''Kill her. Alberti should be doing that about now,'' Fabio looked at his watch. ''I think the delivery will have arrived.''
Christian leaped over the desk and kicked Fabio in the chest. He fell back from his chair and landed on the ground. Christian took him by the collar and punched him so hard he knocked his front teeth out. When Christian banged Fabio's head on the desk, Fabio fell into unconsciousness.
*****
Alberti's hand shook as she put the syringe into the pot of morphine. In his drunken haze, he couldn't remember whether he should inject her three or four times. What the fuck, he would pump the whole bottle into her, that would do it, he thought.
He climbed the stairs to the bedroom where Amy was lying and opened the door. When he saw her, he began to breathe more heavily. He looked at her breasts which were still encased in the dress she'd worn at the wedding. He walked to her, lifted her dress and looked inside.
''Nice,'' he said when he saw her smooth legs.
She woke up and screamed. She thrashed around as never before but was still unable to move the rope from her.
''Be quiet. I'll be very gentle,'' he said. She was wild, she saw the needle in his hand and realized what he was going to do.
Better give her a little bit to calm her down, he said to himself. He couldn't have any pleasure with her in that state. He grabbed her arm, slipped it between his legs and held it. He found the vein and injected her.
Amy felt a sudden calm. All feeling in her body was gone, and she was floating without a care in the world. She was conscious of him, but he was insignificant. Alberti went to the foot end of the bed and lifted her dress again. This time, he began to push the material up her legs.
The sound of the metal bar hitting his skull made a hideous sound. A dull thud of death. Christian stepped over him and looked at Amy. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was smiling at nothing in particular. He untied the ropes, picked her up and carried her downstairs.
When he reached the hospital, he burst through the door with her in his arms. ''Get a doctor,'' he shouted.
The waiting room smelled of stale sweat. It was one of those rooms that was constantly open to the public and always smelled a certain way. She'd been in the emergency room for more than an hour. Surely they knew what was happening to her by now, he thought.
He stood up and paced around anxiously. When a nurse arrived, he took her by the arm and asked her what was happening. ''The doctor will be out in a while,'' she said. Another hour went by before a tall man in a white coat arrived.
''She's going to be alright. She's had a high dose of morphine but not enough to bring any lasting damage.''
''Can I see her?''
''You can see her,'' he said.
Christian followed him through two double doors into a large room full of frightening looking appliances. ''She's in the last room on the right,'' the doctor said.
When she saw him, she stiffened and sat up in bed. ''Doctor,'' she screamed. ''Help.''
The doctor came running into the room. ''This man means me harm. Call the police,'' she said.
''But he was the man who brought you in here,'' the doctor said.
She looked surprised. ''Really?''
''Yes, without him, lord knows what would have happened to you.''
''Alright. I will talk to him, but only for a short time. I don't trust him.''
Christian walked to her bed and stood next to it. She looked pale and drawn. ''I'm sorry,'' he said. ''I was terrible to you. If you can ever forgive me, I would be very grateful because I have fallen in love with you.'' It hadn't been as bad as he'd thought, getting his feelings out.
''You love me? You've got a very strange way of showing it.''
''I killed him.''
''Who.''
''The man who injected you. He's dead, and I don't think Fabio is very well, either.''
''What am I to think of you? When I first met you, I ignored the fact that you are arrogant and strut around the place as though you own it. When we made love, I was more turned on that I have ever been. But you put me in so much danger; I was almost killed.''
He took her hand. She let him. ''I know I have done wrong. You are the most wonderful woman and I don't want to live without you.''
She smiled at him. ''You are an impossible man. You are dangerous, conceited and aloof. I don't know whether to trust you or not. I'm attracted to you, but I don't like what you are.''
*****
''Have a word with your son. He's out of control. I can't handle him. I don't want him turning out like you.''
''Okay. I will. But you know I wasn't so bad.''
''What? You killed people. You took money from poor innocent people. What do you mean you weren't bad?''
''I was young and wild then. I've provided for you and the kids from the proceeds of honest endeavor since we got married, haven't I.''
''Yes you have. But you were bad once. That's why I'm so scared our son will turn out like you were back then.''
''Okay I'll speak to him. Come here.''
She leaned against him and put her head on his chest. ''You know you're still a good looking chick, for your age. How about we go upstairs. The kids won't be home for ages.''
''What do mean, ' for your age?' You cheeky swine. Look at yourself. You're gray.''
''But you love me don't you?'' he said.
''Come on, let's go,'' she said taking his hand.
When Christian finished and slumped on her, he kissed her forehead and cupped her face. ''You will never know how glad I am that you gave me the benefit of the doubt after the kidnapping incident.''
''You were very lucky. I had a lot of other offers from noncriminals at the time.''
''Did you,'' he said slightly shocked.
''Yes.''
''So why did you choose me?''
''Because you were tough and I knew you'd look after me. I believed in you, despite everything.''
''But it was a year before you called me.''
''It took me a long time to get things straight in my head. Or said another way, it took a year to realize if I didn't marry you, you would never leave me alone,'' she laughed.
