do.Because
NINA“So, how’s married life treating you?” One of the women asked, a smirk curving her red-painted lips.I glanced at her, then at the rest of the women gathered around me. Wives of the extended members of the Familia, all dressed in silks and diamonds, their smiles sharp, eyes watchful.Another woman laughed lightly. “Oh, let her be, it’s only been two days.”Two days.It felt like a lifetime.Lachlan had whispered to me before he left my side, “Make your mark, little kitten. They should know you are Pakhan’s wife.” But I had no idea how to do that. All I wanted was to get away from their probing eyes.Their gazes swept over me like predators assessing prey, all while smiling sweetly. But those smiled couldn’t hide the curiousity burning in their gazes and envy. They hated that I was standing where they thought someone else should be— one of their own.Because to them I wasn’t the right woman to take the place of Pakhan’s wife. And to them, that was all I was now. A title. A pawn. A
NINA Anastasia slid on a bar stool and motioned for the bartender. She ordered vodka and I did the same, her blue eyes brightened at my choice of drink. “On three,” she said. And we simultaneously downed our shots at her count. Both of us shared a grin. And sitting with her, I felt a little relaxed, also missed Riley. My friend was younger than me too, at thirty I felt like everyone was younger than me. Especially Valerie, she seemed like fresh faced innocent with a body to make any man fall for her and she was supposed to marry Jeremiah. I didn’t know why I was fixated on her. Maybe it was indeed about vanity, and I was one of those shallow women who cared about how I looked."So," Sia said, leaning against the counter, "I assume you are not much fan of the Sokolov family as everyone else is.”I looked at her and hesitated. She drew closer, her voice dropping, “Don’t worry. I am not going to tattle on you. Let me tell you a fun fact,” If it was possible, her words turned softer,
ROSE My body was frozen from the fear of my own desire. His gravely words, his fury was making me want him more. It was almost ridiculous that I could feel the flutters in my lower belly. I knew he was going to spànk me like the other day, but unlike that day now I knew what was going to happen and as much as I feared it, the buzz of anticipation in my body couldn’t be ignored. You've really gone mad, Rose! Ryan pushed me on the desk, still maintaining the grip on my tied wrists. As far as I knew he pulled something from his pocket, something silk and cool to the touch with which he tied my hands together. I startled as he swept the hair off the back of my neck which he had unravelled and then surprising me he placed a gentle kiss between my shoulder blades. He followed my spine all the way down to my ass where he traced the waistband of my panties with his fingertips. I sucked in a breath as without any warning he dragged my pantîes down to my knees. I could feel his hot
LACHLAN I flung the office door open as I entered, my pulse still thrumming with the aftermath of witnessing her break down and looking at me with disgusted eyes, shoving me away like I was filth. Like she couldn’t look at me for one more moment, like she couldn’t bear my touch. She hated me. And god, it hurt.Jeremiah looked up from his desk, a half empty glass of bourbon in his hand even though it wasn’t even noon yet. His grey eyes travelled down me and I saw the possessive gleam he didn’t hide. Any other time I’d have enjoyed his gaze on me. But now. I slammed the door shut behind me and marched to the desk behind which he sat.Her arched a blond brow. “I thought you’d have a better disposition after last night.” I glared at him. He said, “You did sleep like a baby, but I see something have upset you again. What is it?”“Nina.”In a blink, his expression changed. His jaw tightened and his eyes turned cold. “What about her?”“You should’ve seen her,” My voice was low. Tight. “She
NINA It was ten in the morning when Lachlan entered my room, bearing a breakfast tray in his hands. The scent of buttery toast and coffee curled around me. If he thought it would fix things, like food could erase the way I was dragged, punished, humiliated under strangers’ eyes, while the one person who promised to stay and be there for me... vanished, then he was hugely mistaken.Because his presence now, the warm food, it didn’t bring me comfort. It was a slap, a mockery. And all it did was remind me what a fucking liar he was. A deceitful fucking man. A manipulative bastard.Worse than the monster himself.He walked in like he had a right to. Like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t fractured something that was already delicate between us. Like I hadn’t been left alone and stripped bare in front of the wolves, and he hadn’t walked out afterwards instead of holding me. Instead of giving me a safe blanket he had left me in the care of the monster.He put the tray on the table near
