TILL D£ATH DO US APART
(The•Devil•I•Loved)
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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Shower turned warmer, following the seconds. The running water ran faster like there's a chaser behind, sprinkling them generously.
Her mouth opened much wider, giving more allowance.
Her lashes carried the heavy weight of wetness which pressed her eyes closed tightly throughout.
She received everything he had to give, tasted everything he had to let out. She reciprocated without holding back her freakiness.
Feeling his tongue in her throat opened another thirst. She felt her chest locking—constricting on nothing as her breaths got robbed off.
She took her hands away from the wall and held his hair, fisting it in her two palms... Beautiful handfuls, then the hands later slid to the back of his neck, holding him there.
He was eating her. This wasn't a kiss. He was devouring her face.
He tasted sharp—tingly. Like a mix of smoke and sin. Yes... That's it.
Addictive. Dark. Voracious.
"Damn..." She m0@ned, the shower water mixing in their mouths as they moved to the second wall of the bathroom. He pinned her again.
His hands held her @$s...the two soft parts filled his palms.
His thumb caressed her waist as he kissed her again, groaning between the cascades of the water, breathing out of line and chewing on her.
She can't breathe anymore... Literally.
She knotted his shirt in the front, trying to push him away, but he was immovable as a rock.
He wrapped an hand on her throat, guiding her lips with his own again, kissing her deeper like his long life and prosperity is buried in those lips and he has to kiss her till death before he'd get it back.
Ivanna clawed, pushed, nailed at his chest, but he won't let go.
"Le..o...I... can't...breath!" She bit his lip very hard, and as blood trickled, he tasted metal and he let go.
She was panting dangerously high as she picked her singlet and the inhaler from the ground.
She began pumping herself as she rushed out of the bathroom.
Leonardo stood there, under the shower, blood filling his lower lip, but as it trickled, the shower water washed it away.
For a second, he couldn't form a thought, but when his eyes caught his reflection in the mirror, he went closer to that mirror.
His eyes are red, hair in tangles, lip bleeding, and chest heaving.
He rushed out of the bathroom, but all he found was her footprints which were carved by water.
It led to the elevator, which means she left already.
With his thumb, he touched his lips, water dripping off him to the ground.
Every moment of the kiss is engraved in his head, so even as he stood there, he's already getting flashbacks.
Her m0@ns. Her soft @rse. Her whimpers. Her hot breaths. Her hands in his hair.
His lips lifted at the right corner. Not a smirk, but a smile.
He was still dripping as he went to his relaxation room telephone and dialled the estate doctor.
"Sir, you didn't cut yourself again, right?" The doctor asked.
"Far from it. Get calming pills to Joy in her apartment. Include flu medications and... vitamins." Leonardo replied.
"Oh..."
Leonardo hung up and called the estate store next.
"Sir?" The Manager's voice came.
"New quilt, enough cardigans and thick leggings, larger duvet. To the Cooper apartment... Joy's room." He ordered.
"But the protocol says she must earn more merits and have her own apartment before she can get additional—"
"Beating my granddad is what? An undermined victory?" Leonardo smirked.
"Ah... "
"Deliver them to her yourself." Leonardo added.
"Yes sir," the manager hung up.
Next call, was to the kitchen.
"Thick hot tea, and something light for late dinner, to Joy." He said.
"On it sir" the staff replied.
Then he called the cleaning department. It was Hilda who picked up the call.
"Sir?"
"Send in a cleaner, blindfolded." He ordered.
"I get it..." Hilda replied.
He hung up and dropped the telephone loudly, then he went back into the bathroom and had a proper shower. He threw on casuals—baggy jean and a black sweatshirt.
By the time he was done, the cleaning maid was already at the down floor, so he went there to bring him in.
He's blindfolded.
Leonardo was the one who gave him directions on how to clean.
He followed instructions, and he still did a good job, wiping the mud and water. He dried the floors too.
Leonardo called the kitchen again, ordering macaroni for himself.
He was on the food at the meal table when Bacardi entered.
She fetched wine from his cellar and sat with him silently, poured silently too and started drinking.
"Brother, you know you just did a shove, right? This is only just the start. Granddad won't rest. You should be ready, so he won't catch you unawares again." She said.
"I know," Leonardo replied, dropping his fork to drink water.
"You ate twelve forkfuls from that macaroni, you barely are anything." Bacardi commented.
