I keep running through the huge untrimmed bushes, not caring that the stems are cutting my skin, not caring that my dress is getting dirty and torn up.
I need to run.
I need to escape.
I exhale deeply when I finally make it to the backyard- my backyard. My eyes frantically searching for someone, anyone.
Where the hell is everyone?
My eyes finally land on someone's back and a sense of relief fills me. I immediately walk to where they are standing to get a better look at who they are but it's hard to tell since it's dark out.
The only thing I can see is their back and their hair. "Hello?" I ask, standing a couple of feet away from them. "I don't know where anyone is. Can you please help me?" My palms begin to sweat in anticipation as I wait for them to respond.
Can they not hear me?
Instead of answering me they slowly turn around and my heart drops as Joseph's dark eyes meet mine.
"Have you forgotten about me already, mariposa?" A frightening smile forms on his dry lips.
I try to talk but I can't.
I can't speak.
I can't even move.
My whole body is frozen.
"You let them kill me," he spits, taking a step towards me. "I thought you loved me but you let them kill me," he grabs me by my arms, gripping them tightly causing me to wince in pain.
"J-Joseph, please, let me g-go," tears begin to spring from my eyes but all he does is laugh before pushing me onto the ground.
I yelp as my shoulder hits the ground hard. I look up at him, my eyes widening once I see two bullet wounds on his body.
One on his shoulder and one on his chest.
"You made me believe that you loved me," he grits through his teeth, walking towards me as I start to shuffle away from him.
"N-No, I-"
"Every word that comes out of your mouth is a fucking lie!" He shouts and I flinch, immediately getting up from the ground.
I turn around ready to run but he suddenly appears in front of me pushing me back down on the ground. "If I can't have you then no one will!" He raises his voice louder and I gasp in horror as blood begins to spill from his mouth, his eyes turning a bluish gray.
This isn't real.
This isn't real.
He takes out a knife, the knife Luca gave me, and holds it up high, lunging for me. I scream and hold my arms up to protect myself, shutting my eyes tightly.
I basically jump out of bed, desperately trying to catch my breath. I place my sweaty hand on my racing heart as my eyes look around the room. They finally land on the huge open window that shows a perfect view of the calm ocean waters.
It was just a dream.
It was just a dream.
I breathe in through my nose and out my mouth, watching the white curtains slowly sway as the breeze enters the room. My heart beat begins to slow down with each deep breath that I take. He can't hurt me anymore.
I'm safe.
From the corner of my eye I can see a bouquet of white roses on the nightstand. Huh? I turn my head to get a better look and see the beautiful white roses with a note that has the words 'mia cara' written on the front.
I lean over and grab the note, turning it over.
Come down and have breakfast with me. Please.
Damn him. I angrily place the note on the nightstand, trying my best not to admire the roses.
I am surprised he even said please.
But if he thinks roses and me having breakfast with him can fix this he is wrong.
And I'm not even sure he came back last night.
My stomach churns at the idea of him with someone else last night. I shouldn't care, matter of fact I don't care.
This marriage is strictly business like he said which means he is free to do whatever he wants just like I am.
There's a knock on my door and I immediately fix my hair, hoping that it looks decent. I forgot to put it in braids so I'm more than positive my hair looks wild.
"Come in" I clear my throat and wipe my sweaty hands on my shorts.
One of the maids, Andrea, I believe, walks in with a kind smile on her face. "Good morning, Signora Santoro," she says and I return the smile. (Mrs. Santoro)
"Good morning," I fix my hair again.
" I came to tell you that Signor Santoro is waiting downstairs to have breakfast with you. Should I tell him you will be down in a few minutes?" She asks and I shake my head. Sounds like he is impatient.
"No," I tell her and watch as her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I won't be going down to have breakfast with him."
"Oh, um, what should I tell him then?" She nervously asks, fidgeting with the bracelet on her wrist.
"Tell him I'm not hungry," I calmly tell her, stretching out my arms and letting out a small yawn. "And if he has a problem with that then he can come up here and tell me."
Her eyes are wide with shock as she nods her head before dismissing herself from the room.
