Ryder nods. “We made it clear that your protection was our top priority and if anything happened to you, or your family, we would be paying him another unfriendly visit. He gave us his word he has no plans to hurt any of you and just wants what’s best for business. You know, Angel…” Ryder leans back and raises the glass to his lips throwing the remains down the back of his throat. “It’s better to keep your enemies close. In this case Moretti is better with you than against you. If what you say is right and that Johnson’s plastics is set for a bright future, you would be the target of every business shark out there. With him involved, they would be fools to try. He has a small share and appears happy with that. My advice would be to see how it goes and keep us informed of any developments. Moretti may be mafia but like I said before, he is aware that things need to evolve and change. If anything, I respect the man because he is trying to redesign an age-old institution and clean it up into a business machine. You will do well out of the association and if things change, we will reassess the situation.”
Although his words reassure me, I can tell that Angel is still worried. She tugs on her hands and bites her bottom lip and Brewer reaches across and grasps her other hand. “Listen, darlin’, push away that worry because that’s what we’re here to do on your behalf. It was a good meeting and we’re just tired from the ride. Go home and start your life knowing we have your back. Come back to visit though because we miss you and want to hear how it’s all going.”
Ryder nods. “Brewer’s right, there’s nothing you can do except get on with your life. We’ll miss you though, so come back lots otherwise we’ll be coming to find you.”
They laugh and Angel relaxes for the first time since they started their conversation and her voice breaks as she whispers, “Thanks Ryder, guys...”
Her voice is laced with emotion and Snake growls, “I’m heading off to bed. I hate this personal shit.”
We all laugh and Ryder groans. “I’m back to face my sister who by all accounts is pissed because I left Ashton last night. You should see the fucking messages she’s sent me.”
We all laugh and as we stand, Ryder does too and holds out his hand. As I take it, he grips mine tightly and growls, “Look after her.”
“I will, you have my word on that.”
As I watch them say their goodbyes, I feel a little envious of the relationship they all share. It appears I was wrong in judging them so harshly because who wouldn’t want to be part of this?
Chapter 35
Sebastian
“Mom, Anastasia!”
Angel shouts as we enter the house which is our first stop since leaving the Reaper compound.
Martha appears with tears in her eyes and says with relief, “Angelica, thank goodness you’re here.”
Angel looks worried and Martha shakes her head. “They left this morning.”
“Left… where?”
“Mr. Moretti came, and they left with him and a lot of other people. There must have been about three cars and a few motorbikes. Your mom made me pack everything of Anastasia’s because she told me she wouldn’t be back.”
“What did she mean?”
Angel looks so worried I interrupt, “Where did they go?”
“Vegas.”
I make to leave and Angel says abruptly, “What’s going on?”
“We’re going to stop them.”
Martha looks concerned. “I think you should save yourselves the trip. I spoke to Anastasia and her mind’s made up. There’s nothing anyone can do to talk her out of it.”
Angel’s eyes fill with tears and Martha’s expression softens. “Listen, honey, sometimes you have to let someone go in order for them to fly. Anastasia is unhappy here and has been for some time. Your mom’s a hard woman to live with, you know that and maybe Anastasia sees this marriage as a solution to her problems. Leave her to make her own mistakes because she won’t thank you for interfering. Just be there for her when she needs you and be happy for her if she’s happy. You never know, it may be the making of her.”
“Or the end.”
Angel sounds bitter and Martha smiles. “You should know more than most what it’s like living with monsters in disguise. There’s always a ray of hope in every situation and you just have to trust that Anastasia will find it in hers. Now, let me fix you something to eat and you can fill me in on everything that’s been happening.”
We spend the afternoon catching up with Martha and after a while, I can tell that Angel has relaxed and almost appears to accept the situation. As we say our goodbyes, Martha hugs Angel warmly and says with emotion laced through her voice, “Don’t judge your mom, she does what she thinks best and doesn’t mean harm by it.”
Pulling back, Angel says irritably, “You always defend her and yet she treats you like shit most of the time. Maybe you should think about leaving and finding yourself a decent employer, you know, I will always give you a job.”
She turns to me and her eyes sparkle, “What do you say, honey, when we find a home together, can Martha come and work for us?”
I’m not sure what to say and look at Martha who shakes her head and looks at me pointedly, warning me against saying anything.
“I’m happy here, honey. Despite what you think, I will never leave your mom, she will need me more than ever now, so don’t you worry about me and just go and be happy. Make sure you come back and visit though, I will want to hear all the details.”
As they hug it out, Martha winks at me over Angel’s shoulder. I wonder if she will ever tell Angel and Anastasia who she really is. It’s obvious she’s not ready for that yet but I don’t know why.
As we turn and say our goodbyes, I take Angel’s hand in mine and as the door closes behind us, I stop and say softly, “I always imagined leaving this house one day with your hand in mine. I imagined us leaving to set up life together and now it’s coming true.”
