♕—Delilah I wore an emerald green dress, combed my hair down, and put on some light makeup. I was going to dinner with my captor at his boss's wife's house. The same boss who was pulling all the strings and is scary as hell! Lorenzo was dressed up in his usual attire, his dark hair was perfectly tousled—just the way I liked it. He wasn't dressed for dinner, he said he'd leave me at her home and then he had to go to the club with Nikolai Costello. I swiped the brush against my cheek, putting on a blush. I saw Lorenzo watching me through the mirror, he didn't blink or look away, not even for a second. Then I heard a click and the collar on my neck unlocked, for a second I couldn't believe that it happened but then Lorenzo made his way to me and took the collar off my neck. "Cover up the bruises..." he ordered me. I nodded and grabbed the concealer. I started to dab it all around my neck over the marks the collar left and also the marks Lorenzo left. "Delilah, no words of this to

♞—Lorenzo Fulfillment, it's a feeling I have never experienced before. I kept staring up at the ceiling, feeling an unfamiliar warmth spreading through my body. I had no plans to keep the girl beside me for myself. I know by doing this I was going against everyone I cared about. I was going against my brother, the man who saved me when no one else did. The man who brought me out of the cage I lived in and gave me life. But I just couldn't find in myself to give her up. I looked to my side and saw Delilah's sleeping form. She was in deep sleep, her hands curled at her sides. Her hair spread out on the pillow behind her, the blond locks hid half of her face. I could feel the warmth of her body seeping into mine—never slept with a woman in the same bed. She was a nice little soft thing to hold when asleep. I stared at her for a long time and as I did, I thought of a girl, the one that I was never able to save. The torture of my own thoughts returned with full force, mocking me, and

♕—DelilahI made egg benedict for us, it was a very New York-ly breakfast. I readied the table and went back to the room to see if Lorenzo had finished showering. He wasn't in the shower, so I walked to the closet and saw his back towards me. He only had a towel around his waist as he pulled out a fresh suit from the rack. "Breakfast's ready!" I exclaimed happily. Sometimes it feels like I'm not even acting and it scares me. He turned to look at me, a hint of a smile on his face. I walked in and took out a matching tie. Lorenzo dropped the towel, wearing fresh boxers short before he put on his suit. I made my way to him with the tie in my hand and wrapped it around his collar, working on the knot. He just watched me while I deftly tied the perfect knot. "My shirt looks good on you..." he spoke for the first time and I smiled, a sense of shyness crept up. I gave my head a shake, "It looked more comfortable than my clothes, so I wore it. You don't mind, do you?" Lorenzo tucked my

Lorenzo - Nine Years Old. "Mama?" he shook her body, she was sleeping in the middle of the living room. What a weird place to fall asleep, he thought in his little mind. Lorenzo couldn't understand why she was sleeping there. He nudged her again and again asking her to get up, to wake up. Lorenzo brushed her hair away from her face, he got closer to her face but all he felt was coldness. Lorenzo frowned, his mother had never been this cold, whenever he hugged her he felt like he was wrapped in the world's warmest blanket but now she was nothing but cold. Lorenzo took off his jacket and placed it over his mother's body, "You're cold..." he said to her, "Are you sick?" She still didn't say a word, she still move. Lorenzo couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. He was a nine-year-old boy but he knew about life and death. He knew what it meant. He shook himself out of it, no, his mama was just sleeping. "Renzo?" came the voice of his six-year-old little brother Rocco, "What

♞—Lorenzo Delilah looked at me with something I couldn't understand, maybe, she was grateful because I took the collar off. I had no idea why I had done that. It just felt right. If she is here to stay then this isn't how I wanted to treat her. I didn't want to make her feel like a dog on a leash. If I see a future with Delilah, I have to put a little trust in her. "Take it off..." I said to her. She nodded before she held the hem of my t-shirt on her and pulled it off her body. She thinks she has to do it because I took off the collar but I wasn't even thinking about that anymore. I just wanted her at the moment. "All of it..." Her lips parted ever so slightly, I helped her slip out of her tights along with her underwear, and then she unclasped her bra and removed every single piece of clothing from her body... for me. This woman had so much confidence in me that she felt comfortable taking off all her clothes; she trusted me with herself, her nakedness, and her body. Could I