by J. L. Drake
When he leaned back, I heard him whisper, “Love you, Angel.”
“I love you too, Lyov,” she whispered back, her voice a little hoarse. Was she crying?
My heart twisted a little. I didn’t want her to cry. Papa placed a kiss on her forehead and then turned to me. “Alessio, come here.”
I quickly got up and went to him. He crouched down and then stared into my eyes. “I have to go for a while,” he said.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Again?”
“Yes. While I’m gone, I want you to be a good boy and take care of your mommy and princess, okay?”
I nodded my head. I was a big boy now. “Yes. I will.”
“Good,” he said, placing a kiss on my forehead and standing up. He nodded at Mommy and then walked away.
I heard her sigh. She sat back down and rubbed her eyes. “Mommy, why does Papa have to go away so much?”
“It’s his work, baby. Your papa is a very busy man. He has a lot to do.”
I went to Mommy and climbed on her lap again. Laying my head on her shoulder sleepily, I sighed. “I want to be like Papa. He is so strong. And everyone listens to him. I want to be tough like him.”
Mommy shook her head. “No, Alessio. You aren’t like your papa.” She palmed both of my cheeks and then continued. “You are not ready to fight the world. You are my sweet boy. My sweet gentle boy. And I want you to stay just like this.” Placing a kiss on my forehead, she whispered, “Let your papa do the fighting.”
I didn’t say anything else. Mommy always knew how to make me feel special. I would always be her sweet boy. That would never change.
Nodding my head, I closed my eyes. Mommy was rubbing my back soothingly, and in no time, I had fallen sleep. And my dream was riddled with a black-haired angel. She had green eyes.
I didn’t know this would be the last time that I had a peaceful sleep. Our lives would change forever.
***
10 years old
I walked into the cold basement, closing the door behind me quietly so that nobody heard me. A man was strapped to the chair in the middle of the room. His face and clothes were bloody. He was sagging against the chair and from where I was standing, I could hear his whimpers of pain.
Looking at him, I felt red hot anger coursing through my body. Murderous anger.
Kill. Kill him. Spill his blood. Make him pay, my mind screamed as my body started to shake with the force of my fury.
He was one of them. An Abandonato. The Italians. I still remember his face from that night. His laughing face as he tortured my mother with the others.
Walking forward purposely, I came to stand in front of him. He looked up, and if possible, his swollen eyes widened.
He opened his mouth to say something but only a gurgling sound came out through the gag. My hands tightened in a fist and I punched him hard in the face, his nose making a crunching sound as my knuckles came in contact with his face.
He screamed and I laughed.
His pain made me feel good. My heart soared, but I needed more. I needed his blood. I needed to see him suffering.
I needed to kill him.
Only then would I be satisfied.
Walking to the table at the back of the room, I looked at all the weapons laid out. There were so many. Different style. Big and small. I had never been to the basement before, but I heard the rumors around the mansion.
Taking the big knife with the spiral blade, I walked back toward the man. The man I loathed with all my being.
He whimpered in fear and started to shake his head and tried to move away, but he couldn’t. He was strapped to the chair at my mercy.
Actually, I wasn’t going to show him mercy. Mercy was no longer in my vocabulary.
Holding the knife tightly in my hand, I pressed it hard against his cheek. Pulling it down, I made a big gash. He tried to scream again.
I stared at the blood and my heart pumped faster. Adrenaline filled me and my mind begged me. More. More. More.
I made another gash on his other cheek. And then on his arms. Big, long, deep cuts. Blood was everywhere. Then on his chest. So deep that I could see his bones.
He couldn’t move anymore. His head was hanging down as he bled. I could see that he was quickly losing consciousness.
But I wasn’t done yet.
He was still alive.
His heart was still beating while my mother’s was not.
He needed to die. He needed to feel the pain.
Roaring with anger, I pulled the knife back and then plunged it deep into his heart, twisting it painfully. Mercilessly.
His head snapped back and he thrashed against the chair. His painful eyes started to go dull, slowly losing all signs of life.
A few seconds later, he was no longer breathing. His dead eyes were opened, staring at me.
I pulled the knife back from his chest and looked down. My hands were covered in blood. There was not even an inch of my skin that was clean. Blood. It was everywhere. On me. On my clothes. It blinded me.
I gasped as I realized what I had just done. But I didn’t feel any remorse. I felt alleviated and satisfied.
But not full satisfaction. The others still needed to pay.
And I was going to find all of them, one by one, and I was going to kill them all.
I heard the door open behind me with a bang. I swiveled around to see my father running in with a few of his men. Their eyes went wide at the sight of me and I heard my father’s shocked gasp.
“Alessio!” he screamed, running toward me. He stopped in front of me and snatched the knife away, throwing it on the floor next to the bloody dead man.
“What have you done? Oh, Alessio, what have you done?”
I stared into his eyes. “I will avenge my mother,” I said, my voice scratchy.
My father’s eyes widened in surprise and he stared at me in complete shock. I understood why he was in shock. That was the first time I had uttered any words in three years. Since that night when everything changed. The night that I lost everything.