"Food isn't a life necessity, Cardi." He replied, dropping the cup.
Bacardi sighed. "Where she? She's inside, sleeping?"
"She's gone," he replied flatly, looking brighter than ever.
Bacardi suddenly came closer, taking a look at his lip.
"It's not an illusion, right? You got a lip bite? Did you kiss? Leo...you kissed someone??? Her???" Her eyes widened, and she spranged up.
"You kissed someone!!" She screamed.
"Bobby probably sold his loud personality to you tonight..." Leonardo rolled eyes, stood and started walking away from the table.
She followed, skipping her legs behind him.
"Can tonight get any better? We can worry about the aftermath tomorrow, but tonight? I'll celebrate when I get to my Planet! Champagne! Whiskey! Cognac!" She shouted.
"F+k...stop it!" He faced her with a glare which made her grin.
"Did you forget the quote? Leo can fûck hundred women but Leo can't kiss one woman. You hated it,you vowed never to do it, called it boring exchange of saliva and germs. You have another quote... I'll Only Kiss Death! Now look who got kissed! She bit your lip!" Bacardi laughed.
Leonardo took her by the shoulder, dragging her to the door.
"No wait! Leo... Leo gist me! I need the full gist! Leo.... f+kerrr... Like I said, you better brace up! You and granddad are playing a game and you know he's smart! Get his logic and protect that girl!..."
Bacardi was still talking when he threw her into the elevator and closed it with the button.
"Fuckin pest..." He commented
He went to the computer room from there, but the news he met on the screen told him that her parents still hasn't been found.
He made a screen call immediately, and the American spies began appearing on the screens one by one.
"We've never failed you, Ghost, but whoever is hiding them is smart enough to be able to stress us like this. Even Thaddeus' deed in Italy has been found out by us."you are reading from www.mhiztaemy.com.ng" On day of Brigadier Ferrari's death, we found out he took his dog out for a stroll around his street in the morning. The dog went lost, and he searched for it for two minutes before a kind woman returned it, claiming she saw it beside the beach. I believe Ferrari was injected by the woman during the return of the dog...that woman is one of Thaddeus' spies.."
"Thaddeus has spies too? Impressive." Leonardo smiled, sitting on the table and readjusting his earbuds.
"We've only seen that Italian woman spy, we haven't seen any other, but I believe he has others. Thaddeus is cunning, and now that he successfully killed Ferrari and is now a part of the brigadiers, you have to be careful, Ghost." Another spy said from another screen.
"Thaddeus isn't just a brigadier right now, he's a top brigadier... Granddad's most trusted man." Leonardo replied.
"More reason to be careful, Ghost. The clan estate will become more dangerous now, missions will be harder too, but we're always with you." Another one said.
"Which of y'all was around the valley on the day granddad returned to this city? I disposed bloody tissues, in a river... Granddad's people picked it up." Leonardo said carefully.
"Me!" Two of the spies raised their hands from their screens.
"Your granddad might have employed high drones to follow you that day, cos if it was car, there's no way we'd miss the guard."
"I have to employ air spies now?" Leonardo smirked.
"No need, we'll just watch air and ground from now on. Trust us." The spies assured.
"Back to the Cooper parents. Where the hell is Erica and Leroy Cooper?" Leonardo pocketed his hands, shifting back.
"Now that it has gotten to this point..." A spy said carefully.
"We have to set a trap to lure their captor out," Leonardo drawled.
"Exactly, but I hope the captor will fall into the trap, cos whoever it is is a smartass." A spy said.
"I need more spies around the valley, and don't get caught cos granddad will end you. I need more spies around Armando Mansion too. Also, stay buried cos Thaddeus plays human golf...don't get caught. Keep extra eyes on Thaddeus and granddad." Leonardo instructed.
"We never get caught, Ghost. Expect reports soon, and whenever you decide the kind of trap you'd like to set for the Cooper parents captor, please let us know."
"Also...is Tierney still gonna return outside at this rate? Or you're keeping him inside the estate? His grandpa's jurisdiction is empty, he needs to fill the space..." Two spies asked.
"I still need him for his computer shit here. For now, I'll find a replacement for him outside. Power out." Leonardo replied, ending the screentime.
The 100+ screens went off. Leonardo hasn't gotten rid of his earbuds when he received a text.
Surprisingly...it's from his father... saved as Slow Don.