He put her nipple in his mouth and sucked. She gasped when he bit it gently. ''You still like that don't you. After all these years you still like having your nipples sucked.''
''Yes. But be careful, if you keep doing that, I'll get turned on again and want more. You're not as young as you used to be.''
''I can perform whenever you ask me. Whether I've just had sex or not.''
Amy laughed. ''You still so full of shit,'' she said.
''But that's why you love me.''
''Maybe. But I don't love it in our son. I want him to be normal. I want whichever woman decides she wants to be with him to have a nice life. Not have to worry about what he'll do next.''
Christian rolled from her and played with his penis for a couple of minutes. ''See, I'm not as full of shit as you think,'' he said when he began to get hard again.
*****
THE END
MAIL ORDER BRIDE - The Heartbroken Bride and the Stolen Baby
Chapter One
When Mary Ann fell back against the pillow, she was exhausted and grateful that the ordeal seemed to be finally over. Both babies had left her body, and she was on the verge of passing out from the strain of having given birth to them both. She could barely see the mid-wife finishing whatever she had to do and the two nurses holding the babies swaddled in blankets. Her heart was pounding hard for them, and she held out her arms to take them from the nurses.
“Let me hold them,” Mary Ann murmured. Both nurses came to her bedside and gently laid the tiny girls in her arms. Tears rolled down her face when she looked in their precious faces. They were identical – or so it seemed to her eyes. She could not believe how beautiful they were. Andrew, her husband, wouldn’t be happy; she already knew that. But at this point, she didn’t care. She had carried them for nine months, trying her best to stay
healthy and stress-free despite the fact that he was so adamant that he’d never wanted children. It wasn’t just something that could be prevented. He was the one who had taken her to bed. She had no control over whether the babies were conceived or not.
She was afraid of what he would do to them all. Since he’d found out she was pregnant, he had turned into a vicious monster, with his words and his fists. No matter what he’d done, these babies survived and so did she. She felt blessed to see their healthy faces. Even though they were underweight and so tiny they both fit in her arms comfortably.
Their eyes were closed, asleep. She kissed their noses and snuggled her face into them.
“My sweet babies. Sweet, sweet babies.”
“What will you name them, madam?” Asked one of the nurses as they stood looking on with soft smiles.
Mary Ann looked up at them both. “I think Rebecca and Annabelle. What do you think?”
“Those are wonderful names, Miss!” The other nurse gushed. Mary Ann smiled wide and gazed down at the babies again. They were so beautiful. She felt her heart overflowing with love for them.
Her heart almost came out of her chest when the door burst open, and Andrew came stomping through, a hateful look on his face.
“Are you done?” he asked, approaching the bed as the nurses scattered.
She instinctively held the babies closer to her.
“Yes,” she answered, fear obvious in the lone word she said.
“Good. Give them to me.”
She held them even closer. “What are you going to do? I can’t give them to you. They need me; I just had them.”
“I said give them to me now! I told you I don’t want children. I’m giving them both to the orphanage. You will never see them again!” He was enjoying himself. She could see it by the look on his face. His scowl mixed with a sneer was almost a smile.
“No! No, you can’t take them! They’re mine!”
“Oh no? Watch me.” He reached down to grab the children, and she turned away, holding them against her chest so that she could keep them in her arms without suffocating them against her large bosom.
“No!” She cried out, tears streaming down her face. “No!”
“Give them to me now!!!” Andrew screamed at her.
“No! No!”
Andrew pulled back and growled at her. “Look, you can give them to me now or suffer the consequences later. I’ll tell you what, you give me one of them, and you can keep the other.”
“No! I can’t separate them! It’s not right! You can’t do this!”
He grabbed her shoulder and yanked on it so that she fell back against the pillow flat again, unable to resist his strength in her weakened condition. “You won’t choose?? I will!” He began to wrestle Rebecca out of her hands. She was too weak to hold on to the little girl and felt her heart being ripped out of her chest as he pulled the baby away.
“No!” she screamed, reaching out to the baby. “No, you can’t take her! You can’t take her!”
“Take a good look at it, Mary Ann! I told you what would happen if you had any children. I told you I didn’t want any! And now you get to see what happens when I don’t get what I want. You get to suffer! You shouldn’t be worried, you can still see the same face in the one you have left. Cherish that because you are going to suffer for this. I promise you!”
The nurses had surged around the bed but couldn’t say anything to the man. The three nurses that were in the room and the mid-wife all knelt next to the bed, putting their hands on Mary Ann and bowing their heads. Two of them were already crying. The other two were whispering prayers.
“Bunch of stupid women. Like I want two more whining women in my house! You couldn’t even give me a son! You’re worthless and a complete waste of my time!”
“No, Andrew! Don’t take her! Don’t take her away from me! Don’t take her!” She continued to grab for the child. Her fingers touched the soft pink blanket just before he turned away quickly so that she couldn’t see Rebecca’s face.
“Rebecca!” She cried out.
“Already gave it a name?” Andrew continued to sneer. “Say goodbye! You aren’t going to see it again. Count yourself lucky I let you keep that one! You’ll be alone taking care of it!”
