"Please say something," Thomas says.
"Are you sick?" Melina places her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.
"I'm not sick, Mi amore," he says as he gently removes her hand from his forehead
"You're definitely sick. You just referred to me as "your love."”
"That's because you're Melina. You're the love of my life."
"Is this some new way of torture because I don't understand why you're saying all of these?"
"I think I need to explain everything. I’m aware of what you did."
"What did I do?"
"I know why you stole my money for James."
"You do?" Melina says, finding it difficult to believe because what she expected from him, knowing the truth, isn't what she's getting.
"Yes, principessa. I know what you did to protect me." Thomas squeezes her hand as his shoulders drop. Thomas appears to really know what happened. Did his mom tell him? Perhaps she did, but why isn't he angry l
"Come in," Melina says to the person knocking on the door. She didn't bother asking who it was as she was expecting Kat. Tonight is the gala. Melina is almost done getting ready. She's wearing a nude one asymmetrical shoulder embroidered tulle dress. She applied mild makeup, and Serena helped her style her hair."Just give me a minute; I'm almost done, "Melina says, putting on her shoes. She didn't want to put them on until it was time to leave."Sicuro," Sure. A male voice says from outside the walk-in closet. Melina's brows furrow as she realizes it's not Kat she’s let into her room. She walks out to find out who it is.Her breath gets caught in her throat as she sees Thomas. He stands in the middle of her room, looking dashing as ever. He's dressed in a dark blue tux. His tux is perfectly tailored and fits him perfectly. His hair is gelled back, giving him a more serious look, but he still looks as handsome as ever.Melina locks
Melina thanks Thomas for walking her to her room before entering. She anticipates him walking over to his room, but instead, he follows her in. Thomas takes her hand in his and leads them to the bed. He makes Melina sit and bends in front of her. He takes her right foot in his hand."What are you doing?" Melina asks, puzzled as she looks at him holding her foot in his hand."How are you feeling?" he asks, taking off her heel."I'm all right. You don't have to do that." Melina tries to get her right foot out of his grip, but he holds it tight. He's probably wondering if she's feeling better after her little meltdown earlier tonight. He massages her foot lightly and then releases it after kissing her ankle."That's good to hear." Thomas says as he picks up her left foot and takes off her heel. He massages both feet while they’re resting on the ground.Melina looks at him, wondering if he is the same Thomas from a few months ago. She can't believe the same man massaging her feet right no
Melina awakens the following morning as the side of her bed deepens. She rubs her eyes open, wondering who sat on her bed.“Good morning,” Franky says, with a breakfast tray in her hand“Franky!” Melina exclaims, sitting up on the bed. “What are you doing here?”“I brought you breakfast,” Franky says, placing the tray in front of Melina.“Why?” Melina asks, confused.“Because I wanted to do something nice for you,” Franky replies, smiling. Melina finds her grin a little sheepish. She smells another reason Franky brought her breakfast in bed.“I am not buying it,” Melina says, squaring her eyes at Franky. She wonders why Franky really brought her breakfast in bed. Yes, Franky is an amazing sister, but she isn’t the type that brings you breakfast in bed. For one, Franky doesn’t know how to cook, and it’s not her style.“It’s the truth,” Franky says, avoiding eye contact with Melina.“Spill it out.”“There’s nothing to tell,” Franky mumbles, tracing the flower design on the covers. Sudde
“Perhaps Miss Melina is feeling ashamed to be seen naked in front of you after so long.” This is the tenth reason Leo has come up with in the past hour.Thomas just told Leo what happened last night. He didn’t want to tell him, but he felt if he wanted Leo’s help in figuring out what went wrong, he needed to know what had happened.“That’s impossible. I have fucking seen, kissed, and worshiped every inch of her body. That is the most illogical reason you have come up with.”“I know, but….”“But what?” Thomas barks, irritated.“Please don’t kill me for what I am about to say, sir.”“Speak.”“Miss Melina may be a beautiful woman, but she has been severely tortured. I’m sure her body is covered in new scars, and someone like her would be ashamed to show her body to anyone.”“Hmm,” Thomas
Melina screams Franky’s name for the umpteenth time tonight into the walls of Thomas’ mansion and receives no response. Tears stream down her cheeks as she stands in the middle of the foyer, looking left to right for her sister. Melina can’t find Franky anywhere. It’s like she vanished into thin air. She has checked every single room in the mansion, and she still can’t find her. Melina even asked the ladies to help her look around the compound but still no trace of Franky.Melina rushes to the door as Linda steps inside.“Did you find her?” Melina asks, and Linda shakes her head.“Oh my goodness!” Melina exclaims, running her hand through her messy hair. She has run her hands through them a lot tonight. “Where in God’s name could she be right now?” Melina asks no one in particular.“I don’t know, dear, but we will keep searching. Have you called Thomas?” Linda asks, and Melina mentally face palms.“Oh my God! I can’t believe I forgot to call him. Please call him and inform him of the
Melina steps out of the car and follows Thomas into a warehouse. He leads her into a room that appears to be a shooting range. Why did Thomas bring us here?"Why are we here?" Melina voices the question she just asked herself, but he doesn't answer; instead, Thomas places something in her hand. Her eyes widen as she sees the gun in her hand. Melina quickly gives it back to him, but Thomas forces it back into her hand. He moves behind Melina, places his hand over her shoulder, and aims forward."What are…?" Melina is cut off by a piercing scream.She doesn't know where it's coming from, but she can hear it clearly. Tears pool in her eyes as she recognizes the scream. Melina knows how she sounds, even when she screams. She sees the target board pulling up as Thomas moves from behind her. He walks to the target board and places something on it. Thomas moves out of the way, and Melina sees what he has placed on it, and something in her shifts; it&rsq
Melina awakens as she feels someone stroking her hair. She opens her eyes and locks gazes with a pair of piercing blue orbs that lights up once they lock with hers."I was worried for a minute you were never going to wake up," Thomas says, smiling at Melina as he continues to stroke her hair."Is something wrong?" The bedside clock reads 5:00 a.m., implying it's still very early in the morning, so she wonders why he’s waking her."It's time for training.""Isn't it too early to train?""The main training is later in the day, but we need to warm up our bodies first.""Oh, but why do we have to warm up so early in the morning?" Melina asks, yawning."It's the best time for jogging.""You want us to go for a jog?" Melina hates exercising. She can't believe he wants them to go for a jog so early in the morning."I know you hate working out, but this is good for you. It will get your body warmed up nicely before we star
THOMASThomas looks at Melina while eating breakfast the following day. She has barely touched her food, and Thomas knows why. Melina worries about her sister, and Thomas hates the toll it's taking on her. Melina has lost weight as a result of it in recent days. He recalls how small she felt against him during their training yesterday. Every second, he fears Melina will try to trade in herself for her sister. Thomas will lose it if he loses her again. I must find her sister as soon as possible. Thomas' train of thought is interrupted when Leo walks over to him and whispers that the car is ready. He gets out of his chair and walks over to Melina. His lips linger a little longer than they should as he pecks her forehead before stepping outside to meet Leo. Melina isn't coming with him to work today as she is spending the day with his mother. He doesn't like them apart, but he trusts his mother to keep Melina safe.At the office, Thomas is unable to conce