Slow Don: This is where I need your calm, logical head to come in. Your granddad took over the clan plannings already. I need you to be careful. I don't want you sinking deep into his teachings again, son.
Leonardo turned off the phone screen and threw it on the table, resting his palms on it.
His bottom lip went into his mouth for a bite, and when he felt the sharp pain from his wounded lip, he bit again till blood came out.
He finally took the lip into his mouth, sucking the blood and smiling crazily.
He eventually picked up his phone to send a text.
--
[Cooper Siblings Apartment]
When Ivanna returned thirty minutes ago, she returned to quiet and peace cos her siblings weren't around yet.
She had time to clean up, dress in something thick, and get on her bed to reminisce about what happened in Leonardo's bathroom.
She was touching her lips occasionally, the kiss lingering in her memories tightly like a ghost.
Like him.
His sinful taste, the cedar scent, his groans...the aftertaste.
She had screamed into her pillow three times, and she would have done it again if her siblings hadn't arrived.
Robert and Ginny arrived, they even brought Tierney and Hilda along. They dragged her out of her room,. Ginny and Tierney began screaming, chanting around her.
Robert and Hilda just sat and watched calmly.
"I'm too exhausted for this..." Ivanna wanted to sit, but Tierney blocked her way to the couch.
"Erney..." Ivanna groaned.
"Tell me, how did you know to bring a fork to the fight? How did you survive underwater when he pressed your head down?" Tierney asked.
"I was going to fight a man like him, of course I had to prepare the emergency weapon. Also, when my head was underwater, I held my breaths. If I hold my breaths on my own, I'll be fine. I'm only affected when it's an asthmatic attack or other factors, that's why I passed out before I could fork him," Ivanna explained.
"This means you can't kiss for too long! You'd begging for breaths!" Tierney chirped.
Ivanna blinked, her mind doing a wild flashback to the bathroom again.
Ginny immediately slapped a duct tape to Tierney's mouth, pushing him to the couch to sit.
"Don't stand up, ok? Cûnt!" She placed a leg on his chest.
Robert grinned.
"I'm supper proud of you, big sister." Robert stood, giving Ivanna a hug.
"I'm impressed too, glad you were able to win. You should have seen Marko's face earlier when he was leaving the mud.. but please... Be more careful. He doesn't give up. He doesn't." Hilda said.
"I know, but I don't give up too," Ivanna replied.
"Wait..." Tierney removed the tape on his mouth. He stood.
"Big sis? Robert, did you just call Ivanna your big sis? Aren't you the biggie?" He said.
"I heard that too, what's going on?" Hilda asked.
Ginny's eyes went to Ivanna's necklace, and Robert's eyes went there too, but they looked away as fast as they looked at it.
"It's a long story..." Robert said.
Then... The door alarm beeped, and Ivanna rushed over to open up.
By the door, is the estate doctor, the estate store manager, and two kitchen staffs.
Doctor is holding a tray of drugs and stuffs, store manager is with a wheeled hanger which she immediately wheeled inside.
The kitchen staffs are with food trays, and without a word, they all set them down and left.
"What's this?" Ginny said.
"Looks like they're all for Ivanna..." Hilda said, knowing who sent them already.
Ivanna's phone buzzed, and she checked quickly. A new text.
Ghost: ...
"Dot dot dot? Is he serious?" She muttered out loud.
"Who?" Robert asked.
Ivanna looked up, "oh...no one... I'll be back!"
She entered her bedroom, closing the door after herself.
She made a call to him. He didn't pick, so she texted.
Ivanna: Fumbling now?
He replied immediately.
Ghost: It grates your nerves.
Ivanna: Oh... you'd do anything to get a reaction from me... Even kissing me till I almost died...
Ghost: My plan was for you to die in my mouth. You got lucky and escaped. Won't be the same next time.
Ivanna: Next time? Dream on!
Ghost: Your lips are soft... eatable. I run from mundane foods, but maybe I'll make those lips my best food.
Ivanna: Dream on, once again. There's no next time you mentally unwell killer kisser!!!
She switched off her phone after sending that, and that's when she realized she's panting again.
She got her inhaler and pumped herself, hitting the door with her forehead.
"Geez... he's insane..." She touched her lips again.
After sulking and gloating for longer than she planned, she returned to the living room.
Tierney and Ginny are already eating from the food tray.
"Who's it from?" Robert asked.
