( Beverly Hills, California. )
“Did you find him? Has Jake made contact?” She hastily asked.
“I tried all our reach-out routines ma’am but I couldn’t make contact. It seems like he doesn’t want to make contact yet.” Max briefly reported.
“Keep trying!” Elva Thompson, the new royal stand-in ordered. Max nodded in understanding, gave a short royal salute and smartly walked out.
“Remind me why, exactly…. we need him?” Arian casually asked.
“As you know that we can’t just look through every country under limited time…”
“Agreed.” He concurred, not really emphasizing her point but his, which clearly stated that they were already wasting time by not moving into action!.
“Jake is a top security agent on an international level. He has connections with various agencies worldwide. He can call in favours and…”
“Okay, I get it.” Arian swiftly made his way to the door.
“While you’re waiting on your top-federal-level-security-agent to come back and call in favours to find your Empress…. I’ll do what I can to find the woman I love.”
“Arian, don’t do anything rash! You can’t throw away all of Natalia’s sacrifices to keep you safe by getting extremely involved! The Mafia Don might place you next on his hit list if you…” Elva rushed after him as he grabbed the door knob.
“Why do you keep on forgetting?” He paused, with the eyes of a lover gone far into the depths of love to think of turning back, and gave her a bitter smile.
“I’m already involved…”
~~~
Arian De’ Argent increased the speed of his 2019 Lamborghini sport car model as he tore through the quiet city night. He didn’t know where he was heading but he kept breaking the speed limit.
It’d been two days since Natalia had gone missing with no single clue of her whereabouts! How in the world were they expecting him to act??
He changed gears and overtook a delivery van and a black SUV. Then he accelerated and sped through before the traffic lights changed colors.
At that rate, the French heir was certain he was either gonna be in prison or in a hospital bed the next day!
‘But how does a graveyard sound?’ His subconscious cautiously countered.
The receding snow flakes fell lightly on the slippery road but Arian didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. He could feel Natalia’s anguish in his heart and it hurt deeply.
She trusted them to save her. She needed them!.
But they were waiting on someone else to wait on a group of other persons for results??
Arian clenched the steering wheels and suddenly drifted into a lonely park, almost knocking over a car by his left.
The driver horned loudly as he drove away in annoyance. Arian came out of his car and paced around. He didn’t like his helplessness. He had to do something!
When the adrenaline wasn’t helping him think, he angrily kicked his his car twice and cussed into the silent night at the shooting pain.
“Punk, if ya rich ass is darn tired of that sweet baby, pass on the keys and imma keep her real busy!” A street thief snickered, displaying a cheap pocket knife.
The French heir turned around swiftly and shot him a cold look. No wonder the park was deserted. “Leave. I’m not in the mood.”
The man smirked, showing his almost empty, colored teeth and Arian felt his stomach churn!.
“Now boy, everyone’s always in the mood to get mugged ’round here. Like it or….” Arian swiftly grabbed his arm and twisted it to the back, earning a groan.
The pocket knife fell off his grip as he slammed the man on his car booth and tripped him over.
“Leave.” He growled again and the man vanished in a heartbeat after picking up his cheap accomplice. Surprisingly, Arian’s restlessness stopped.
“Merci! (Thank you!).” The Frenchman yelled after him.
“Screw you!” The car thief yelled back, stumbling away in haste. Arian sat halfway in his car and brought out his phone…
***
( In the middle of nowhere. )
Natalia instinctively moved her face away in her sickly sleep as an alien hand slipped across it. It didn’t stop there.
Instead, it continued downwards until it reached the contour of her bruised cheek and gently caressed it.
The stinging pain woke her up and she gasped seeing a pair of piercing grey eyes staring back at her!
Natalia rose to flee but Leonardo De’ Luca pushed her back with ease. Her heart began to hurt again from its fierce pounding in her ribcage.
Leonardo lazily leaned his head on his arched arm and looked down at her frightened features with cold, lifeless eyes.
His hair was back to being sleek and his fingers resumed touching her hurting cheek. The storm had ended and it was past midnight. Natalia didn’t realise when or how, she fell asleep.
