“I hate violence against woman,” Ivo said in a voice trembling with rage and fear for his love, “But for you I would make an exception, you murderous piece of shit. I’ll ask again: where is my wife?”
Being gutted even as we speak. Tamara would have loved to have said that to him, but she had a feeling that she wouldn’t live very long if she did. “Okay. Okay, I’ll tell you what I know, just please, let me go.”
“Don’t trust her,” Penn said but Ivo released her throat. He had no need for it, his physical presence was enough to intimidate her.
Tamara straightened her clothes. “Yes, she’s with Grant as far as I know…and willingly, I assume. He called me this morning to tell me he was bringing her back to New York, but I told him…she’s not my family anymore. I don’t know where he has her, but I have his address. It’s a start. Have you called the police?”
Both Penn and Ivo just stared blankly at her and Tamara played her role to perfection, rolling her eyes and picking up her phone. She held it out to Ivo. “Call them. I’m sure for Walter Zacca’s son, they’ll jump right to it.”
Penn and Ivo looked at each other. They were buying it. “Look,” she said, “I’m being honest here, I don’t care what happens to Sofia, whether she lives or dies. I wouldn’t insult your intelligence by pretending otherwise. But I don’t know where she is.”
Penn took the phone in her outstretched hand and called the police. Ivo stared at Tamara, who smiled at him, her red lips stretching, her tongue tracing a pattern of her lower lip. “Remembering our kiss?” She said it softly, intimately like a lover and watched Ivo’s lip curl in disgust.
“You’re a whore,” he said, ice in his tone, “And Sofia knows that.”
“So, why did she run away? And careful who you call a whore. Mr. Zacca, I know all about you, and Sofia, and Penn. I have video that could go viral so the less time you spend threatening me the better.”
Penn finished up his call. “They want us to go down to the station,” he said to Ivo, then looked at Tamara. “If I find out you have anything to do with Sofia’s disappearance…”
“I know. You’ll kill me.” Tamara gave him a strange smile. “I look forward to it.”
The two men made their way back up to the main club and were walking out. “She’s lying.” Penn shook his head as Ivo spoke.
“I know. She’s beyond evil…why the hell did I never see it?”
Ivo stopped and studied his friend. “You love her.”
“No. I thought I did…but I don’t think I ever knew what love was until I saw you and Sofia together.”
He regretted saying that because he saw the heartbreak in his friend’s eyes and knew he was on the verge of losing it. “Hey, we’ll find her.”
As they walked out, the same cleaning woman who let them in, walked past them. Suddenly Ivo stopped. “Hey!” He went after the woman, who squeaked in fright and dropped everything she was holding. She disappeared somewhere into the club, but Ivo wasn’t going after her. Instead he stopped where she’d dropped her stuff and from the pile, he pulled out a backpack. Worn and in some places threadbare, the pack yielded as he tugged it open and gave a low moan.
“It’s Sofia’s….she’s here, god dammit….”
And they both ran back into the darkness of the club.
“Are they gone?”
“Yes. You haven’t done it.” Tamara nodded at an uninjured Sofia who growled at her. Grant smiled.
“No, I decided you have done a good enough job to warrant this gift.” He turned back to Sofia. “Sadly, we don’t have enough time to draw this out, or for me to fuck you, beautiful Sofia, so instead…” And he drove the knife deep into her belly. Sofia gasped in agony, and Grant stepped back, leaving the blade buried in her to the hilt. Blood seeped from around the weapon and dripped down the white dress.
Tamara laughed and clapped. “Grant, that’s…”
In a split second Grant had taken up another knife, whirled around and had plunged it into Tamara’s throat. Tamara staggered back, her eyes wide with disbelief as Grant chuckled. “No loose ends, Tamara darling. I let you watch me stab Sofia but as for the rest of it…I think I’ll enjoy it alone.”
Tamara, her voice gone, slid to the floor, her eyes shifting from Grant to Sofia as she bled out. She began to smile as she gave a gurgling sound, then the air from her lungs hissed out finally, and she was still.
