ANTONIOI unlocked her handcuffs and then cut through the zip ties around her ankles before cutting the thick straps that held the fake bomb to her torso, fûcking Nikolai played with me and he succeeded as I was terrified and ready to die with her when I couldn’t diffuse the bomb. I didn't even think that it could be a fake when I didn't found what I was looking for, I was that panicked.As soon as she was free, she cried out and literally fell into my arms like she couldn’t hold herself anymore. I tightened my hold around her as she sobbed into my chest. I caressed her head and rubbed her back, trying to control my own emotions but it was impossible when after thinking that it was the end, here she was now in my arms, alive. I inhaled her scent, mixed with sweat, dirt and our filthy surroundings which was so fucking wrong but the hint of daffodils beneath it all calmed a small part of me. I tried to soothe her but it was a losing battle and I really didn’t want to when my own emotio

ERICAI didn’t remember when darkness claimed me and thrust me back from one heart wrecking scenario to another, and in each of them I was calling out for Antonio, only to find him lying in a pool of blood, unresponsive. It was during such a nightmare that I jerked up with my lips parted in a soundless cry and looked around myself, my eyes searching for him, praying that he was alright.But as the white walls and clinical equipment around me registered with the antiseptic smell of my surroundings, I realised I was in a hospital room and once again Antonio wasn’t here. My head pounded with pain just as my heart beat in fear, I started to push the blanket off me when I heard a familiar deep voice. “You are awake.”I turned around to face the speaker and for a moment, I just stared. My mind replayed all that had happened, and I knew Gabriel was shot. Gabriel was shot. Antonio had come save us just like I knew he would. But now he wasn’t here, close to me, he won’t ever leave me alone wh

ANTONIOOne Week Later...It was colder than usual and I didn’t think it was because of the snow falling around me. And I doubted it was because I had been weaker than I had ever felt in my life, there was something else: the reason for the cold that had made its home inside me, but I wasn’t too keen to look into that reason. It was better to leave that wound untouched but I couldn’t say that it didn’t hurt far worse than a damaged lever and an arm that hurt every time I moved it. It had been a week since I woke up in the hospital room which was two days after the day I went to save her and rescued Gabriel. I didn’t want to think about her because it makes breathing difficult like I was shot in my lungs too but the fact remains, I woke up to find her gone. She left. I had come to terms with it, or maybe not, because just the thought made anger burn through me replacing the cold. And it had been like that, I was teetering on a very fine line. One moment I was calm and in another I was

ERICA“So you are saying that I can’t talk to him?” I asked, my fingers knotted together as helpless anger burned through me. We were in Gabe’s home office, Summer was standing beside him while I sat in front of them like a child put to task. Lily, Gabe’s housekeeper and a maternal figure to him and my sister, had prepared us lunch which I had barely swallowed a few bites of as I was too anxious to have this conversation but now whatever I had eaten it all threatened to come back up at what Gabriel just said to me.“I think it would be for the best.” Gabriel said now.“You think....” I couldn’t even form the words, I was so fûcking furious. “You think that you drugging me, kidnapping me and bringing me here against my will is for the best. You think that not letting me talk to him is for the best.”With every word I spoke, my anger became obvious and I started to lose whatever calm I had. “Rica, please, calm down.”I stared at my sister and asked of Gabriel, “Was that really your dec

GABRIELThere was a time when I didn’t know right from wrong. I was too hard-headed and stubborn to sit and think about the consequences of my actions. But then I fell for my little red and I had to be a man she deserved. I tried to forget about the guilt of all my past decisions that ended badly, but past has a way of catching up with you. And mine was finally here. Looking back I wondered if I had talked to the man— Bosh Lori, my mentor who taught me everything and took me in when I came to New Orleans then perhaps he’d have listened to me and Summer would’ve been safe from the Mexicans without me killing him to make it happen. But I killed him, I was too afraid for my little red, scared to lose her and angry at the fact that her father made the deal with Mexicans with the help of Bosh. That time it had felt like I didn't have any choice and I did what I knew will guarantee Summer’s safety and the fact that I could control her father so he won't put her and her sister in that situat