Isla~Over the course of the next few days, Dante had been the absolute best husband.Always thoughtful, doting on me and even leaving really important meetings just to listen to me rant about mundane things.There were times when I would feel very overwhelmed with emotions, and Dante would be there, ready to let me soak him in my tears.He had even prepared breakfast for me on one of such occasions and when I teased him about being such a good cook, I saw him turn red for the very first time.Being his wife wasn't so bad afterall.Today, Dante had arranged for a surprise and had me dolled up in the most beautiful, expensive dress.Whatever the occasion was, he didn't tell me. He wanted to surprise me and I didn't mind.I smiled at my reflection in the mirror, admiring the stunning pearls around my neck; a "small" gift from Dante.Although he was nowhere to be found, even though we were supposed to leave together.Not seeing Dante anywhere around, I decided to go look for Katya, as s
Isla~I wasn't going fast enough.My feet pounded against the marble steps, the frantic beat of my heart syncing with every upward stride.What I just heard, it couldn't be true. Right?"She wouldn't leave."The words kept circling in my head like a prayer I wasn't sure anyone was listening to.I didn't want to believe what I'd heard from Katya downstairs, the hushed whispers, the nervous glances. I told myself there had to be some misunderstanding.But the second I saw Kayla's door wide open, hanging like an abandoned thought, I had a feeling."No," I breathed, the word tasting bitter on my tongue.I picked up my pace, legs moving faster down the hallway, the pit in my stomach growing with every step. My hands were trembling before I even reached the threshold, and then I saw her.Kayla.She was on her knees, a small box on the floor in front of her, neatly folding her clothes and stuffing them into it like it was the most normal thing in the world. Her shoulders were stiff, movemen
Isla~The room was wrapped in a lazy kind of silence, the kind that only came after an exhausting, sinfully satisfying night. And I would know because this wasn't the first time experiencing such.But last night. Dammit! Last night.A warm ray of sunlight had just begun slipping through the heavy drapes, casting a soft golden hue over the tangled sheets and the man lying next to me.Dante.My eyes fluttered open slowly, the soreness between my thighs the first reminder of everything that had happened just hours before. Then came the flood of memories; his hands on my hips, his mouth claiming every inch of me, the way he growled my name like it was a curse and a prayer all at once.I turned crimson."Oh God," I muttered to myself under my breath, my face heating up further as every position, every sound, and every whispered command replayed itself in graphic detail in my mind.I glanced to my side, and there he was, sprawled out, butt naked. The sheets barely covered his lower half.On
Dante~"Santos did not just take her, he also took her siblings." Vargo's words played in my head.I had earlier enlisted his help to find out more about Kayla and what she could have possibly remembered. I wanted also to know how her memories were connected to Isla and if I had to be wary of having an enemy under my roof.And I feared that might be the case."Siblings?" I had asked Vargo, as he handed me a couple photos of a young boy and girl. Both bore some form of resemblance to Kayla."Younger siblings." Vargo confirmed my thought."Santos picked them off, one after the other.""Their father owed him some money."I pondered over everything as I sat still in the coolness of the jacuzzi, my eyes closed in a bid to attain deeper clarity of the situation before me.I had to keep Isla safe, but how the hell was I supposed to do that if she kept diving head first into trouble?First, she just had to be the daughter of that asshole, Santos DeLuca. And unlike her father, Isla turned t
Isla ~I pushed the door open so wide it rebounded off the wall with a loud crack, but I didn't flinch.My eyes darted across the room in search of someone.And there he was.My father. Santos DeLuca.Lying on a bed, hooked up to wires and machines that beeped steadily, too calmly, like the past hadn't finally come to collect its debt.The room smelled like antiseptic and stale silence. The kind of silence that pressed down on your skin, heavy and suffocating.He looked… smaller somehow. Thinner. Fragile in a way that would have one showing pity for him.His eyes widened the moment he saw me, and for one second, I swear he looked almost… happy. Like he was about to smile.But I wasn't here for a reunion.I was here for reckoning.And I didn't care that he was sick.Just as my mother came storming in after me, her heels clicking furiously against the tiles, I pulled the photo out of my pocket and threw it across the room.It landed on the blanket covering his lap, face-up.Kayla.Her i
Isla~"You're Santos's only daughter, right?" Kayla's words never left my head after that chilly encounter.I remember the crazed look in her eyes as she gripped my hand tight. Even with the grin on her face, every word coming out her mouth were coming from a place of pain.I could tell. I had been there before."I remember the horrible things I endured from him." Kayla had told me with a cracked voice and shaky lips.It felt like she was reliving a nightmare, right before my very eyes."The horrible things the DeLuca family put me and my papa through... just because he was powerful enough to do so." "He frustrated my papa into selling me as a sexslave to him." "That sicko enjoyed me before dumping me off at a whorehouse." "I remember it all now."Tears streamed down my face and my entire body trembled as Kayla's words from that night kept attacking me.She had said she wouldn't hold it against me, said she would spare me."But that bastard, Santos DeLuca?" She had seethed at my f