Grant looked down at her dispassionately, then turned to finish Sofia. He never saw her hand with the knife in it until the last second before Sofia plunged it into his eye.
Sofia, having freed one hand, had wrenched the knife from her abdomen and cut herself free as Grant watched Tamara die. She had no hesitation in finishing Grant Christo and as she wrenched the knife from his eye and watched him drop, she knew this was her last chance. The wound in her belly was agony, but adrenaline surged through her as she stepped over the bodies of her would-be killers and yanked the door open. Ivo was here, Penn was here too, somewhere, and she mustered all the energy she could and screamed for them, staggering along the corridors, feeling the blood dripping, making her feet slippery, every movement drenched in pain. She drew in another lungful of air as she stumbled and dropped to the floor. She dragged herself against the wall and screamed again.
“Ivo!”
Ivo heard her scream and his heart began to pound as he and Penn raced to find her. When he saw her, slumping, half-sitting, half-lying against the wall, he began to panic, but when he reached her, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “I knew you’d come,” she said weakly, touching his face. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I ran…I should have known better.”
“It’s okay…oh god, Sofia…” He gently removed the hand that was clamped over her wound, and his veins ran with ice. She was losing so much blood.
Penn touched his shoulder. “Let’s get her to hospital, Ivo….now.”
“I think I’m okay,” Sofia said, but then fainted. Ivo scooped her up into his arms and together, he and Penn hailed a cab and rushed her to the hospital.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Sofia smoothed Ivo’s dark curls away from his face, marveling at his soulful green eyes and the thick black lashes. “Do you know you’re drop dead gorgeous, Ivo Zacca?”
Ivo grinned. “How much morphine did you take?”
Sofia grinned. “I’d get stabbed more often if I got this stuff every time.”
Ivo winced but Sofia kissed him. “Hey, I’m kidding. And look, the knife missed everything that could have killed me. Guess Grant wasn’t such a hot shot – or rather hot stab – assassin after all.”
“Could you stop saying ‘stab’?” But he kissed her back, passionately, tangling his fingers in her black hair. It was still miraculous to him that she was okay. The wound looked so brutal, so deep, that when the surgeon had told him that it hadn’t been so serious, that Sofia would recover quickly and fully, Ivo had been so overwhelmed he’d embarrassed himself by bursting into tears. Penn had comforted him, but then sold him out to Sofia who hadn’t stopped ribbing him since. “My big man, crying like a bebè.”
Ivo grinned sheepishly. “You got me. How do you feel?” It had been two days since the stabbing, and Sofia’s color was good, and the i.v. tubes had been taken out of her arms.
“I feel….liberated. Like a huge weight has been lifted. Tamara was such a malevolent presence that I think I was always waiting for her to ruin things.” Sofia put her hand on his face. “I hate that she kissed you.”
“I didn’t kiss her back.”
“I know that, Ivo Zacca. It was just such a shock to see that photo. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Honestly? I didn’t see the point of it. It was some stupid thing that happened when I was out of it at my mom’s funeral. Which reminds me…Dad is on his way over from LA to see you. Clemence sends her love – she wishes she could come, but Peony is still too young to fly. Desi was almost at the airport but I told her that, hopefully, we would be back soon. Will w
e?”
“You bet your sweet ass we will,” Sofia grinned. “I cannot imagine living anywhere else now but Paris.”
“Me either. Listen…because of what happened…if you wanted to look for a new apartment, we can.”
Sofia’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? I love our apartment…it’s our home…even with the crappy paint jobs,” she added with a grin and Ivo laughed.
“I love you, Sofia Amory Zacca.”
“I love you too, Ivo, and to answer your question, yes…as soon as we can. Let’s go home…”
Epilogue
Three years later,
Hollywood, California
The entertainment reporter watched as Walter Zacca moved along the line of reporters, clutching his Oscar and charming the entertainment programs with his trademark jokiness. He looked delighted to be feted and the reporter mentioned that he had won the Best Actor Oscar in a performance he had dedicated to his late wife, Adria La Loggia, in his acceptance speech.
