FABIANOThe past,One week ago;“I don’t want her to suffer a fate like Mara’s.” He whispered, staring down at the little being.He had brought her Nono to the room where Venus was.“How do you know she will?”He shook his head, his chest tightening as the broken fragments of past appeared before him;“Mara suffered because of me.” He said, not daring to look back at the old woman, “They knew I didn’t care about my father. Or the woman who gave birth to me. They knew you two were the only ones who mattered to me.”He inhaled sharply,“They took Mara because I was her friend.” His face twisted in harsh lines, “What do you think they’ll do to Venus once they get to know that it is my blood that runs through her veins?”He received no answer.He knew he was right.He also knew Aria wouldn’t understand him.“They won’t see an innocent girl. They will see a pawn. A puppet.” He hissed out, “They’ll ruin her.”“What do you have in your mind, Fabiano?”He ignored the question and told her eve
ARIAFour months later;“Close your eyes.”I did as he asked me to do.“Imagine her.”I tried to. I exhaled deeply, ignoring the tightening sensation spreading inside me.“Your skin.” He whispered beside me, his warm breath falling on me, his warmth seeping into me at the point where our legs were touching.I imagined it.I created an image behind me eyes, in the darkness.“Your golden hair.” His voice was going far away as I swam deep and deep into my imaginations.“My grey eyes.”Grey eyes like Fabiano’s. Not my blue eyes. I swallowed the ball of emotions forming in my throat.Did she have big eyes? Or were they small like I imagined them to be?“Big, sparkling eyes.” He continued, “Eyes that want me to become a good man.”Tears burned behind my closed lids. I bit down on my lip because I knew it was going to tremble.“Chubby, pink cheeks.”It was a beautiful picture.The picture I created in my mind.My girl.My daughter.This was my fate.I was a woman who had to imagine her daugh
ARIA “Why can’t you stop crying?” I don’t want to. The tears just don’t stop. “Why are you like this?” Because I am falling apart. “Why are you so weak?” Because I was once strong. “Who are you?” Her chapped lips stretched, she winced at the sharp pain. Blood seeped through the once soft flesh, coloring the pale lips crimson. Her lips parted ever so slowly, a small breath escaped them. She looked so weak. So torn apart. She looked like she was dying. She looked like she was suffering from some lethal disease that was sucking the life out of her. She was once beautiful with sparkling eyes, glowing skin, hair so glossy that it was envy of every other woman, curves so alluring that they attracted every eye, men or women. Now, it looked like someone was replaced her. Like someone had stolen that woman and threw a poor, cheap copy of her in her place. Skin so pale that her blood vessels were visible through it, hair a tangled mess, haunted blue orbs that were surrounded my
ARIA The sound of muffled grunts and whimpers forced me out of my sleep. I lifted myself on my elbows as I rubbed my eyes, my heat beat escalating as the pitiful whimpers filled the room. Swallowing, I looked over my shoulder and my lips parted in surprise. Fabiano was sleeping beside me. He still was but now, he was writhing in the sheets, his face twisted in pain. Pitiful sounds escaped his parted lips—grunts, groans and whimpers. I licked my dry lips, wetting them as I contemplated what to do. He seemed to be having a nightmare. I knew it. I knew the sounds he was making. I used to make them too when I was a teenager. I used to wake up my parents with my screams. I would wake up, with them hovering over me, horrified and sickly pale. They told me that I screamed in my sleep. I didn’t believe them first because I didn’t remember screaming but they were right. Fabiano groaned beside me, his body jerking but he didn’t wake up. “No.” He grunted in his sleep, his features tigh
ARIA I shuddered in his hold. He tightened his hold, squeezing me into him, holding me as if he feared that I was going to run away. “What did you dream about?” I asked. He tensed, his muscles going rigid and taut under me. He was quiet for a few moments before he let out a breath. “My mother.” “Oh.” He pulled me back, cupping my face, he stared into my eyes. His gaze drifted down to my neck and I knew what he was looking at. The bruises he had left. “Forgive me.” He brushed his fingers over the tender flesh but I was very shocked to register the pain. “I just…” He sighed, “I…thought it was her.” I brushed his words off. Fabiano was way too dominant to apologize. “Why would you react this way?” I whispered to him, grazing my hand over his stubbled cheek, “You could’ve killed me.” “I didn’t mean to.” He shook his head. His eyes flickered to the bruised flesh before they met mine, “Forgive me.” I raised my brows at him. He was asking me to forgive him. He was demanding t
FABIANO“I’ll make a man out of you.”The words kept circulating in his mind, taunting him, keeping him from enjoying his wife’s company as he laid on the bed beside her.Aria was asleep.She had fallen asleep as soon as she recovered from the second orgasm. Fabiano had cleaned her with a washcloth and covered her with duvet but couldn’t sleep.His body was sated, his needs were satisfied. He hadn’t expected Aria to let him touch her but she didn’t protest. It was clear to him that she hadn’t faked any orgasm or those moans that made him loose control. She enjoyed the fucking as much as he did.“Come to me, baby. I’ll make you a man. A real man.”An arm under his arm, Fabiano stared at the ceiling, trying to focus on something. Anything.But the haunted words were being whispered in his mind, keeping him awake.He shook his head, pushing himself up from the bed and sat down, legs dangling from the bed and feet on the floor.He breathed in deeply.Staring down at his naked form, he gla
FABIANOWARNING: MENTION OF ABUSE AHEADShe was growing to be beautiful.Fabiano knew that she would grow up into a beautiful woman.Her big gray eyes sparkled as she stared at him, her cheeks were getting chubby day by day although she was a little small than the babies her age.“There you go.” He looked up from her daughter, watching Nono stroll into the nursery with a bottle of milk in her hand. She handed it to Fabiano with an encouraging smile.Fabiano took it, staring at it blankly.It felt weird in his big, tattooed hand.Hands that were trained to kill and torture, now were holding a bottle of milk for a tiny being.Nodding at Nono, he brought the bottle towards his daughter—Venus. As soon as the nipple touched her tiny, pink lips, she latched on it and started sucking. Fabiano’s lips twitched watching her.She looked so small in her big, muscled arms. His daughter was fragile. It looked like a gust of wind would hurt her. She was like a small doll. If someone put her on a rac
FABIANO “They’re not nightmares.” He sneered, “They are memories that try to haunt me when I am asleep.” Nono sighed, shaking her head. A picture of despair. “Do you want to talk about it, son?” She asked, rubbing his cheek lovingly but he shook his head. Nono knew how stubborn he was. But she also knew that he needed to face his demons so she left the topic. “When are you going back?” She asked, changing the topic but he tensed and graced her with a sarcastic smile. “Eager to get rid of me.” She raised her brows at him, “You know you can stay as long as you want.” His eyes softened, a rare occurrence. “You need something?” He asked her, taking her hand off hi cheek and kissed her meaty palm. “You already sent supplies for Venus.” “I asked if you need anything.” He rolled his eyes, “I know that Venus has everything but I asked about you.” “No.” She smiled at him, “I have everything, thanks to you.” Fabiano nodded. He made sure his Nono had everything because she was the