I look down at the ring on my left finger, feeling the huge urge to take it off and throw it at his stupid head.
I anxiously rub my jaw, waiting for Lina to come down. I hate that I'm nervous.
I never get nervous.
I'm a killer for fuck's sake yet here I am my knee bouncing with anticipation.
Andrea finally comes down but I'm displeased to see that Lina is not with her. Yeah, she's angry. "La signora Santoro ha detto che non ha fame," she carefully says and I clench my jaw. (Mrs. Santoro said she isn't hungry)
"What else did she say?" I speak in a dangerously low tone.
Andrea gulps. "She said that if you have a problem with her decision then you can go upstairs and tell her."
A smirk forms on my lips at the challenge. Fuck, I shouldn't be incredibly hard right now. I shift in my seat and run a hand through my hair in frustration.
She'll be even more mad if I force her down here.
"Take her breakfast upstairs," I tell her and she nods as I get up from my seat to walk back inside the house.
Luca spots me and immediately comes towards me. "I take it that she didn't come downstairs," he states the obvious and I glare at him.
"No, she didn't," I irritably tell him. She's probably assuming the worst since I didn't come home last night.
But I couldn't risk her seeing me covered in blood last night.
I didn't want to scare her.
"How do I get her to talk to me now?" I breathe deeply, feeling my right hand begin to tremble but I stop it by balling up my hand into a fist.
"Look, yesterday she kept looking at the boats in the water. Take her out in the yacht and talk to her...about everything," he clarifies as I try to push down the tense feeling in my body.
I did tell her that I would talk to her about the rumors regarding me and my family.
But to be honest I'm worried about her reaction.
"What if she's scared of me after I tell her? What if she doesn't want to see me?" I ask.
"She already has an idea of who you and your family are, Nate. If she was truly scared she would already be trying to run away," he reassures me and I slowly nod my head.
"Tell her about last night and more importantly tell her you're an idiot for what you did," he chuckles as I look at him with extreme annoyance.
"You irritate me," I scowl at him before walking away from him.
He laughs a little louder before saying, "I'll go tell her to get ready."
I tried to talk to Lina as soon as we boarded the yacht but she ignored me.
She walked right past me and went straight up to the deck instead.
But she's going to hear me out.
If I have to tie her up then I will.
But we are going to talk.
I grab the plate of food and make my way to the upper deck where Lina is. Andrea told me she barely touched her breakfast. As soon as I make it on the deck, I see Lina lounging on a black beach chair reading a book.
My eyes shamelessly trail all over her body. Her honey skin glistening under the sun, making me want to go over there and kiss every damn inch of her body. Fuck me.
And it's not helping that she's wearing a very revealing white bikini. The triangles pads of her top barely cover her breasts and her bottoms are basically a thong. She's torturing me. My jaw clenches as my shorts begin to feel tight.
I look over to see Luca, Daniel, and Rocco all with their backs facing towards her. Good, I don't feel like killing anyone today.
I walk over to where she is and notice her body slightly shiver at my presence. She slowly raises her jade green eyes from the book to stare at me. Perfection. Her eyes are perfect.
A smirk forms on my lips as her eyes rake over my bare torso but she quickly moves her eyes back to her book. "What do you want, Nathan?" She sighs and turns to the next page of her book.
"I want you to eat," I tell her and hold out the plate to her. She looks back at me and raises her eyebrows at my demand. "Andrea told me you barely touched your breakfast. You need to eat, mia cara," I softly tell her.
She reluctantly closes her book and takes the plate from my hands. "Thank you," she mumbles, her eyes anywhere but on me.
She still has trouble looking me in the eyes.
She takes a bite of the sandwich, closing her eyes as she savors the taste. "This is a pretty big sandwich. I don't know if I'll be able to finish it," she swallows her bite and looks up at me, with the sandwich still in her hand.
I lean down and take a bite on the other side of the sandwich, keeping my eyes on her as I do. Her eyes fall to my lips as I lick them. "We'll share," I whisper and she blushes, averting her eyes away from me.
