by Lylah James
“I can feel how wet you are, and I’ve barely touched you, kitten,” he growled against my ear.
Placing a kiss there, he removed his hand from under my dress, leaving me feeling strangely empty. “You are going to be late, right?” he murmured. “We don’t want Maddie angry.”
I let out a sigh and turned around in his arms. After a week, I knew him well enough to know Alessio was teasing me. He loved leaving me over the edge, dangling, begging for release. Only then would he give me what I wanted.
“You are so bad for me,” I muttered, resting my hands over his chest.
“I know,” he replied. “You are bad for me too.”
Giggling at his response, I placed a kiss over his chest. Alessio grasped my hands and held them over his chest. Placing a finger under my chin, he lifted my head up and dipped his before claiming my lips. The kiss started slow and gentle at first, but then he kissed me like he was starving.
The kiss was brutal and possessive. He kissed me like I was his everything.
Alessio’s hold was unyielding around my waist as he pulled me closer. He let go of my hands and wrapped his fingers around my hair, twisting my ponytail tightly into his fist, until his knuckles dug into my scalp. Tilting my head upward, he kissed me soundly. Instead of refusing him, I melted into his embrace, taking his kiss and demanding more in return.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you,” he breathed out against my lips.
“Hmm…” I whispered in a complete daze.
His chest vibrated with a low chuckle, and he slowly let go of me. “I’ll see you for breakfast.” Giving me a quick peck on the nose, he smiled and then left.
Smiling at his retreating back, I leaned against the counter, feeling blissful. I turned toward the mirror and removed my hair tie to redo my ponytail again. But something else caught my eyes.
Letting out a gasp, I leaned forward, moving closer to the mirror and slightly turning my body to the side. There it was, on the base of my neck.
A red spot from where Alessio had bitten and sucked at the skin. He left a hickey.
Shaking my head at my reflection, I smiled. Infuriating man.
I placed the hair tie on the counter, deciding to leave my hair down. It was the only way to hide the mark Alessio left me.
At the thought, my smile widened. Alessio had laid his claim.
Giving myself a final look in the mirror, I walked out of the bathroom and Alessio’s—our room. I mostly used Alessio’s room. He said what was the point of going back and forth between rooms when I was already sleeping in his. In other words, he was claiming it was our room. He was the first one to call it that. Our room.
I skipped downstairs to see Maddie setting the table. “You are late, missy. Again,” she grumbled at the sight of me.
I gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry.” Maddie and I went back and forth from the kitchen and the dining room, placing the dishes on the table.
“Can you tell Milena and Sophia that it’s their turn to serve today? They’re in the garden,” Maddie said as she placed the last plate.
I nodded in response, walking backward.
But I almost tripped over my feet when my back hit something. Or someone. My eyes widened in surprise, and I quickly swiveled around.
The first thing that came to my mind was that he was tall. The top of my head reached only to his chest. Glancing upward, I froze.
Grey eyes stared down at me. But in those grey eyes were small flecks of blue. Those eyes almost reminded me of Alessio’s.
Taking a step back, I closed my eyes and quickly apologized. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…I should have been looking…I’m sorry.”
When I didn’t hear an answer, I opened my eyes. I took a few steps away from him, finally seeing the man clearly for the first time. All I could do was stare at him in complete astonishment.
He looked like Alessio. Almost exactly like him. There were a few wrinkles in the corner of his eyes and lips, the only indication that he was older. Was he related to Alessio?
My eyes were still glued to him when I saw another man step forward until he was standing beside Alessio’s lookalike.
With both men standing together, I trembled under their unflinching, tense gaze. I heard a loud gasp resonate from behind me, but I was too fixated on what I saw in front of me.
The other man’s eyes shifted away from mine, and I saw him look behind my back. He nodded. “Lena.”
“Isaak,” I heard Lena say.
Alessio’s lookalike gave me a final look before staring behind me too. “Lena,” he greeted, his voice gruff and deep.
“Lyov,” she breathed, shock evident in her voice.
Lyov. The name sounded so familiar.
When realization dawned, I took a step back, my hands shaking at my sides.
I now understood why he looked so much like Alessio.
Lyov was Alessio’s father.
Chapter 8
As soon as I realized who was standing in front of me, I froze.
When I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders, I flinched in fright but quickly calmed down when I realized it was Alessio. He gave me a comforting squeeze.
Lyov’s eyes moved to Alessio’s arm around my shoulder, his stare burning holes into my skin. His gaze moved to mine, and I almost flinched at the glare he sent me. Moving further against Alessio’s body, I sought comfort from his touch.
“Isaak.” Alessio nodded toward the other man.
Turning to his father, he did the same thing. “Lyov.” His voice was cold and void of emotion, a strange way to address his father.
“We’ll have breakfast and then discuss the matter,” Alessio continued.
Lyov walked around me without a second glance, while Isaak’s eyes moved to mine again. He stared at me for a few chilling seconds, his gaze penetrating and almost frightening. There was a strange look on his face, but then he shook his head, as if he was clearing his mind. Without sparing us another glance, he followed Lyov.
