MARKWasn't life supposed to be simpler than this?I'd always thought that staying in my lane, making money and financially satisfying the women who sexually indulged me was a way to live a simple life and avoid a lot of hurdles that made life very difficult. But wasn't this thing 'difficult'?Why did my heart ache when her countenance dropped at the sight of me with another lady? Why did I feel like the smiles were fake and pretended?Was it love? Was I falling in love?NO.It wasn't love. My definition of those four alphabets changed a long time ago—after June's era in my life.Well, June's era never passed. It never did...To me, love was no longer fairytales and flowers. It was simply LOYALTY.And nothing more. I loved my men and my workers, especially Kenzo. I could take a bullet for them any day, and I knew they'd do the same because they had.Kenzo had taken two bullets for me. One in his shoulder and the other in his abdomen. That was love. And that was the definition stuck

GIULIAI threw my head back in laughter; the sound coming out as bitter as I felt. I'd never heard of anything as outrageous and funny as this. Mark, with his trousers down, was something I'd always envisioned, but not in this context. He was basically calling me a slut who would do anything to get laid.“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I fumed in anger, narrowing my eyes to slits at the man in front of me.“Isn't this what you want? I know how you feel about me, Giulia. I've caught your stares more than a thousand times.” He walked closer while I tried to get as far away from him as possible. “Stop playing hard to get, and —”The words froze in his throat as the sound of the slap resounded in the room. I didn't even register my actions until my palm collided with his left cheek.“I'm not a slut, Mark. If you want one, go visit a brothel, or, better still, meet the whore you brought back with you!” I spat at him, barely restraining my anger.A smile crept over his face as he touch

GIULIAI didn't let the event of a few hours ago define my day. I went about my daily task, arranging and dusting, since that was the task I was assigned. It seemed the head maid loved giving me the less-tedious chores. Whoever told them to treat me differently was beyond my comprehension. I didn't see Kenzo until it was late in the day because I avoided Mark's side of the house. I wanted nothing to do with a man who thought I was a whore he could easily buy. Whatever gave him that impression of me? That guy could grind my gears. Mid-afternoon and I was almost through with the work I allowed myself. The dusting and arranging took little time, just a few minutes. I busied myself with cleaning the pictures and paintings in the entire house, aside from the ones on Mark's side. Anyone could tell that I was trying to avoid him. I needed space to let my heart heal. The towel I was cleaning with fell on the floor, and I bent to pick it up. Someone took the opportunity to sneak behind me

GIULIAI'd never had this much fun in a while. Kenzo knew the right way to treat a woman. He let me choose whatever I wished and took me to see a movie when I begged him to take me. I had as much ice cream as I wanted and almost had a brain freeze.We would have gone to a park had that devil in human flesh not interrupted us with a call. He undoubtedly had such bad timing. Kenzo couldn't defy orders, so he asked me to get into the car and drove us back to the compound.“We can start the lessons tomorrow,” he announced when he packed the car.“The lessons?” I knitted my brows, confused.“Have you forgotten already? Who was the one that asked to be taught how to wield a gun and self-defence?” He raised an eyebrow, chuckling when I widened my eyes, realizing what he was trying to say.“That's true!” I almost jumped with joy. “You are at the best, Kenzo! Thank you so freaking much!” Removing the seatbelt, I leaned forward to place a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you so much!”“…it's no worry.

GIULIAI stood in front of him with brows raised in questioning. Mark summoned me a few minutes ago because he had something he wanted to tell me. I pretended not to perceive why he asked for me. It wasn't difficult to know why when the bulge in his trousers was as clear as the day. The horny man could only want one thing from me: SEX.Folding my arms, I knitted my brows at him. “So?”He sat back on his bed, leaning on it like a king resting on his throne. “You must realize why I called you here, don't you?” He smiled, his eyes getting dark as they wandered over my body.Had I not been putting on pants and a shirt, I would have thought I was dressed lewdly with the way his eyes hotly looked at me.“You want to have sex?” I blurted out, seeing no reason to be embarrassed about that.“Not only sex, Giulia. I'm craving rough sex.” He smirked when he saw my expression. “You have been with me once, so don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.”“But—”“You promised, didn't you? A