Draco *** I thought for sure after she scared the shit out of me by fainting that I would drop it, but as soon as I saw the white of her eyes I was on it again. "Where is the father?" I wasn't sure what to feel when tears started seeping from the corners of her eyes before she turned her face away from me. Was she crying because they were apart, was she crying because he'd left her after finding out about the baby? What? "Where?" I turned her face back to mine and the look in her eyes almost broke my heart. I felt a lump in my throat and a riot started in my gut. What was it about this girl that made me want to bundle her up and tuck her away somewhere safe? "There is no father." She wouldn't look at me after saying this, but I was still no wiser as to what the fuck, so I couldn't leave it there, I needed to know. Something in me was unreasonably pissed that she'd let someone else give her a child. Which was the most fucked up thing ever since we obviously hadn't known each o
Draco *** I helped her back to my bed and got her settled, placing the tray with the leftover food that had been kept warm over her lap. "Eat some more!" I didn't say anything about what she'd told me while she picked at her food again, but my mind replayed it all as I tried to get my thoughts together. If I'd found her pitiful before, that emotion was now magnified by a thousand. Sometime later, I realized that she'd fallen asleep sitting up with the tray still across her lap, her food pretty much untouched. I'd been so lost in my head I didn't even realize that she'd dropped off like that without a sound. I removed the tray without jarring her and eased her down on the bed. She was so tired she didn't even stir. As I pulled the blanket up around her to protect her from the cold, something soft and tender unfurled in my chest. It was such a foreign emotion that it caught me off guard. Still, I didn't play into it too much as I sat back to watch her sleep. I felt a huge sense o
DRACO *** I took a shower after I went downstairs and headed for my private study. I had a lot to think about and the study is where I do most of my thinking. The dark almost somber room with its cherry wood furnishings and the heavy drapes that remind me of my grandfather always puts me at ease. I couldn't sit behind my desk like I usually do though, so I paced the room back and forth with her being the only thing on my mind. It's as if everything else, whatever I'd worried over or found important before last night, was no longer of interest. I was consumed with finding ways to help her in the meantime. I knew that what I was about to do was going to make a lot of changes and feelings may be hurt. And my own parents might not agree with my decision. So it wasn't something I could just rush into I decided to put the bigger matters on the back burner for now and focus on what I could do at the present. Her workload wasn't that hard, I'd checked. But what about when she started
DRACO *** Something's wrong! I can sense it. All-day, she's been jumpy, and that's only when she wasn't staring off into space like she had the world's energy crisis on her mind. And the look in her eyes, the light had dimmed in her eyes, and her face was sullen. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, and I knew there was no point in asking. I knew no one had troubled her because I'm with her damn near every second, so it had to be her past. I paced my room as the rest of the house slept. Outside, the window was dark, only the bare branches of the trees swaying gently against the dark sky. There was an unsettled feeling in my gut that refused to leave. I decided to go check on her. I usually stay away unless she cries out in her sleep. Then I sit with her for the rest of the night, watching over her. But I always try to give her her privacy unless she needs me. Tonight I'm just gonna go check on her and hope she doesn't wake up screaming. I left my room next door an
DRACO Months Later *** "Push Sofia, come on, baby, you can do it." The look she gave me was not one I'd expect from my sweet, demure wife. No, that was the look of someone about to commit murder. If my heart weren't in my lungs, I would've laughed, but I was too scared for that. She'd gone into labor at a very inopportune moment, if I do say so myself, one that had sent both of us scrambling to get decent while panicking about the birth of our first child. I'd prepared everything weeks ago, but when her water broke, I couldn't remember where my own feet were. She, on the other hand, was cool and composed. While I was running around getting things together after calling the hospital, she'd stood in the middle of the room rubbing her tummy and talking to our son; just another day in the life of a pampered princess. In the six months since we'd eloped, she has been an enigma. The scared, frightened girl I had taken from my family home after mom and dad had lost their minds and
DRACO *** He was a beautiful boy. My inner fear that I may look at him and see the man who'd violated her was for nothing. There was no anger or hate in me for him, no blame; how could there be? I'd also worked on her enough that by the time he came into the world, she no longer associated the darkest time in her life with him. He was ours, plain and simple. The truth is, I'd been ready to step in if she couldn't do it. If it had been too hard for her to cope, I would've shielded him until she came around. I needn't have worried, though, because my beautiful wife, although a bit traumatized still, didn't have it in her to hate her own flesh. I know it was impossible for her to forget how he came to be, but I gave every effort to erase that shit from her mind and for her to see our boy as just ours. It worked. As for me, I did my part. I didn't forget, but I'd be fucked if anybody were going to blame my son for shit that he had no hand in. And because of this, the kid had more l
Sofia *** I look around at my life, and I still can't believe that it's mine. When I stepped into this country for the first time all those many years ago, I could never have imagined that one day I would find love and family. That the dark cloud hanging over me would one day recede to let the light in again. Back then, my heart had no room for anything but the vengeance that beat within it. I wanted only to bear a son, a son who would one day avenge me of the wrongs done to me. Yes, papa had tried to make it right, but then I had to lose him as well. Too much loss while the one responsible walked free. It was a festering wound that had stayed with me every day. I did not think I could ever love anyone. My heart was cold, dead even. I knew only a thirst for revenge. I did not know how I would get there, but I knew that someday I would see it. But this man, this Draco Russo, even as I fought him, had worked his magic, and it wasn't long before I learned to cling to him. He'd
GIANNA "Where's that doll your grandmother sent you for your birthday?" I looked around from my place on the floor where I'd been playing with my new toys alone for the last half hour. Daddy had just left to go to work after promising to bring me back something special. I held my breath as I looked over and up at the woman standing in the doorway. Somehow I knew that the smile that she'd worn while my daddy was here would be long gone. It had taken my little brain forever to notice that it always happens that way. When daddy is here, she smiles and laughs with me, giving me the same special attention she gives to her own little girl who's the same age as I. But when daddy's not around, she's mean and hurts. My mouth became dry with dread, and there was that funny feeling in my tummy once again. I felt tears already prickling my eyes because I knew what was coming. No doubt Victoria will get my doll just like she'd got everything else of mine. I didn't use to mind before, back whe