All Chapters of CALAVERA: The Mafia’s Caged Bride : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

~ANYA POV~The sun is too bright this morning. It cuts through the curtains like a knife, cutting across the bedsheets. I hate it. I just want to pull the covers over my head and pretend I don't exist.It's been a few days since César left again. He didn't stay long last time. He just swooped in, dropped Marco in the driveway like a piece of luggage, reminded me that he owns my entire life, and then took off again. He had "business" to finish, he said.I hate that I feel relieved when he's gone. It makes me feel guilty. But I also hate that the house feels so quiet without him. It's a creepy kind of quiet. It's the kind of silence that makes your ears ring.I lay there for a long time, staring at the dust motes dancing in the light.I know I should get up. I know I should go to the window. But I can't. If I pull those curtains back, I will see the driveway. I will see that shiny red car. And I will see Marco standing there, wearing that stupid driver's uniform, waiting for me.My che

~ANYA POV~My breath comes in short, shaky bursts. I am lying on César's chest, my cheek pressed against his wet skin, listening to the heavy thud of his heart.His suit jacket is draped over me. It swallows me whole, covering me from my shoulders down to my thighs, but I still feel naked. My legs are trembling so bad that if I tried to stand up, I would fall. I feel drained. Stretched. Used. And yet... my body is still buzzing.The pool is quiet now. The water laps gently against the sides, mocking me. Just minutes ago, this place was a war zone. The lounge chair. The cold floor. The marble bar. He took me everywhere. He didn't stop until I was screaming his name, completely broken open.I pull the jacket tighter. It smells like him.....cedar, expensive cologne, and the sharp scent of his sweat. It makes my head spin.César reaches up slowly. His large hand brushes a wet strand of hair away from my cheek. His fingers are warm. Careful. It's scary how gentle he can be when he's not te

~ANYA POV~The engine buzzes beneath us, low and powerful, but the sound does nothing to drown out the pounding of my heart.I sink into the plush leather of the backseat, my fingers fidgeting nervously with the hem of the pale blue silk slip dress César dressed me in. The cool fabric brushes against my skin, slippery and soft, a clear difference to the rough nervousness clawing at my throat.My curls are still wet from the shower, styled perfectly by his hands. The scent of the cream he used....and the remaining smell of him....clings to me, intoxicating and overwhelming.But I am not looking at César. I am staring at the back of the driver's head.Marco.His knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel. His posture is stiff, terrified. He hasn't said a word since we got in. He drives with mechanical accuracy, eyes glued to the road, terrified to look in the rearview mirror. Terrified to see the monster in the backseat. Or worse... to see me.César sits beside me, relaxed, legs

~ANYA POV~{FLASHBACK: ONE HOUR AGO BEFORE THEY LEFT}The room goes quiet, the heavy silence settling over us like a suffocating blanket.For the last hour, the air has been filled with words I wish I could unhear. Shipments. Routes. Payoffs. Codes that sound like gibberish but clearly mean life or death for someone, somewhere.Now, that talk is done.The thick cigar smoke hangs above us like a storm cloud, pressing down on my lungs. My eyes burn, but I don't dare rub them. I stay very still on César's lap, painfully aware of the ten armed men standing in the hallway just outside the door, and the piles of white bricks stacked on the table nearby.I try not to look at the drugs. I try to make myself small, invisible. But César doesn't let me be invisible.His hand rests firmly on my thigh, his thumb rubbing slow, possessive circles against the pale blue silk of my dress. The friction sends confused signals through my nerves....fear mixed with a heat I hate myself for feeling. It's a c

(TRIGGER WARNING: "This chapter contains scenes of severe physical violence, psychological abuse, non-consensual confinement, and descriptions of torture instruments. Reader discretion is strongly advised.")~ANYA POV~I hear the sharp sound of his tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth before I even turn to look at him.It is a cold, low tsk that rolls across the tense silence of the car like distant thunder warning of a storm that has already arrived."You just don't learn, do you?" César says softly.My whole body reacts before my mind can even process the words. My lungs seize up, rejecting the air. My throat tightens as if his hand is already wrapped around it. Heat rushes to my eyes, burning and quick , and spills over immediately. I press both hands over my face as the sobs break out of me...sharp, childish, helpless sounds that I can't stifle.I feel myself shaking so badly that my teeth audibly tap together.I was already scared of César on a normal day. I was already