Chapter 3
Julian
Wrapping one thick arm around her waist, I pull her from her father’s office, ignoring her tears and small whimpers. There will be many more in the following days.
“You don’t want me…”
Her words ring in my ear. Oh, how wrong she is. I more than want her… in fact, I’ve wanted her for a very long time. Years. And now, I finally have her and her father exactly where I want them. I’ve been watching, waiting, planning to take Romero down for the last five years. The moment he killed my mother, taking from me the one and only person who ever mattered, I’ve been plotting his downfall.
It wasn’t until Lilian Romero’s funeral that I knew exactly how I was going to get my revenge. Romero fell off the wagon after his wife’s death, his gambling problem multiplying into the millions. He thought he had time to pay his debts, he was comfortable and being comfortable left you vulnerable.
He didn’t have shit now-nothing but her.
Now, I finally have her, my prize. My Elena. A dark raven-haired beauty that would soon become my wife. As if she can hear me thinking her name, she shoves at my arm, her nails sinking into the flesh as she struggles to get away from me.
Oh, Elena, there is no getting away now.
Releasing her for a fraction of a second, I grab her by the waist and lift her up, tossing her over my shoulder with ease. The nightgown she’s wearing rides up with the movement, giving me a side view of her perfectly shaped ass and a glimpse of her satin panties that hide her virgin p*u**y. That too will soon be mine.
Markus, my second in command and the closest thing I have to a friend, walks ahead of me while Lucca, one of my best and most brutal enforcers, covers my back. We can’t be too careful in this place. I did just steal Romero’s daughter, after all. And a contract won’t matter if I’m dead.
I carry her all the way out to the car while she spends the entire time pounding her little fists against my back. She doesn’t actually think she has a chance of escaping me, does she?
When we reach the sleek black SUV, Marcus opens the door. Turning around, his eyes fall on Elena, who is still struggling like a cat on my shoulder, her @ss cheeks jiggling beside my face. Rage fills my veins, and I forget for a moment that Markus is my ally.
“Look at her again, and I’ll gouge your fucking eyes out.”
Most men cower in fear when I make a threat like that because everyone knows that when I make a threat, it’s not just a threat, it’s a promise. Markus is not most men, though, he takes in my words and gives me a respectful nod. If I didn’t know him better, I could have sworn his lips twitched up into a smile.
Fu*cker.
I put her down on her feet but grab her arm before she can make a run for it. Her feistiness only makes me want her more. She covers her chest with her free arm, trying to hide her t*i*ts covered only by the thin material. She’s beautifully naive, and the fact that she’s even trying to maintain an ounce of modesty in this situation proves that.
I give her a quick once over. Her soft shapely legs that I picture wrapped around my waist are on full display, her small body shaking like a leaf either from cold or fear… maybe both. She’s short, shorter than I remember her being, and fragile, so very breakable. My gaze moves over her delicate throat, which bobs as she swallows.
Her heart-shaped face is red, and her green eyes are puffy from crying. That raven hair of hers is a tangled damp mess. Still, she is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Beautiful and all-fucking-mine.
“Get in,” I order.
She merely shakes her head. I stare down at her, knowing full well I’ll never be able to hurt her like I’ve hurt others who disobey me, she is the only person who will ever have my mercy. Though there are other ways of disciplining her.
Pinching her chin gently between two fingers, I force her not only to hear the words I’m saying but also for her to see me speak them.
“Do it, or I do it for you, and believe me, you don’t want me to do it.”
Her emerald eyes widen with fear, and she must be able to hear the threat in my voice because her body starts shaking furiously. Pulling away, she reluctantly climbs into the car, sliding across the backseat, going to the spot furthest away. There is ample room between us, and I decide to let her have this small space, giving her a sense of control since I just took most of that away from her. I should probably feel bad about how I ripped her from her father’s hands, uprooted her without warning from the only home she’s ever known.
A good man would feel terrible, but the truth is I’m too selfish to feel any remorse. All I feel is a sense of accomplishment. I’ve waited for a long time, watching as the Romero family struggled to stay afloat.
“Where are we going?” Elena surprises me with her meek voice, and I look over at her. She’s all doe eyes and innocence. Breaking her will be a crushing blow to her father.
“Home.”
She wraps her slender arms around her torso like she is hugging herself before turning away from me again to stare out of the window. Her small body trembles, and I can make out goosebumps on her creamy smooth skin.
“Turn up the heat, Markus.”
“Got it, boss.”
For the rest of the drive home, we sit silently-only the engine’s sound and the occasional sob filling the cab.
By the time we pull to the compound, I’m sweating profusely under my three-piece suit. Markus must have turned up the heat to well over a hundred degrees. As soon as Markus opens the door, I slip out of the car.
The fresh air cools me, and I inhale a harsh breath into my lungs. Turning around, I’m prepared for a fight, or at least a struggle and am pleasantly surprised to find Elena sitting on the edge of the seat waiting to get out.
Maybe this won’t be as hard as I had assumed it would be.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
Eyes cast down, she wrings her hands in her lap nervously. Sliding off the seat, her small feet press against the gravel, and I contemplate picking her up to carry her inside when she winces at the contact. I love how fragile she is and how much I know she’ll need me to make it through everything I have in store for her. When I’m done with her, she will rely on me for every single thing she wants or needs.
Obviously, I’m far too trusting because she slips past me like a small mouse. Breaking off into a dead run, she dashes past the car and down the driveway. I’m not worried, though, since there isn’t anywhere for her to go.
She doesn’t make it far before one of my men grabs her, tugging her by the arm a little too roughly. I grit my teeth, my jaw clenching as I bite back the need to tell him to get his fucking hands off of her. Anger zings through me when he tugs her again, and she loses her balance falling onto the ground, scraping her knees and legs in the process.
“Let go of me!” She screams, sobs ripping from her lungs in quick succession as she pulls against Roger’s hold, trying to break free. The strap of her nightgown slips off her shoulder in the process, and she almost flashes a tit at my men.
Fuck no. No one gets to see what is mine.
Walking over to her, I gesture for Roger to let her go, and he does almost as quickly as he grabbed her, retreating two steps back. I’ll deal with him later. Right now, I need to get her inside and put her in some different clothes. My men have seen enough of her already.
Looking down at her exposed legs, I see scratches from where she fell, so I’ll need to make sure she isn’t actually hurt. Reaching down, I grab her by the hips, feeling the heat of her skin beneath my hands and toss her over my shoulder like I did earlier.
A growl forms in my throat as I become aware of how she barely weighs anything.
She doesn’t even fight me and rests motionless on my shoulder as I carry her into the house, through the foyer, and up the stairs to the bedroom we will share. Pushing the heavy wooden door open, my shoes slap against the tile as I walk across the room and deposit her on my bed… our bed. The moment her butt hits the mattress, she looks up and scoots backward until her back is pressed against the headboard.
Big green eyes brim with fear. I could tell her she is safe here, that nothing bad will happen to her. But that would be a lie. She isn’t safe yet, especially not from me.
“Stay here, get comfortable. I’ll be back soon,” I tell her as I slowly walk back toward the door. I’ve got blood to spill before I can tend to my new toy.
Looking at my beautiful prize one last time, I close the door and lock it behind me.
I let the anger that I was swallowing down boil up to the surface as I make my way through the mansion and toward the front door.
Stepping outside, I find Edwardo guarding the porch. He turns to look at me, his hand reaching for his gun before he recognizes it’s me.
“Is Roger still out here?”
“Yes, boss. He is doing a round over the west lawn. Is everything okay?”
“It will be…” I snap before walking off and into the night.