The royal vaguely noticed the faint scent of whiskey on him and tried not to do anything stupid. He could kill her without even knowing!
She winced when the pain became unbearable.
“You shouldn’t have made me mad.” The Mob boss whispered emotionlessly. “You’ld only get hurt the more.” His touch became hard.
Natalia stifled another wince as a tear slid down her cheek. He was hurting her on purpose!
When he leaned down and kissed away the lonely tear, she flinched in alarm. But his grip on her other cheek became painful.
“S… stop!” She tried to move away again but he took the kiss further.
Natalia gasped and pushed him off but Leonardo was quicker. He forced her back down, reviving her fading headache and trapped himself between her legs, sweeping down to capture her soft lips…
***
( Beverly Hills, California. )
Rock music blasted through the club and the crowd let out a crazy scream. Nicole Tallman tipsily grinned at Ashley Dan and her new bestie returned it, completely drunk.
The disco lights changed colors so quickly that it was blinding and the dance floor was crowded with drunks. They danced for hours as more of their friends stopped by.
Ashley was ready for a break but the girls didn’t look like it. It was almost as if they were high on something and she secretly suspected it. She signalled a time out to them and stumbled her way out until she bumped into someone.
“So…”
“Sorry.” The hottie mouthed quickly with an accent before trailing after a gorgeous redhead.
Ashley’s stare lingered because he seemed quite familiar. Maybe he was a regular? She shook her head to gather her thoughts and wandered till she found her destination, the restroom.
After splashing water on her face and retouching her waterproof makeup, she stumbled her way back to the dancefloor. The crowd was larger and rowdier than before and before long, she found her hot hooker for the night!…
***
( In The Middle Of Nowhere.)
“Leo, get off me!” Natalia yelled and tried again to push him off but he easily held her down. She stifled a scream when his fingers pulled her hair and took the kisses down her elegant neck.
Hot tears burned down Natalia’s cheeks. Her fragile hands struggled which only reopened her injuries. Leonardo lowered his head persistently, sensuously tasting and biting which caused her pain instead of pleasure, maniacally pleasing his dark heart.
She gagged when he returned to her swollen lips, completely dominating them. Natalia sealed her lips but one tug at her hair, she cried out in pain and he seized the opportunity to deepen it.
The next thing she heard was a belt coming off. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach and her body went cold, despite her burning fever.
Reality swept through her and she fought thrice harder. However, his entire solid frame completely covered her delicate one. Natalia felt like a butterfly about to suffocate.
Her nerves went wild with fear feeling his arousal on her. Natalia remembered her promise to Arian. Her helpless tears choked her the more.
“Seeing you and not being able to drive you wild makes me insane.” He said in her ears, his voice deep and hoarse.
“Pl… please stop!” She pleaded, forgetting her pride.
Days without food combined with her frail health made her weak. Natalia must’ve been talking to a ghost for all the attention the horny beast showed her. Because;
“A year…” He deliciously grazed the tip of her ear and sucked on it.
“I’ve waited more than a year for this moment. To have your bloody body out of my darn head! You can’t begin to imagine what I plan to do with you…” His impatient hand moved to her breast while his kisses consumed her delicate skin.
“Since you chose that fool over me, my cravings and lust turned into a full blown obsession! You’re all mine, princess. And I plan on savouring every little detail of you till I’m freaking tired!” His possessive voice growled and her heart broke to pieces.
Natalia wanted to die. The delicate dress she was forced to wear became a complete mess. Her spirit broke and was slowly leaving her.
In one swift motion, Leonardo’s shirt was ripped off and she vaguely saw the infamous triskeles tattoo on his arm. Natalia remembered that one time before the school camp where she’d seen it but paid less attention.
Her self hate grew.
Natalia stopped struggling. There was no use screaming for help because she was in the midst of cold hearted demons in the belly of hell!
Her prayer for death became a reality because she slowly lost consciousness. Her environment became blurry but the short, beautiful memories she had with Arian Antonio De’ Argent filtered through her head.
‘Please forgive me, my love, for failing in my promises.’ She faintly thought before letting the darkness consume her…