“Also, accompanying Walter, are his son and daughter-in-law, Ivo and Sofia Zacca, in a rare public appearance for the very private couple. Lured away from their Parisian love nest, they are in town to support Ivo’s dad, and also to celebrate Ivo Zacca’s fortieth birthday. The handsome bachelor broke hearts worldwide three years ago when he married his artist wife, who is sixteen years his junior, but the two look more in love than ever. Zacca, who has a three year old daughter with ex-lover Clemence Brochu, recently opened his first solo gallery in Paris, an event attended by the best and brightest of Parisian society and the art world’s most important scions. Sofia Zacca, herself a rising star in the art world, is becoming an outspoken member for women’s rights and recently was invited to meet with the French president. Let’s see if I can grab a word with them…no? Well, I’m not surprised, they are very private, and they seem to be having a pretty intense discussion right now as they wait for Walter to finish up before they attend the Vanity Fair party…”
The camera panned to the beautiful couple, standing out of the spotlight, the young woman, clad in dark burgundy, was grinning up at her husband, her hand on her belly. The man gaped at her then picked her up and twirled her around, making her laugh, her hair streaming behind her as they moved. The smile on her husband’s face lit up the screen as their lips met and the kiss seemed to go on…and on… and on…
The End.
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Nobody’s Girl Extended Epilogue
By Michelle Love
Sofia Amory Zacca woke up on the day of her thirtieth birthday and listened to the silence of the apartment. Usually, she and Ivo would be assaulted by their five-year-old twin sons, Beau and Paolo (otherwise known as Bo and ‘Lo), but today—and for the next few days—the twins would be staying with their half-sister Peony and her mother, Clemence. Today, Sofia and Ivo would fly out to stay in a private villa on the east coast of Italy for a week for a second honeymoon that would also double as a celebration of Sofia’s birthday.
When Ivo had suggested it, Sofia had been hesitant at leaving the kids alone, but their half-sister Peony doted on the boys, and she had grown into such a lovely young pre-teen that Sofia couldn’t bear to disappoint her. Clemence, Ivo’s very ex-girlfriend and Peony’s mother, was one of Sofia’s closest friends and allies and had assured her they would have a great time together.
“You and Ivo need a break after the few years you’ve had,” Clemence had told her over coffee one morning. Sofia had looked surprised at that.
“We’ve had nothing but good ever since…you know.”
“I know, but I also know what workaholics you both are. Sometimes a marriage needs a little downtime.” Clemence gave a soft laugh at the look Sofia gave her. “Look at me, like I’m the expert. What I mean is…you and Ivo have such a special connection. Sometimes you just need to concentrate on that.”
Sofia wasn’t offended by Clemence’s words—she knew her friend was right. There were times when—although she adored her children—she wished they could go back to the heady days of sex and talking followed by more sex and talking that Ivo and she used to enjoy when it was just the two of them. The way they used to go rogue and fuck in glass cubicles in sex clubs, or partake in sensual, delicious threesomes with their close friend, Penn Black.
After the trauma of being abducted and almost killed by her step-sister Tamara and her partner, Grant Christo, Sofia and Ivo’s bond with Penn had grown deeper. Despite the new closeness between the three of them, they had never repeated their threesome, and Sofia felt it was the right thing to do. They’d had fun—and Penn was almost as sensational a lover as Ivo—but after barely surviving that horror, she and Ivo were all about each other.
Ivo was forty-six now, and even more devastatingly handsome than ever. His dark curls were shot through with silver, his eyes crinkled more when he laughed, but he was still the most beautiful man Sofia had ever seen. And the love he had for her…it took her breath away some days.
She rolled onto her side now and studied him as he slept. He looked so much younger when he was asleep—boyish, relaxed. Sofia traced the shape of his lips lightly with her finger then stroked his soft eyelids. The thick dark lashes rested on his cheeks, but as she leaned in to brush her lips to his, his eyes opened and he broke out in a smile. “Happy birthday, beautiful.”