As soon as they were out of sight, my shoulders sagged in relief, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm my wildly racing heart. Swallowing nervously, I peeked over my shoulder to see them walking upstairs.
“You don’t have to worry about them. They won’t hurt you,” Alessio muttered in my ears.
“They look scary,” I whispered back. His chest rippled with a low chuckle, his arms tightening around me in the process. He placed a kiss on my temple, and I turned around in his arms, facing him.
“Scarier than me?” he teased.
“No. You are worse,” I admitted truthfully. All the men living in this house were dangerous and had a dark, tense vibe around them, but Alessio had the most chilling aura.
“And are you scared? Of me?” Alessio asked, pulling me closer.
Shaking my head, I placed a kiss in the middle of his chest. “No. I know you won’t hurt me.” Leaning on my tip-toes, I gave him a quick kiss and pulled away. “I’ll see you later.”
Alessio let me go with a nod. Sending him a smile, I walked away toward the back garden. The fresh morning air hit my face in a soothing manner, and I closed my eyes. How could I face Lyov without breaking down?
My father killed his wife. Mercilessly and cruelly.
Every single time it came back to this…I was an Abandonato. The daughter of the man who destroyed a once-perfect family.
I wished there was a way to erase my past. Everything would have been easier if I wasn’t an Abandonato. The guilt of lying to everyone was slowly eating me alive. My heart ached at my own betrayal.
How long can I keep this secret before everything crumbles under my feet?
***
I didn’t see Alessio or the others for the rest of the day. I was tense, as if any moment now everything would end.
“Nikolay and Phoenix were living on the streets when Alessio found them.” Maddie’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Right. We were talking about Nikolay.
“I don’t know mu
ch of their history, but Alessio does. All I know is that they are cousins and they had deadbeat parents,” she explained.
“Was Nikolay always brooding like this?” I asked.
She nodded before taking a bite of her apple. “Oh yeah, definitely. He doesn’t talk much.”
Placing the last plate in the cabinet, I turned toward Maddie. “And Phoenix?”
Her expression changed the slightest bit, and she shrugged. “He’s quiet but is much more easy-going than Nikolay. When he was a new recruit, he was with Viktor a lot. So you can say he is a second Viktor now.”
Whenever the conversation would change to Phoenix, Maddie would shut down and change the topic. I was curious why, but she wouldn’t say anything.
“They are all really close. Viktor, Artur, Phoenix, Nikolay, and Alessio. The loyalty they have toward Alessio is really endearing,” I said, leaning against the counter.
“He trusts them a lot,” Maddie agreed with a nod.
Getting up from the stool, Maddie walked away. “I’ll go change, then we can watch something.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for you in my room.” I nodded at her. I watched her leave the room.
Giving the cleaned kitchen a final glance, I walked out with a smile, but my steps faltered on the first step of the stairs when I saw Isaak coming down, his phone to his ear.
When he caught sight of me, he stopped mid-stride, his gaze roaming over my face. My throat was suddenly dry with nervousness, and I looked down quickly before continuing my way upstairs. As I got closer to where he was standing, my body went cold, the tiny hairs at the back of my neck standing in fear and panic.
I buried my trembling hands in the skirt of my dress as I passed by Isaak, my shoulders sagging in relief when I walked ahead of him.
But my relief was short-lived. His voice stopped me in my tracks, my body freezing at his words. “Have we met before?”
Closing my eyes tightly in horror, I swallowed several times. Did he figure out my truth?
I took a deep breath and made sure my face was a mask of indifference before turning around to face him.
Giving Isaak a blank look, I shook my head, trying to look convincing and not guilty. “No. That wouldn’t be possible. I don’t remember meeting you,” I replied. At least that wasn’t a lie. The truth was easier to speak.
Isaak cocked his head to the side and took a step up. His eyes skimmed over my face before nodding. “You remind me a lot of someone I knew,” he elaborated.
His words were a surprise, and I stayed frozen as he stopped in front of me. Even though I was a stair above him, we were almost the same height.
Isaak brought a hand up to my face, his finger moving under my eyes, but he didn’t touch me. As if he realized what he was doing, his arm fell down. His face presented a resigned and almost painful expression.
“You have my Leila’s eyes,” he murmured so low that I almost missed it.
I sucked in a harsh breath at the name. Leila. That was my mother’s name. How was this possible? But then I realized he said my Leila. The person couldn’t be my mother.
“She had a daughter name Ayla too,” he continued in the same bleak tone.
A coincidence like this was impossible. My mother died when I was just a baby. Isaak was the enemy, so how would he know my mother? He called Leila his, claiming her as his woman.
“I’m sorry. My mother’s name is not Leila.” The lie slipped past my lips effortlessly, but panic welled inside of me. Taking a deep breath, I continued. “She couldn’t be me.”
Isaak stared at me for another second before letting out a harsh and emotionless laugh. “Of course she isn’t you,” he agreed without a second thought, surprising me even further.
My fingers tightened around the fabric of my dress, and I sent him a shaky smile. He took a step down, putting his hands in the pocket of his black slacks.
But his next words were enough to send a chill down my spine. “The other Ayla is dead.”
What? My mind screamed at this new revelation.
