Trauma bonding, that’s what this feels like. Something triggered her; now, she needs to feel alive like her heart still beats. Part of me wanted to give in, but the other part, the heart that only she had touched after so many years of feeling dead inside, would never allow me to hurt her.I didn’t resist any longer though, she’d only keep fighting me to get what she wanted, so instead, I moved into her kiss the next time she offered me her lips. When her lips wanted to move hard and fast, I tempered them with soft nibbles and a gentle swipe of my tongue across her full lower lip.I was in control; I could stop at any time, but I’ll give her this much until she calms down. That’s what I told myself, what I believed to be true. So I didn’t fight as hard when she became the aggressor again. When she sent her tongue on a foray into my mouth, teasing my lips as she held my head in place.Her kisses were innocent, pure, but it wasn’t her kiss that held me enraptured; it was her, all her.

“Calm down; we can’t call the cops; how many times must I tell you that?” I was busy trying to find a tow company to come to remove the burnt-out hull of a car from the driveway before Felix got home. I knew as soon as Victoria’s car went missing that it was going to involve the Russos in one way or another and was afraid to act.Never in a million years would I ever expect to be in this position. The position of having the most powerful family in town going against my daughter and I when we’ve never even met them except for in passing, and that very rarely. We’ve had no dealings with each other until now, and this is not the way I would’ve liked things to be between us.Now, instead of an invitation to one of those fancy teas the wife throws that everyone is always gushing about, everyone who’s lucky enough to be invited, that is, I’m being ostracized and looked down on by the son and threatened by the other men in the family. How long before things start to unravel?I’ve been care

The kid is moving too fast for me. It seems that when I peel back one layer, he’s already been there and moved on to the next. I stupidly didn’t put two and two together after he’d so blatantly mentioned the car the other day, but in all fairness, my mind was still dealing with all the new information I’d learned. I was finally coming to terms with the fact that she and her daughter had abused my kid right under my nose and with my help to boot.If that’s not bad enough, there’s now the fear of losing my business if Mr. Russo follows through with his threat. I’m not sure how he got all the information he collected since most of it is private. Like knowing who ninety-five percent of my investors are, all of my investments and holdings, including real estate that had been bought under an umbrella.I still don’t know what the hell is going on right now because I’m stuck trying to unravel the past, and now according to Ella’s advice, I’m looking for Greta, the old housekeeper, to get the

“Something happened to Gia’s mother.”“What do you mean? Hasn’t she been gone since Gia was like five?” Rosa asked her sister, confused as they went through their morning routine.“Look at it, Gia went to meet the old housekeeper and came back a mess, then Gabe went to see her as well and came back with murder in his eyes, then he and Pop disappeared, something’s up.”“What do you think it could be?”“I don’t know, but those two had something to do with it. Victoria and Becky.” Anna applied her contour like an expert marksman.“If that’s the case, it can’t be Victoria’s fault; she would’ve been a child herself.”“I don’t give a fuck.”“Anna!”“Seriously, at this point, she gets no passes. Whatever it was, she benefited from it. If we told Gabe half the shit she did, she’d be dead.”“And that’s why we’re not telling him, remember what Lance said.”“I know, I know, but we… Oh, hi Gabe, what’s up? Where’s Gia?”“I just took her down to breakfast. I need a favor from you two.”

I’m going to kill her. I’m going to kill all of them. There was a wild fury building inside me, a pressure that needed release soon or I’d explode, so I screamed. It didn’t do much, but at the very least, it helped ease some of the pressure from my head and chest. The air around me thickened, making my head spin as I made my way up the stairs to my room, all the while fighting back the tears that I refused to let fall. Tears are for the weak, like Gia.I stood in front of the mirror in my room, assessing the damage and feeling both angry and embarrassed. I can’t believe I let her do this to me and in front of Gabriel Russo, no less. Now that it was over, I thought of all the things I should’ve done to her, but I’ve never been much of a fighter; then again, neither has she. Where the hell did she learn to fight like that?My lips were already starting to swell when I cleaned the blood away, and I could barely see out of my left eye. I had the urge to just let myself cry just this once