Memories of how she blushed as I fucked her with my fingers flood my mind making me even harder.
"I'm sorry I left abruptly during our conversation yesterday," I tell her as I sit down on the beach chair beside her, making sure to face her.
She takes another bite of her sandwich. "Mhm," she hums, waiting for me to continue.
I turn my head to where the three of them are standing. "Dacci un momento," I tell them. Luca and Rocco nod their heads and begin to leave but Daniel stays. (Give us a moment)
He turns around and stares at Lina. And the way he is staring at her makes me want to put a bullet in his head.
"Danos un momento, por favor, Danny," she kindly says. I don't even have to look at her to know she's giving him that gorgeous smile of hers. (Give us a moment, please, Danny)
I clench my fists hard as I see his face turn red. I want to kill him. He gives her a small nod, not even daring to look my way before leaving us alone.
"Continue," she says with a small smile, taking another bite of her sandwich.
I clench my jaw and take a deep breath, trying to organize my words. I never know what to say to her. Every time I look at her all of my words leave my mind. I can't think straight. "The rumors about me and my family have some truth to it," I begin to speak.
She looks a bit surprised by my words but I continue nonetheless. "We aren't a part of the mafia. We are the mafia," I clarify and watch as her eyes widen. Shit.
"My father is Don, the head of the Santoro mafia family," I carefully continue to explain, not going into much detail since I can see that she is starting to get nervous. "Alejandro is his right hand but I'm not a part of that life anymore," I tell her, hoping that she will be at ease.
She puts her plate down while mumbling incoherent words. "So, it's true...you and your family have killed people," she whispers, slowly lifting her eyes to look at me.
"Yes," I say truthfully. There is no point in lying to her.
"Am I safe here? Am I safe with you?" She asks, looking into my eyes with uncertainty. Fuck, have I made her feel unsafe?
I stand up from the chair and walk towards her. I lean down, making sure I am at eye level with her, she tries to look away from me but I stop her by grabbing her chin. "Listen to me carefully, mia cara," I firmly tell her, staring into those gorgeous green eyes.
"I told you once and I'll tell you again, I will kill anyone who even thinks about laying a hand on you. Brucerei il mondo del cazzo per te," I caress her chin, my eyes flicker down to her soft plump lips that I so desperately want to feel. (I would burn the fucking world down for you)
Conflict swirls in her eyes as she takes in my words. "But am I safe with you?" She asks again, her eyes remain on mine as if they are searching for any lies. That question makes my chest hurt. Does she think I would hurt her?
"I will never hurt you, mia cara," My voice is slightly hard but clear, trying to get her to understand. "What I did that night was wrong and incredibly stupid. I don't know how...I'm an idiot," I reluctantly admit.
Never, never in my life have I said sorry.
Nor have I ever talked this way with anyone.
But for her I find myself willing to do anything.
A small smile forms on her lips, her dimples beginning to peek out. "You are an idiot," she confirms what is already true as I feel my lips begin to twitch upwards. She is beautiful, absolute perfection.
"I want you, Lina. I want to try to make this marriage work," I say, my voice thick with need as I look down at her lips again. I need her badly. "And I know you are angry, you have every right to be but I promise it won't happen again." She exhales, her eyes briefly glance at my bare chest.
"I'm still very angry with you," she clarifies, narrowing her eyes at me and trying her best to ignore the way her body is responding to my touches.
She's been squeezing her thighs together since the moment I came towards her. "I know baby, just let me make it up to you, sì?" I rasp out, leaning down to kiss her but she stops me by placing her finger on my lips.
My eyebrows furrow. "Where were you last night?" She asks, scooting further away from me.
"With my brother," I release a deep breath, trying to ignore the painful ache of my cock.
"Yes, I know that but what were you doing all night?" She crosses her arms together, waiting for an explanation. Talk to her and tell her about last night, Luca's advice replays in my mind.
"Even though I'm not a part of that life anymore, there are still people who want me dead and who want to watch me suffer. Since you're my wife now, you're an automatic target for them," I explain with caution not wanting to alarm her.
