Later in the evening, Chrissy and Conrad return home from work with their hands full of small bags from our local takeaway bar. The aroma fills the room and sends my taste buds into overdrive. I wasn’t able to find a damn thing in the house to eat that didn’t make my stomach turn, and I do hope the nausea feeling subsides quickly in the first trimester.“Hey, you.” Chrissy plonks herself next to me on the sofa. “What are you doing?”“Just reading some stuff.” I quickly close my laptop and sink back into the sofa.I was surfing the net, trying to get as much information as possible about the first trimester of being pregnant, and I doubt she needs to know that.“We are going to head to Club Dynasty to meet with some people from work in a few hours. Dads agreed on running a tab for us there.” She bounces up and down, excited. “He was happy with the story I ran, and it is making the front page. You should come and meet everyone?” She gently shoulder bumps me, trying to lure me along with

Anton drops me off outside a seafood restaurant along the wharf called Eight. Any other day or occasion, I’d be jumping with excitement. I love seafood. It's not something I can purchase regularly because it's just too expensive. And now that I'm pregnant, raw seafood isn’t something I can indulge in whenever I get the cravings. Sighing and feeling absolutely gutted, I walk towards the restaurant with my head high. As I step inside, a chill rides the fine line of my spine, and a wave of fishy odor slams into me, causing me to start gagging. My gaze scans the restaurant, and when it collides with Lucas, I watch as he rises from his seat, buttoning his suit jacket and closes the distance between us. “Vanessa, is everything okay?” Luca says as he quickly rushes to my side with his gaze examining my flushed face. “I'm fine.” I quickly smother my mouth with my hand, nodding my head. Luca looks at me with his eyes full of concern, clearly not taking my word for it. “Tesoro, you are

An hour later, I find myself at home, getting ready for work. There’s no one home but me. Chrissy and Conrad must’ve left for work early today. Luca seemed tense the rest of the time, insolent with him before they dropped me off on their way to the airport. He had very little to say. Most of his attention was pointed at Rosalia with her current state of whining. “I still don’t understand why I just can't stay with Aunt Nessa until you return!” she stared daggers at Luca from the front seat. “Because you are under my protection while you’re here in New Zealand, and since I won’t be here, neither will you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing with distress. “I’m sick and tired of flying here, there, and everywhere. I just want to stay put for a while.” And here I thought the kid wanted to spend time with me! “I can always leave you in Italy with your padre, Rosa. You are seriously starting to get on my last nerve with this spoiled brat syndrome you have suddenly inherited.

We find ourselves outside in the courtyard of the Rugby Club. The sun is shining brightly, and the air carries the scent of freshly cut grass. The scent of Summer fills the air, bringing a smile to my face this morning. I've treated myself to a delectable steak burger accompanied by a side of crispy fries. I woke up feeling absolutely famished, unwilling to consume anything in case I had to spend hours hunched over a toilet before feeling even remotely normal. “I’m so hungry. I could eat a horse!” Sanz rubs his hands together, impatiently waiting for our food to arrive. “These ribs better be as good as you say, Carlos.” He stares at Carlos with his brow arched. “Calm down,” Carlos retorts, rolling his eyes. “I don't understand how you can be hungry. You cleared out my fridge this morning, and I only shopped two days ago.” He says, astonished. “I'm Samoan. It's what we do,” Sanz says casually. “I wish I could eat like you and look like that.” Carlos hisses, rolling his eyes heavenw

“Help!” I scream at the top of my lungs hoping someone can hear me from the outside. “HEEELLPP!!” I scream again. Mikal Pulls me against his chest roughly and sneers in my ear. “HEEELLPP!!” He screams mimicking me.  “No one’s going to save you, princess!” He laughs and hits me across the face with his backhand. The force of his connecting hand sends me flying onto the bed crying out in pain, my face stings and burns, I lift my hand up and gingerly touch my face. It’s already starting to swell and again I begin to panic. Mikal looks down at me and starts to laugh as he undoes the buckle of his belt, His loose jeans fall into a heap at his feet, he stands at the end of the bed, licking his lips while he strokes his engorged cock and eyes me up like I’m about to be his last meal. Fuck! He’s seriously going to try to...  I try to scrabble further up to the head of the bed but Mikal reaches out and grabs me by the ankle yanking me