“Rebecca! Rebecca!” Mary Ann cried out as he left the room, reaching for her baby. When the door slammed behind them, she pulled Annabelle up to her face, showering the child with wet kisses. “We’ll find her, baby, we’ll find her. I’ll get her back. I’ll get her back somehow.”
Once he was gone, the nurses threw themselves over her legs and held on to her arms, crying with her and saying soothing words. She was crying harder than she ever had and didn’t know if she would ever stop.
Despite his anger, Andrew held the tiny newborn gently against him as he stomped out of the house. He wondered if he could get any money for it. There might be somebody at the orphanage who would pay him for it. It seemed healthy enough, and it had all of its fingers and toes. It still hadn’t made a sound or opened its eyes.
Still holding the baby girl tightly, he pulled himself up into the saddle on his horse and took off toward town. The orphanage would take it, either way, he knew. He thought about what he would do to Mary Ann and the one that was left when he got back. He was going to make sure she was as miserable as he was for having made him a father. He resented the fact that she couldn’t even produce a boy for him. Either way, he didn’t want any sniveling rats running around his feet.
The ride to the orphanage was short. The town was small. Along the way, he stopped at the general store and picked up a wicker picnic basket with a lid. He ignored the look the clerk gave him when he immediately put the baby in it. He left the lid open until he left the general store and then closed it once he was back in the saddle. The orphanage was just two blocks up and to the right. He didn’t need everyone in town staring at him carrying a baby and leaving it on the stoop of the orphanage. He didn’t need their judgmental looks. He did need the customers for his carpentry business, so they didn’t need to know anything about his personal business. No one in town had even known Mary Ann was pregnant except the nurses and mid-wife and he’d already told them what they would get if they spread the word.
Now he was going to have to contend with the one that was left. Mary Ann would be sorry for betraying him by getting pregnant and having not one but two more females for his house. An only child, the loneliness of growing up alone with stand-offish parents, made him jealous and spiteful of his twin daughters.
He got to the orphanage quickly, slid from his horse and left the basket on the front stoop, leaving as quickly as he came. They would find it sooner or later. He wasn’t worried.
As he rode back to the house, he pondered all the fun things he was going to do to make Mary Ann pay for what she’d done. He was smiling and whistling as he imagined denying her food she would desperately need in her condition, making her do extra housework, forcing her to neglect her child when it was crying. He chuckled. He was going to have fun.
His smile turned into a frown when he saw two men on horseback heading in his direction. He knew who they were. They were customers, and he’d cheated them on the price he’d given them for some repair work on one of their buggies. He wondered if they knew he’d cheated them. From the looks on their faces when they saw him, he could tell they did. He sneered, slowing his horse down so that it would take longer for them to get close to him.
He reached to his side but felt an empty space. He hadn’t come prepared for this. He’d left the house without any protection because he was carrying the baby. He remembered his gun belt was on the table by the door. He gritted his teeth. There was little chance he was getting out of this using words. He didn’t like these two, and they didn’t like him. He was betting they were armed and ready to fight.
He stopped in the middle of the street, scanning the two to see if they were reaching to their sides. When he saw them both reaching, he turned his horse around a
nd kicked her sides to take off in a gallop back in the direction he’d been coming from. He could hear the men yelling behind him and knew they were giving chase. He leaned forward, urging his horse to go faster when he felt and heard a bullet whiz past his head.
That was close, he thought just before he felt something hit the back of his head and didn’t feel anything anymore.
When Nurse Green entered the room, it was getting dark. She was holding a gas lamp and set it down on the side table next to Mary Ann. She sat on the side of the bed and leaned over to brush some of Mary Ann’s long brown hair from in front of her face.
“Miss Mary. Miss Mary, wake up.”
Mary Ann was awake quickly, the stress she was under making her sleep very lightly. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked directly at the nurse. “What is it? Where is Annabelle?”
“She fine, madam, she’s fine. I came to tell you something. Something has happened.”
Mary Ann couldn’t tell if the nurse looked sad or happy. Her face was a mix of emotions. She sat up in bed, pushing herself up in one motion with both her hands.
“It’s Andrew.”
Mary Ann’s eyes opened wide, and her heart thumped hard in her chest. “What is it?”
“He was killed in the street today.” Nurse Green said bluntly.
Mary Ann’s eyes opened wide, and she gasped. “My baby! Where’s my baby!”
Nurse Green shook her head, her face sorrowful. “He didn’t have her with him.”
Chapter Two
All Mary Ann could think was that her baby was gone. Even if she weren’t stuck in bed recovering from giving birth, she wouldn’t be able to go to the orphanage to claim her baby if Andrew had made it there. They weren’t about to just give a baby to a woman with no husband. They would say she wasn’t able to take care of Annabelle either and probably take her, too. That wasn’t going to happen. And if he hadn’t made it there, the baby could have been whisked away by bandits, animals or the men who killed her husband.
Romance: Teen Romance: Follow Your Dreams (A Nerd and a Bad Boy Romance) (New Adult High School Sports Romance) Page 16