“I vow to kill all of them. Every single Abandonato,” I said. I couldn’t recognize my voice. It sounded so foreign even to my ears. My father didn’t say anything at first. After a few seconds, he stood up tall and his expression changed.
“Okay,” he replied, his voice hard and deadly cold. Emotionless.
With that, I walked away. I didn’t look at his men, but I kept my eyes forward, my shoulders squared with purpose and my chin held high.
This was my life now.
My mother had been wrong.
I was no longer her sweet, gentle, quiet boy.
I was a monster.
As I walked out of the room and into the dark corridor, I quickly pushed the thought of “my angel” from my mind.
Angels didn’t exist.
I didn’t have an angel, for a monster could never have an angel.
***
Present Day
I woke up with a start, the memories still flashing in my head. They were painful and I quickly buried them deep inside me. I didn’t have time for weakness. I couldn’t think about the past.
I didn’t know why I had that dream—why the past came crashing back, but it made me want to rage.
Closing my eyes, I calmed down. I locked away my feelings and the memories.
No weakness.
Chapter 20
Ayla
I was almost half asleep when I heard a knock on my door. My eyes snapped open and I sat up with a start, my heart racing.
“Ayla?” I heard Maddie’s voice on the other side of the door.
I closed my eyes in relief and brought my hand up to my chest, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.
“Yeah. I’m coming,” I called out, my voice heavy with sleep.
“Okay. Hurry. It’s almost time for lunch.”
I bounced out of bed and quickly fixed my dress and hair.
Opening the door of my bedroom wide, I saw Maddie lea
ning against the door. She smiled when she saw me. “Hey there, sleepyhead.”
I smiled and shut the door.
“Let’s go. Mom is waiting for us,” Maddie said as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me down the hall.
As we headed for the stairs, I didn’t see Alessio or his men anywhere.
Viktor, Nikolay, Phoenix, and Artur were always with him wherever he went. They were his most trusted associates.
Artur was the only one who seemed friendly. Maybe I thought so because Maddie was with him.
Nikolay always glared at everyone. I didn’t think he even knew how to smile. The only time I heard him talk nicely was with Lena, probably because she is the mother of house. Nobody talked harshly to her or even tried to be rude. Even Alessio.
As Maddie and I stepped off the last stair, I saw Alessio coming in, followed by his men.
They were whispering quietly. When Alessio made eye contact with me, his mouth froze. He stared at me, his eyes unflinching as he took me in.
And then, his lips twitched in that smirk that I hated.
Looking away, I followed Maddie to the kitchen. Time to work.
Food was served and I was about to retreat back into the kitchen when someone stopped us.
“You and Maddie stay back this time,” said one of the other maids, a girl named Lila. For every meal, two of us had to stay back and serve if the men needed any help. For the last two days, Maddie and I had escaped that duty.
“Okay,” I said.
Maddie scowled. She hated it, and I hated it too. Only because I had to be where Alessio was.
“Ayla, pass me the garlic bread.” Alessio’s demanding voice penetrated my mind. My head snapped up and I looked at him, confused.
“Huh?”
“I said pass me the bread,” he repeated, sounding annoyed. Maddie was standing closer to it.
I looked back at Alessio, but he was staring at me expectantly. He raised an eyebrow when I didn’t move. Turning my head, I swallowed and then nodded at Maddie. Her eyes widened in amusement.
“Maddie, can you please give Alessio the bread? You are closer,” I said as softly as I could, my voice quiet.
Her mouth fell open in shock, and from the corner of my eyes I saw all the men staring at me with amused expressions. I couldn’t believe it either. I had just gone against Alessio and did it in front of his men.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted it.
Maddie’s mouth snapped shut and she chuckled under her breath. Before I could change my mind, she grabbed the basket and walked over to Alessio at the other end of the table. Placing it in front of him, she said, sounding almost sarcastic, “There you go, Alessio. Your hot, crispy, buttery garlic bread. Enjoy.”
Alessio took his eyes off me and glared at Maddie. She smiled wide and then sashayed away.
She was playing with fire but she knew that Alessio wouldn’t do or say anything to her. Alessio, Viktor, and Maddie were close when they were little. They grew up together, sisters and brothers from another mother.
Maddie told me stories about how they would always play together and how she would always follow them around and get in trouble together.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt someone poking me. Turning my head to the side, I saw Maddie standing next to me. “You are playing with fire, babe. Don’t poke the beast or you won’t be able to deal with it,” she whispered in my ear before walking away and standing behind Artur.
I sighed, my shoulders slumping in defeat. She was right. I didn’t know what came over me.
Standing there, I shifted on my feet a couple of times, suddenly growing nervous when I noticed their attention on me. I saw Viktor smirking, and then he went back to eating. When Alessio cleared his throat, everyone looked away.
I kept my focus away from Alessio, but I still felt his gaze on me. As each minute passed, my hands grew colder and my insides shook with tension.
“Ayla, can you bring me the rice?” he asked.
I knew it. I just knew it. I knew he was going to do this.
