All Chapters of The Black Rose: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

NOIR\NERO She was different. I knew it from the first moment I laid eyes on her. She stood underneath that street lamp, her blue eyes terrified—yet—curious at the sight of me. Something shifted in me...something I never knew was there before. Ellie is different. Her scent, her skin, her lips, her eyes...everything about her did all but repulse me. I felt different around her, more sane. Less broken. Less of the man I was. Did I hate it? Did it make me want to kill her like every other woman I've met? Strangely enough, it didn't. Instead it left me wanting. Yes. Wanting. It was a strange feeling, one I'd never experienced. I've never been with a woman, not in the twenty-eight years I've been in this world...I've never had an interest in sex. The thought of it repulsed me, the women all did. And I wasn't gay like Silas always asked. Lorenzo had given up trying to get me to fuck a woman and not just strangle them on sight years ago. He'd achieved the latter at l

ELLIE My heart was hammering against my ribs like it was trying to break free, and I clutched Lorenzo's laptop tighter, my knuckles probably white by now. His study. Just the two of us. I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry. This was what I wanted, wasn't it? To be involved, to know his plans? So why did my stomach feel like it was doing backflips? "Ellie?" Lorenzo's voice cut through my internal panic. His tone was patient, but there was something underneath it that made my skin tingle. "Are you coming?" I nodded, not trusting my voice yet. My legs felt shaky as I followed him out of the kitchen, leaving behind Fiore's murderous glare and the mess on the floor. The walk to his study felt like it took forever and no time at all. My bare feet made soft padding sounds on the hardwood floors, and I became hyper-aware of every little thing - the way Lorenzo's shoulders moved under his black shirt, the faint scent of his cologne mixing with coffee, the way my cotton tank top

ELLIEMy heart was raced as if I'd run a marathon as I rushed to my room, I shut the door behind me and then leaned against the wood, using it to brace my trembling frame. Shit. Shakily, my fingers came up to my lips, brushing the slightly swollen skin and I exhaled. I could still taste him, that strange flavor of tobacco and whiskey with a hint of vanilla lingered on my tongue, searing the organ as though I'd been kissed by fire and perhaps in this case, I had. I kissed Lorenzo. And now I had to be his plus one. It was something I did in the heat of the moment. It was his freaking eyes! Damn it, I should have looked away! Why didn't I? After what seemed like an eternity of trying to regulate my breathing, my knees finally regained their strength and my lungs started working again. I wobbled over to the mattress and plopped down on it with a heavy sigh, a thousand thoughts racing through my mind all at once. I had no idea what the Marconi event was meant to be, but somethin

ELLIEWhen I was younger, my mother would teach me to walk in heels and tight dresses, I was younger than I should have been learning that. After my father left me and went of the radar, my mother took it upon herself to make me feel the love of both parents, so, she forced me to call Eli's father, 'dad', among other things. He wanted to pimp me off, so he told my mother to teach me all about what it entailed. And now...i was walking like a fucking goddess in this dress. I didn't need to see my reflection to know I looked completely different from who I thought myself to be. I wasn't sure I'd ever felt such expensive fabric against my skin before. It was...exciting.Still, I knew I needed to focus. I put the last pin in my hair, holding the wild strands in place while I let two thick locs fall down my face on either side, completing the elegant look I was going for. The blue silk cinched around my waist as though it was holding on for dear life, it clung to my large chest and fl

ELLIEThe drive back home was quiet, too quiet. So quiet that I could hear every inhale from him, every exhale that left him.The party had been unlike anything I'd ever experienced and I had no intention of ever willingly attending such an event again.As Lorenzo had instructed, I ignored Nikolai's presence, though it had taken every ounce of self-control I possessed. Every time I caught a glimpse of him across the room, my hands would shake with the urge to march over there and demand answers. To scream at him about Elijah, about the pain he'd caused.But I didn't. I stayed glued to Lorenzo's side like the good little accessory he'd wanted me to be.The memory of those people, those conversations, made my stomach churn all over again. Human trafficking. Underground fighting rings. Murder for hire. And they'd discussed it all like they were talking about stock portfolios or vacation plans.These were the people Lorenzo associated with. The world he lived in.The world I was apparentl