Angel nods. “It’s a strange feeling leaving the past behind. For a while there, I thought this would never happen but now it has, everything makes sense again.”
She turns and my arms wrap round her and pull her tightly against me. As we share a kiss on the steps of her childhood home, I take a moment to remember her father. He was hard, unforgiving and a bastard and between us we broke the beauty who now trembles in my arms. However, it was done for a reason and now I understand why; it built us both into stronger people because now we appreciate what we have and can handle what life throws at us together as a strong team. Ultimately, it’s made us stronger together than we ever were apart and the cunning old fox can sleep soundly in the afterlife knowing that his plan worked out in the end. Harvey’s girls are strong women and now it’s time for Anastasia to prove to us all just what she’s made of.
Angel pulls away and smiles, “Come on, we need to get back to work if we’re going to make those billions everyone seems to think we can.”
She laughs and I swear it lights up the darkness that approaches with the passing of the day and as we walk hand in hand into our future, I know it will be a good one because
she’s by my side.
The End
Volume Two
Owning Beauty
Owning Beauty
Hard. Dominant. Overbearing & Insufferable.
The man I agreed to marry.
* * *
My biggest mistake has a name.
Tobias Moretti. Tall, dark and dangerous and the head of the largest crime family this area has ever seen.
Brooding, mysterious and so hot he melts the resolve of any woman he meets.
Did I mention he was rich? Then again, my billion-dollar inheritance may have something to do with the deal we just made.
* * *
Marry him and escape my hated past.
Play the trophy wife in public and then get on with my day – alone.
No other men and a life with everything I want - except love.
How can I miss what I never had in the first place?
At least
I’d have my freedom – think again.
It turns out my freedom is the last thing I can have. Guarded by men in black suits and forbidden to go out alone.
A trapped bird in a cage filled with luxury.
Then it changes.
The terms of our contract have been re-written. He wants a wife in every sense of the word.
Yes, my biggest mistake wants it all. He wants to own my mind, body and soul and I don’t get a say in the matter.
* * *
Tobias.
I like to own the best that money can buy.
I like to surround myself with beauty and Art.
I want the best and don’t care how far I go to own it.
She’s about to discover that I always go a step too far.
She gave up everything to be my wife but there is still one valuable asset she owns that causes the feral beast in me to growl.
Her innocence.
My world is a dark and dangerous place full of nightmares that never go away.
My beauty is about to wake up and discover the prince who rescued her from the tower is a beast in disguise and she will hear me roar as I claim the innocence of my virgin bride.
Yes, I can live without love but I can’t live without that and nothing is going to stand in my way because what Tobias Moretti wants – he gets, over and over again.
Chapter 1
Anastasia
I see them coming. The sleek, dark cars, rolling into the drive, one behind the other, here to seal my fate. Powerful machines that hide their occupants from a world that would be a much better place without them in it.
I watch with morbid fascination as they come to a slow stop and the passenger doors on each individual car open. Identical men in black suits step into the light, shielding their eyes from the glare of the sun with the blackest shade.
There’s a silent menace that surrounds them, and I shiver.
But they are not the ones here for me.
He is.
The man who has yet to show himself but I know lurks inside the middle car like a King closely guarded by his minions.
My fiancé.
My heart beats so fast I’m sure he can hear it and can probably taste my fear because it’s there, deep within me, growing by the second as I contemplate what a mistake I’ve just made.
I signed my life away to move from one prison to another.
“Anastasia, they’re here, get your things.”
I don’t turn around because my mother no longer calls the shots. She gave up that right when she engineered this sham of a marriage.
“Did you hear me, hurry, we don’t want to keep Mr. Moretti waiting.”
I carry on watching from the window and he still doesn’t emerge from the car. Can he see me? Of course, he can. I expect it amuses him to see his caged bird waiting to swap one cage for another. He is probably reveling in the moment he gains another possession to add to his pile.
The men stand with their backs to the cars as if waiting for orders, and they probably are.
“Anastasia, I said, hurry up—now.”
Mom’s voice is high and panicked. She won’t rest until I’m safely inside one of those black cars and out of her hair because I’m in no doubt she is scared. Any sane person would be when a monster comes calling. Not me, all I feel is curiosity.
She moves across and pulls my arm and I stumble a little. In a tight, angry voice, she whispers, “Don’t make me pull you out of here by your hair, you ungrateful child.”
I have no tears to waste on this pathetic excuse for a mother, so I snatch my arm back angrily and snarl, “Tell him to come and get me.”
“What?”
Mom’s voice is shocked and I smile inside. “Come and get you, are you mad? Nobody asks Mr. Moretti to do anything, don’t be a fool, Anastasia and just get your things and go, they’re waiting.”
“I said, tell him to come and get me.”
