My mother had blue eyes, long black hair, and a smile so big that it brightened a room. She was also a very tall woman, but managed to look like a model," he explained. This caused a sense of relief to flow through me as I nodded my head. "You don't need to change your name. I love it, not only because it would've been my sisters, but because it's a reminder of the beauty that comes from a whole lot of ugly," he tells me."Your brother can't even say my name. Why do you think he calls me princess? I'm starting to think it's not because he wants to, but because he just can't say my name. I see the way he looks at me as if I'm the worst person on this planet. He hates me, and my name is only a reminder of why," I explain."Don't change your name because of him. Valentino doesn't trust anybody. He's like that with everyone he's ever met. He doesn't love, he doesn't befriend, he doesn't care, and he never will. He believes in family, and that's the only thing he'll ever believe in. Don't
When I woke up, Alex was still asleep. It felt like a mini-victory on my part because I wanted to surprise him with breakfast in bed. With a smile, I slid from his arms which held me close to him. As soon as I was free, I bit down on my bottom lip before tip-toeing out of the room.The second I made it out of the room, I quickly ran down the hallway, and down the stairs. Sarah was already in the kitchen like always. It smelled delicious. The aroma made my stomach growl in hunger.“Good morning, gorgeous," I said with a smile as I walked into the kitchen. The blush that danced around on her cheeks didn't go unnoticed by me as she turned towards me for a split second. That second didn't last long at all as she turned back around to tend to whatever she was baking.“Good morning, Isabella," she told me. I walked over to her only to catch a glimpse of what she was cooking. It looked like skinny bread, but it smelled amazing."It's called Ciabatta, meaning Slipper. It's bread that is so sk
The conversations when my father would listen to my arguments for justice for the people who had to undergo trafficking. He would agree with me, he said that he had supported me."Yes, he does. For as long as I could remember," Valentino said so calmly. I wish he was more angry, I wish everyone was more angry. "B-but-" I began, but was cut off by Valentino who looked quite annoyed."Yeah, yeah, more reasons to hate my dear Papa Sean," he said with a mocking tone and irritation clear on his expression. I let out a sigh as I immediately sobered up from the sadness I felt. Valentino was the definition of an a*shole. The confusing part was how Anastasia could put up with it. Leaning back in my chair, I waited for him to continue talking."Your father is going to be alerted of where you are from the second you are in a public area. You're going to take a taxi to a cafe where you're going to order a drink. Five minutes later, you're going to be met with some man who works for your father-
He looks pissed off, and it causes me to shrivel up in nervousness. I didn't know if he heard the plan or not. Knowing him, he could be angry at almost anything I did from when I woke up and now. "What were you doing in there?" He asked, pointing towards Valentino's office. I looked back at the door innocently before looking over at him. "Please tell me you weren't snooping around again. Valentino doesn't like people in his being nosy, he'll be pissed.""No, I wasn't snooping. I'm done with all of that. Valentino is actually in there. I wanted to discuss my name changing with him, so I could get the proper documentation is all," I said, smiling as a lie just slid from my teeth. It hurt me to lie to him, especially since I've been honest up until this point.He deserved to know, but I promised Valentino that I wouldn't tell. It didn't exactly help that Valentino was a mob boss which meant that he was really big on someone keeping their word."I was going to get you the papers," Alex s
Anastasia had no filter literally at all sometimes. I'm not sure if he came from her stripper status, or if she just really didn't care what others thought about her. She spoke her mind and I admired her for it."Anastasia, drop it, okay?" she said, her face looking as red as a tomato now. We didn't need her to say it for us to know the answer. "Aw, she has the hots for you," Anastasia mouthed out to me with a face that showed she was gushing. Shaking my head, I took another bite of the delicious slipper bread."This is good, Sarah. As always, thanks for wowing us with your skills," I said. She nodded her head without ever turning towards me. Once again, she was as cold as ever."Come on, Bella. I wanted to show you something," Anastasia stated before walking out of the kitchen. I jumped down from the counter before following behind her. She walked me to her room.The minute we were in, I sat down on her couch and awaited what she had to show me."Oh, I didn't have anything to show y
It had to be a crime to feel this nervous. At this moment, I couldn't figure out if it was just pregnancy nausea, or if it was guilt settling at the pit of my stomach. However, I felt it would be so much better if Alex knew what was going on. I hated lying more than I hated my mother.I watched as the guards began to carefully move some of my things into Alex's room. The only problem that kept sprouting in my head was how I was going to manage to sneak out. It was challenging getting out of bed because he liked to hold me so tight to the point that if he flexed his muscles, I would be without oxygen. They made space in Alex's abnormally large walk-in closet. It was mostly suits that took up the place. Not to mention the very expensive-looking dress shoes. Fashion wasn't exactly my forte, so I wasn't even going to attempt to guess what kind of shoes and suits they were.After making room, they placed all of my clothes into his closet. My heels and shoes were next. Some of them, I didn
"You said that as if it were going to be the last time," he said suspiciously. Alex had to be the smartest person that I've ever met. I tried to rack my brain for a reasonable excuse to get out of this, but I couldn't find anything. So, I settled on the truth."I don't know if this is the last time I'll ever see you, but I promise that for every chance I get to love you-I'm going to treat it like it's the last time. We never know, Zozo," I said, shrugging sadly. He sat down right beside me. Dodging looking at him, my eyes found the documents on the nightstand. I quickly grabbed ahold of the paper and immediately signed my name. Instead of 'Isabella Martinez', it was now Bella. In a way, it was like I was still taking a part of myself in this new chapter of my life. I'm leaving out the beginning of my name, and taking the last with me. The beginning was full of fairy tales, but the end is going to be the bella of reality. [ Beauty ]"Why do I feel like you're lying to me?" He asked. T
I waited about an hour after Alex had fallen asleep. It was almost impossible to calm my breathing as if I were sleeping when I couldn't stop thinking about the mission at hand. Finally, he had happened to go to sleep with one hand on my boob and the other around my waist. This position was a lot newer than any other before it.Slowly, I grabbed my pillow and slipped it where I had been. I could feel his hand that was cupping my breast, giving it a little squeeze. Biting down on my lip, I resisted the urge to squeal. It had taken me by surprise, but it didn't surprise me that he was so grabby in his sleep.When I succeeded in switching out my body for the pillow, I turned around to look at his sleeping figure. He looked angelic, even with all of the tattoos that littered his skin. It took me by surprise how beautiful this man could look without even trying.Tip-toeing out of the room, I made it out before walking down the stairs. Valentino looked impatient as ever as he waited for me.