NINA My eyes fluttered open and I looked at the bed beside me, at the empty space, and felt a heavy weight in my chest. Like the presence I had felt wasn’t here in the reality but deep somewhere buried in my heart. It was a dream. I told myself it could only be a dream, but its echo was wrapped around me like a comfortable blanket. Like a blanket I had adored in childhood and lost somewhere along the way, but now I could see it peeking through the clutter of forgotten things, shining and beckoning me, as it looked down at me from the top shelf that I couldn’t reach.He was there in my dreams. Once again my husband was in my dreams and he wasn’t the monster he was today. I had willingly crawled into his lap, I had felt safe with him. He was the man who’d brought me my favourite food and gave me a relief from my horrible life.I sat up slowly and let out a breath when I felt my whole body tensing up in discomfort. And then my present, my reality, rushed back to the forefront of my min
Flashback continues...NINA “You need to eat more, lisichka. How will I hunt you next time if you fainted in the middle of the chase.”I sucked in a breath, he made it sound like there was more to our little game of chase. I licked my lips and despite myself I obeyed him. Somehow it felt good to obey him, to make him see that I could do whatever he wanted from me.As I ate, I watched him. And watching him, made my body relax. It always did when I am around him, except that initial nervous energy that takes hold of me. But being close to him, my muscles would relax, no longer coiled up to fight or run from danger. Even though I knew he was dangerous, he felt less so with every other threatening presence around me.And it was all because of the last few days. Because something had changed without me knowing it. The quiet between us wasn’t threatening anymore. It had morphed into something else. Slowly, subtly, it had become a respite from the nightmare that was my life. I used to be s
Flashback #4 NINAThe house was quiet. And it was way past midnight. But I was still waiting… He hadn’t come yet.I didn’t even know when it had started, this habit of waiting for him. Of glancing at the balcony doors every night, my breath catching at the slightest shift of shadows, thinking that he had finally come.But he wasn’t there.For the past ten days, he had come at midnight like clockwork. But even though he had been at the dinner table last night because my father had invited him, he hadn’t come to my room afterward like he usually did. And it seemed he wasn’t going to come tonight either.With a disappointed sigh, I slid down on the bed and pulled the covers over my head. I was just about to let out a frustrated breath when I heard the balcony door creak open, and the air in my bedroom shifted with his presence.Jeremiah Sokolov.The Russian. Enemy of my father.And my only chance at freedom.The small lamp at my bedside table barely illuminated him, but I knew exactly w
LACHLAN "Then maybe you never did.” And then he walked past me. But I wasn’t done.His words made a crack inside my chest, spilling the pain and making a mess. “So that’s why you chose to do what you did tonight, to test me? To hurt me, because you think that I never loved you.” I whirled him around by his arm and glared at him, “If you want to punish me then do so… don’t fucking use her, or question my feelings in this way,” I yelled, my calm that I was known for was nowhere to be found. And because I was filled with so much need to destroy something, I grabbed the bottle from the bar and threw it across the room. It shattered on impact, but not nearly loud enough to compete with the noise inside my chest. I'd need something else to drown that out. “And you will take that punishment? To spare her?” He asked, his grey eyes glinting with a warning. If I was sober, I would’ve laughed in his face for being jealous of me and Nina. Wasn’t it him who brought her in our lives? Wasn’
LACHLAN I didn’t know how many drinks I have had. At least it had stopped hurting at some point and now all I was filled with was this rage that needed an outlet, or someone to blow it out a breath at a time. I tried the easy method, I went to her bedroom. But I found her sleeping, peacefully, or maybe once again she was lost in another of her nightmares. But I saw her wet hair and the jar of ointment on the bedside table and I guessed that Jeremiah, for once, had taken responsibility and done the aftercare like she needed. At least I hoped that it was him.I hovered near her bed for a while, and then tugged the covers down and glared at the marks that I revealed. Fucking Jeremiah. Fucking arsehole, for not only doing this to her but also in front of them all. He hurt her. He humiliated her. Degraded her in front of everyone and I was okay with it. He wanted to take it out on her. He wanted a sense of satisfaction for the pain he went through. He wanted an outlet and he got one i
JEREMIAH When I finally put her down on the tiled floor of the bathroom, she stumbled but caught herself on the sink and then she glared at me. “Get out.” I looked down at her. My suit jacket had slipped off her shoulders, and she stood there… Naked and vulnerable. Looking too small. When I didn’t move, she grabbed the first thing she could get her hand on and threw it at me. A toothbrush. I let it hit me in the chest, before it dropped down on the floor. I took a step toward her and grabbed her arms. “You either let me do this, or you sit here all night crying like a broken thing.” “Why do you even care?" She gritted out, trying to pick up the bottle of hair oil next to hit me with. I grabbed her wrist. "I don't. I am making sure, you don't die before you fulfil your side of the agreement." Her eyes spat daggers at me even as tears pooled in them and fell down her cheeks in rivulets. "Go to hell!" She cursed, hate written all over her face. I grabbed her chin and forced her