She silenced him with her kiss, soft at first then firmer, wanting him—wanting to taste him. Ivo, now fully awake, rolled her onto her back and covered her body with his. Sofia could feel his cock, ramrod hard against her thigh, and smiled up at him. His eyes were intense upon her face as he stroked her cheeks. Sofia wrapped her legs around his waist. “Don’t wait,” she whispered, “I’m so wet for you, Ivo, baby.”
Ivo grinned and kissed her as his huge cock pushed into her swollen, sensitive cunt. Sofia gave a sigh of pleasure as they began to move together, her fingernails digging into his firm buttocks, his cock filling her completely, moving in and out in a steady rhythm. His lips were firm but tender against hers, his tongue caressing hers, his eyes never leaving her face. Her sensitive nipples moved against his hard pecs, her belly pressed against his. God, how she loved this man, could not imagine life without him.
“Ti amo,” she whispered in his native tongue and he smiled in appreciation.
“Ti amo, beautiful Sofia, my beloved one.” Ivo began to thrust harder, deeper, and Sofia felt her limbs liquefy, her body trembling, every cell alive with electricity as he fucked her.
“When we’re alone in the villa,” she said softly, “tell me all the things you’d like to do to me, or would like me to do to you, and we’ll do all of them. No inhibitions. Anything.”
“Maybe we should go shopping before we catch the flight. There’s a new sex shop down in the Marais, very exclusive.”
Sofia groaned as his thrusts got harder. “Oh, Ivo, yes…please, yes…yes…”
She came with a cry, her entire body on fire. She felt his semen shoot deep into her belly seconds later. She loved the feeling of having him inside her and wondered if they had made another baby. She wondered that every time they made love lately—was a habit now—but so far they had not conceived again. Sofia had been off her birth control for a year now, both of them eager to add to their family. Ivo was more laid back than Sofia. “If it happens, it happens,” he kept saying when she expressed her frustration, and she knew he was right.
She had two beautiful sons who she adored, even when they were being little devils. They were the spitting image of their father, all dark curls and big green eyes, and she was glad too that they looked like their half-sister. They were such a blended family. She was still close to her own step-brother, Jonas, and his kids, Max and Jake, were absolute trouble-makers whenever they came to stay. Jonas’s wife, the statuesque Callie, was a force to be reckoned with and Sofia adored her. Even Sofia’s ex-step-father, Fergus, horrified and broken by what his daughter had done
to Sofia and desperate to make amends, was on speaking terms with her—although Sofia made it clear she didn’t include him as part of her family. Ivo would never have permitted it—he barely spoke to Fergus, such was his anger even after nine years.
Ivo gathered her to him now and kissed her thoroughly. “God, I love you, woman.”
Sofia giggled, clenching her vaginal muscles around his still-half-erect cock. “Stay inside me forever.”
“If only that were possible.” But he made no move to withdraw. “So, my love, today we finally get our second honeymoon. Would you rather have had a party?”
Sofia looked at him askance. “No way. I’m selfish, I don’t want to share you with anyone else for the next few days.”
Ivo laughed. “Your wish is my command.” He dipped his head to take her nipple into his mouth and she grinned, stroking her fingers through his hair.
“If we ever get out of this bed, that is.” She felt his cock grow hard again and they began to move together, kissing and laughing, their lovemaking more mellow this time. When her orgasm came, Sofia felt her body shiver and tremble with ecstasy.
A few hours later, they were sitting together on his private plane, travelling over the Alps to Italy. “We don’t spend as much time in Italy as I would like,” Ivo said, his arm around her shoulders as she nestled against him.
“We should come more…maybe we should think about whether we want the kids to grow up their whole lives in the city. I mean,” she turned to face him, “what if we had a home in Italy too, where we could come during school vacation? I’d love for Bo and ‘Lo to be able to play in the countryside, or near the sea.”
“It’s a good idea,” Ivo agreed, and kissed her. “We should maybe have a look around where we’re staying, just for kicks.”
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