I stare out of the window and take some pleasure in picturing him inside his car, having to wait. I’m guessing he never has to wait. In fact, I’m surprised he’s even here at all. He could have sent a car and carried on with his day. Maybe he has but then again, I know he’s there, watching me from behind the tinted glass, probably growing more irritated by the second and it amuses me to play with the last shred of power I hold.
So, I stare at the middle car and giggle inside as I’m tempted to give him my middle finger. Then again, how would that look? His new wife setting in place the tone of their relationship before it’s even got off the ground.
“Anastasia, honey, please, don’t make me ask him.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not right, he may change his mind and then where would we be?”
I shrug. “We would be fine.”
A gentle voice says softly, “Honey, are you ok?”
The tears prick like acid behind my eyes as the only woman I love inside these walls voices her concern. Martha, my former nanny, and now our housekeeper enters the room.
“I’m fine.” I inject a little warmth into my voice because she has earned it over the years. She’s been more like a mother to Angel and me and deserves some respect. “Can you ask Mr. Moretti to come and collect my cases, please Martha?”
My mom’s sharp intake of breath makes me smile inside and I can only imagine the look they share as Martha leaves the room as quietly as she entered it.
Mom hisses, “You always were a difficult child, there’s no reasoning with you when you’re in one of your moods. If this all goes wrong, it’s your fault you ungrateful bitch.”
Once again, I say nothing because I’m tired. Tired of trying to live up to her high expectations. Tired of trying to win her approval by allowing her to push me around and tired of life. Am I being difficult, hell yeah, because this is the last piece of control I have? After today I’ll have none because Tobias Moretti will have what he wants, mom will have what she wants, and once again, it will be because I let them.
The door slams and I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s gone.
Pressing my face to the window, I don’t care if he sees me. He must know this isn’t my choice, and yet he is still seeing it through. I’m not stupid, even though they all think I am. I fight the bitterness that’s sat with me my whole life. Now I have something of value a man such as him wants, and this is the trade-off. Marry Tobias Moretti and he gains control of my shares in Johnson’s plastics, a company formed by my father and now ran by my sister and her boyfriend Sebastian Stone - my former fiancé. Yes, life’s a bitch and I had the misfortune to be raised by the biggest one of all. Mirabelle Johnson, widow of Harvey Johnson, a vile man whose only pleasure in life was making money and screwing around behind his wife’s back. How ironic that his daughter will marry a man exactly like him because this marriage is an arrangement. A business deal that sets me free from my mom and free to live my own solitary life away from her.
I doubt I’ll even see my husband much, which is fine by me because I don’t even know the man. Only what I discovered when I stalked him online.
Tobias Moretti, tall, dark and dangerous and the head of the largest crime family this area has ever seen. He hides behind respectability, buying up failing businesses and turning them around. But it’s well known that the real business he runs is underground. Nobody messes with the Moretti family—they would be a fool if they did. Which is why I feel the excitement building inside as I make the man himself wait and listen to my immature demands.
Martha walks across the drive toward the middle car and I see her talking urgently to one of the men in suits. I can only imagine her apologetic request and my heart hardens. How dare they wait outside without even the courtesy of pretending to care for my feelings?
The man knocks on the window of the middle car and I watch the window lower and he leans down and speaks to the person inside. I hold my breath as my heart beats frantically inside and feel the excitement grip me as I picture his anger. Will he come? This will be
interesting.
Then the man straightens up and I watch in disbelief as he reaches for the handle and the door opens. My mouth goes dry as a leg swings out, closely followed by a man dressed in a well-tailored suit. He looks up and our eyes meet across the distance, and there’s no mistaking the power in those eyes. Two dark pools of danger defy the sun and stare right at me. The man they belong to makes my soul weep and my heart pound mercilessly inside me. You’re a fool. My inner voice mocks me as I stare at the man I’m to call my husband and I see the promise in those eyes.
As my heart beats furiously, my legs tremble and my breath hitches, I know that man is dangerous and now I’m in more trouble than I ever thought possible.
Chapter 2
Anastasia
He walks to the door and I see my mom waiting there, almost bowing her apology. She stands to the side as he sweeps past her, closely followed by the man who stood outside his car. Turning away from the window, I question my own sanity as I wait to see what happens next and am almost tempted to hide under my bed until the monster goes away because I’m in no doubt at all, that man is the biggest monster around here and I’ve just angered him.
I hear footsteps on the staircase and swallow hard. In just three seconds he will be here, what have I done?
My mouth dries and I lick my lips in anticipation of our first meeting. What will he say - what will I say? I would be a fool to say anything at all, but at this moment, I feel more alive than I have ever felt before. What will happen?
There’s a gentle knock on the door and I try to inject some power in my voice and say, “The door is open.”
As it opens, I set my face to my usual blank expression and look with morbid curiosity as the monster enters the tower.
Completing Beauty: Books 1-3 Page 18