I looked up and saw that his eyes were twinkling with mirth and his right eyebrow was raised in challenge. I looked down and saw that the bowl was right next to me.
Releasing a long breath, I took the bowl of rice in my hand and slowly walked toward him. His eyes were on me the whole time and his smirk was back. He licked his lips.
When I stopped next to him, I placed the bowl down but he didn’t move. Alessio looked up at me expectantly and then nodded toward the rice.
Sighing, I grabbed the spoon and put some rice on his plate. Something touched my leg, and I jumped in fright and then looked down.
Alessio had moved his leg closer and now his thigh was touching mine.
I gripped the spoon harder before putting it back in the bowl and quickly stepping away.
“Thank you, Ayla,” he said, his voice smooth.
Feeling slightly flustered, I nodded and then walked away. The rest of lunch went smoothly. Alessio didn’t call me again and he didn’t look at me.
When everyone dispersed, I could finally breathe normally.
“Woah, babe. That was…” Maddie began. “Intense.”
I didn’t disagree.
***
I was balancing the last tray in my hand, as I quickly swiped the dining table with the other.
I straightened up and walked away from the table. I glanced down at my dress and noticed the little dirty spot.
I was still looking down when I crashed into a hard wall of muscles. My eyes widened when I felt myself falling backward.
I yelled out, trying to gain my footing again, but I was quickly going down. Closing my eyes tightly, I waited for my body to come in contact with the ground. But it never did.
Instead, an arm wrapped around my waist, holding me still. With my heart in my throat, I opened my eyes.
Alessio.
My body was dipped backward but he was holding me firmly to his chest.
“Careful there. You need to watch where you are going,” he said.
My heart stuttered and a shiver went through my body at his voice. Biting on my lips nervously, I nodded my head. My brain was a mess whenever he was near and no matter how hard I tried to understand why, I couldn’t.
I looked at his arm around me and then remembered what he said in my room. My forehead creased in confusion. “You aren’t supposed to touch me,” I said.
He just saved me from falling flat on my butt and I didn’t even thank him.
Alessio’s chest rumbled with laughter and I saw his eyes twinkling mischievously. Oh no. I didn’t like that look.
“Oops,” he said.
And then I was on the floor. The tray fell out of my hand and crashed.
“Ow,” I said when my hips hit the tiles painfully.
Holding the aching part, I looked up at Alessio in shock.
“My bad. I forgot,” he said, his lips pulling up into a smirk.
He brought his hands up to his shoulders in mock surrender, as if showing me that he wasn’t touching me anymore.
Jerk. An absolute jerk.
He gave me a nod and then walked away, leaving me baffled on the floor. He could have at least pulled me up straight, instead of just dropping me.
But that wasn’t the case.
Grabbing the tray in my hand, I got up but then winced at the soreness in my hips. I was pretty sure it was going to bruise tomorrow. I glanced at Alessio’s retreating back and huffed in frustration.
When I walked into the kitchen, I saw Maddie filling the dishwasher. She turned around and frowned at my sour look. “What’s wrong?”
“Is Alessio always this frustrating?” I asked, placing the tray on the counter.
“You just realized that now?” She let out a laugh. “Yes, he is.”
I was still rubbing my hips and Maddie noticed. She pointed at my hand and asked, “So what happened?”
Releasing a heavy and tired sigh, I sank down
on the stool. “It’s…a long story.”
“Does it involve Alessio?”
I nodded and her lips stretched in a wide, excited smile. Running toward me, she pulled another stool and sat down in front of me. “Okay. We have plenty of time. Hurry. Tell me.”
Starting from the beginning was the best option. Only then would it make sense. “It started on the first day that I came here.”
I told about how Alessio threatened to shoot me if I didn’t tell him who I was. I told her about Alessio’s options. I also told her about the kiss and the orgasm he gave me. And then I told her about this morning.
Maddie had interrupted me a lot and freaked out tons of times. “Damn…just damn…what? I don’t…you…how.…How could you not tell me this before?” Grabbing my shoulders, she shook me. “Ayla, this is big. Like big. You can’t keep something like that from me! Oh my God, he kissed you? Gave you an orgasm? Oh my God!”
“Maddie, calm down,” I said, pushing her away. She sat back down on her stool but her knees were bouncing.
“Okay, I’m calm,” she said and then paused. A few seconds passed and then she shook her head. “No. I’m not.”
“Maddie, it was nothing. He was rude. I can’t believe he would do that, but he promised he won’t touch me again. So that’s good, right?”
Maddie stared at me blankly and then burst out laughing. “You are funny. You really think he is not going to touch you? Babe, he might not touch you, but he will find other ways. And he will most definitely find ways to make you beg for him. What can I say? He is very resourceful.”
“This does not make me feel any better,” I said, closing my eyes and rubbing my forehead in slight agitation. This man would drive me crazy.
“Sorry, babe. It’s the truth. He is interested in you and he isn’t giving up. When he wants something, he takes it. Doesn’t matter how hard it is to get or if something is in his way. In his book, nothing is impossible.”
At her words, my heart stumbled and I felt panic coursing through my body. “So, you are saying he isn’t giving up?”