She begins to nervously chew on her nail, a habit I noticed she has. "But like I said, mia cara, you are safe," I walk towards her, pulling her finger from her mouth and placing a kiss on her forehead.
"Only fools with a death wish would make threats towards you," I sit down next to her and pull her onto my lap, wrapping my arm tightly around her waist so she doesn't squirm away from me.
She gasps once she feels how achingly hard I am for her, a rosy blush coats her cheeks. "And that's why I killed someone last night," I tell her, watching her eyes grow wide.
Before she can say anything, I place my hand on my side of her neck, pulling her into a kiss. A deep groan escapes my throat at the feeling of her lips moving against mine. I've been craving her lips since the moment I've felt them.
I push her closer to me, kissing her as if I've been starving for days. She wraps her arms around my neck, moaning as I lift my hips slightly up, grinding my erection against her thighs. "Cazzo, Lina," I grunt as she digs her hands into my hair, tugging on it while biting down on my bottom lip. (Fuck)
She's going to fucking kill me.
My hand that's wrapped around her waist, inches down to the waistband of her bottoms. I'm going to rip this bikini off of her. But she breaks away from our kiss, exhaling deeply.
My chest falls up and down as I try to capture her lips again. "You were gone all night because you were killing someone?" She places her hand on her chest. Damn it.
"We can talk about it later," I lean in to kiss her but she jerks her head away from me.
"No, Nathan, we are talking about this now," she firmly demands, making my cock twitch. If anyone else talked to me the way she is they would be dead right now.
But fuck it turns me on when she's angry.
"Someone who wanted me dead heard from a person that I was back in Italy with my wife. Like the idiot that he was, he was planning to hurt you," I run my hand through my hair in frustration.
"Alejandro quickly found the informant and called me. That's why I left so abruptly yesterday. I killed him along with the idiot that wanted to hurt you." She averts her eyes away from me, surely not knowing what to say.
I meant what I said.
I will kill anyone who even thinks about hurting her.
"Is this going to be a frequent thing? You leaving all night to go kill someone...putting yourself in danger?" She whispers, looking at the scar across my chest. Memories of that night flash through my head but I bury them back.
I twirl my finger around on a curly strand of her hair. "No, it's not going to be a frequent thing and I know how to take care of myself, baby. Besides, I'm not a part of that life anymore," I reassure her, smirking at her concern.
"If you aren't a part of that life then why did you have to go and do it?" She lifts her eyes to look at me, seeming unconvinced.
Alejandro had offered to deal with it himself and I should have let him.
But the rage got to me.
He wanted to hurt my wife.
It was personal to me.
I stay silent for a moment, thinking about what to say to her. "If it involves you, then it involves me. I meant every word that I said, Lina," I say, tucking the strand of hair behind her ear.
"But...but what if you get hurt?" She swallows hard as soon as those words leave her mouth. I'm glad that we are far away from all the other boats because I plan to take her on this chair.
I gently grab her chin, taking a moment to admire how fucking breathtaking she is. "I won't," I promise and she sighs, still looking worried.
"Now, stand up and take that bikini off, slowly," I command, my voice taut with hunger.
She blushes again, giggling at my demand. She moves her face closer to mine, wetting her lips. "No," she whispers with a smile on her face.
My eyebrows furrow. "No?"
She nods, brushing her thumb across my lips. "I won't give myself to you until you are on your knees begging." She gets up from my lap and walks over to her bag taking out a white crochet dress.
I look at her in disbelief and complete frustration. "I don't beg, mia cara," I poke my tongue out through the side of my cheek. I'm going to love punishing her for this.
She slides the dress on, showing off her sensual curvy figure. "Well, maybe you should start learning how to," she hums, glancing down to the prominent tent between my legs. She smirks before walking away, swaying her hips more than usual.
I need a cold fucking shower.
࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎࿎
Lina is a bad bitch hehe
Are y'all ready to see Nathan beg? 🤭
Sorry I took so long to update, I had writer's block😭
But I'm back!
Anyways I hope you guys like this chapter!
Love y'all 🤍