I stared at him in shock, but he didn’t notice. Isaak was already turning around and walking down the stairs, but not before I caught a flash of pain in his expression. I stared at Isaak’s retreating back, feeling completely horrified and appalled at his words.
His last words to me kept ringing in my ears as I walked into my room.
The other Ayla is dead.
I didn’t know anything about my mother. No one ever talked about her. It was like she never even existed. But was it possible? Did Isaak know my mother?
“No, it couldn’t be,” I whispered. He said the other Ayla was dead. And I was alive. It was all a big misunderstanding. I tried to soothe myself with that thought.
I wished I knew more about my past. About my own family. But I knew nothing. I lived my life as a ghost, completely forgotten by my own father and everyone else. Only Alberto was a constant in my life.
But he did nothing except ruin me even more. Every day spent with him, I lost a piece of myself until I had nothing left.
Could Isaak be the key to my past? Was my mother his Leila?
I wanted to know, but I couldn’t afford to reveal myself. My identity needed to stay hidden, and the only way to continue this façade was to be indifferent. I shouldn’t care. For all I knew, it was just a big coincidence.
But Isaak’s words were etched deep into my mind.
Everything was so uncertain.
Even my fate.
Chapter 9
Alessio
“Who is she?”
That was the first thing Lyov asked when he walked into my office. I knew who he was talking about, but I ignored his question. I was standing on the top of the stairs when Lyov and Isaak made their first appearance. I saw Ayla freeze from a distance. My first instinct was to go to her. And I did…without a second thought.
But I realized too late what I had done.
“Alessio, I asked you a question,” Lyov growled.
“And I chose to ignore it. Now, can we discuss why you are here?”
My head snapped up when he slammed his fists on the desk. “Are you fucking stupid? After everything that happened, you let yourself get fucking weak over some girl?”
“That’s none of your business,” I hissed. Pushing my chair away, I stood up and glared at him. I saw Isaak and Viktor standing at the door, both their arms crossed over their chests, an impassive expression on their faces. Like father, like son.
Walking around the desk, I pushed Lyov away. “Stay the fuck out of this. I’m serious about this, Lyov. Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I taught you better than this. I drilled it in your head before I left. No weakness. Make sure you don’t have any weakness because that’s the first thing your enemies will go after,” he snapped, moving in my face.
Grabbing his collar in my fist, I pushed him way before yelling, “I know!”
Lyov laughed at my answer. “You know?” he mocked me, his laughter harsh around the walls of my office and to my ears. “Then explain that look in your eyes when you stared at her.”
I paused at his question, feeling the anger coursing through my body. He was pushing me, forcing me to think about what I tried to bury deep inside of me.
“You know damn well what the outcome of this will be, but you still let yourself get weak,” he continued in the same agitated tone, his face completely red with rage. My fists clenched at his words.
He was wrong. History wouldn’t repeat itself. I wouldn’t let it.
“I handed this empire, this family to you because I thought you wouldn’t make the same mistake I did,” Lyov said, his chest heaving with fury.
“I’m not you!” I roared, lurching toward him in anger. My fists made contact with his face in a loud crunch, and he fell backward against the coffee table.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Isaak moving toward us, but Lyov raised a hand to stop him. He got up and wiped his cracked, bleeding lips with his sleeves.
/> “That was your mistake. It was your fault. Not mine,” I hissed. “You loved Mom. You brought her into this fucked-up world, and you got her killed.”
His eyes went wild with rage, and he came toward me in full force. His fingers grabbed around my shirt and pushed me into the wall behind me. “You are right. It was my mistake, and you are making the same fucking mistake.”
Letting me go, he took a step away. “After everything, I thought you would know better. You’ll get her killed. Then you’ll lose yourself. And in the end, you’ll bring this whole family down with you.”
That was what happened in the past. Lyov almost ruined this empire, and I was the one who saved it. But I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as him.
“Stop comparing me with you!”
We both moved toward each other at the same time. I didn’t have a chance to move away before he landed a punch in my stomach. I quickly retaliated, punching him in the shoulder.
I bore an anger that had no boundaries. Lyov had snapped the last thread of my control. We rolled on the ground, both of us lost in our years of held-in fury.
His fingers wrapped around my neck, squeezing. His hold slipped when I punched him in the face. I felt someone pulling me back, but I struggled against their hold.
“Alessio, let go of him. Damn it, Alessio. Let go!” Viktor snapped, pulling me away.
Isaak helped Lyov to his feet and held him back when he tried to come at me again. Viktor was holding me back too. Our harsh breathing filled the room, the air around us chilling and tensed.
“You are right. You taught me better than this. I’m not going to make the same mistake,” I snarled, glaring at Lyov.
“Did you hear that, Isaak? He isn’t going to make the same damn mistake.” Lyov laughed without looking away from me. “You are a fool and completely delusional. What you don’t realize is that you already made the same mistake. She is already your weakness. Stop living in denial.”
I could only glare at him. At my expression, he shrugged off Isaak and moved forward. “Come to your senses before it’s too late. Get rid of her. Build that fucking wall around your heart again. Don’t do the same thing I did.”