"Ghost," Ivanna replied.
Ginny instantly spit it out, and the pudding hung on Tierney's throat. He coughed suddenly.
Hilda chuckled.
Ivanna just took the teacup and drank since she can't resist.
"He's surprising me these days," Robert smiled, drinking the juice on the food tray.
"Ghost? Me too." Hilda said.
"Did you hear? Donna's fingerprints was used to infiltrate last night, and she'll be under questioning tommorow!" Tierney said.
"I'm not praying for her to get mercy..." Ivanna mumbled.
--
[Armando Mansion]
Thaddeus isn't back yet, so it's just Lissa and her mother in the house, plus Emma.
Lissa is surprisingly calm even after what she witnessed at the mud fight.
When she got home, she ordered the maids to make her a late night food table, and she's currently eating.
Emma sat in front of her, watching her eat everything.
She recently developed this habit of eating whenever she's happy or angry, and there's no taking it.
"You'll gain weight at this rate, Miss. You hate weight, please minimize it." Emma begged.
Lissa continued eating, shoving sliced onions in her mouth.
Emma sighed, and Penny came downstairs.
Her eyes widened when she saw what's ongoing, and she angrily pushed away every meal on the table. Beef, chicken, mutton, vegetables and bread scattered around.
Lissa kept sitting, and Penny walked over the foods to her.
"You're not a pig, you're a human,my daughter! The face of Armando Constructions, the heiress of this family! Leonardo's future child bearer weather he likes it or not! Stop eating like a glutton!"
Like a force to be reckoned, Lissa stood, picked a table knife and thrusted it into Penny's stomach.
"Oh my gawd!!!!! Miss!!! Ma'am!!!" Emma screamed, running into the scene to knock daughter away from the mother.
Penny's blood began dropping wastefully... from her stomach to her shoes, to the ground.
Lissa burst into laughter, bringing her bloody hand to her face to wipe it there. Her laughter continued as she faced the ceiling, letting it out.
"Miss!!!" Emma shouted, holding Penny already.
The maids hung around the kitchen door and window, watching the horror film playing.
"I will eat what I want, have who I want, do what I want! You do not have a say, mum! Dad is the only one trying here! You're doing nothing but being his wife! You're not being a mother to me! A good mother should have gained a status in the clan too just the way dad elevated! Stop being so damn controlling!!" Lissa yelled.
"There's a reason I must bear Leo's child, and if you don't make it come to pass, I'll kill you and just admit that I have only a father! Hag!!!" She yelled again, holding her head.
The maids had to return into the kitchen when her scream nearly deafened them.
Emma just watched silently, still holding Penny's bleeding body.
Penny is already losing consciousness.
When Lissa's laughter stopped, she swung her head and swept hair away from her face.
It's as if she was in a psychotic episode some minutes ago,cos her eyes widened.
The madness cleared off her face.
"Mum...." Horror registered in her eyes too, so much.
"Thank goodness, you're back..." Emma said.
"Mum!!" Lissa rushed to take Penny from her quickly.
"Mum! Mum stay with me!!! Get the ambulance keys! Get it!!!"
Emma rushed to the key wall.
--
[Phoenix Valley, 11pm]
Padrino Marko is beside his lawn fish pond, fishing with Renata by his right side and Thaddeus by his left.
The rest of the brigadiers are probably asleep in their suites.
The fishing line caught a jellyfish, and when Marko pulled it up, he squeezed the small fish in his palm and killed it, then threw it off.
"Jellyfish means bad luck for me. I had a bad luck today already, another one is unallowed. Gawd gave people the ability to either embrace bad luck or eliminate them. I'm doing both." He said like a parable.
None of the people around him said anything.
"You must be happy for what happened in the mud, right Renata?" He asked, facing the woman.
"Of course I am. For the first time in your life, you got subdued. The only way you can avoid watching me support that girl is if you just kill me. Otherwise, I'll support Leo and her,so far he leaves his mother's sick legacy!" Renata replied immediately.
One fast second, Marko's hand disappeared to the back of her head, and he pushed it into the water.
He shoved her face into the water, making her drink the pond water heartlessly.
Renata gulped, drank, struggled on the edge, but he kept pushing, kept shoving, till her movements slowed.
"Padrino!" Thaddeus said from the other side.
That was when Marko let go of her.
Renata rolled into the water first, then she stood, dragging herself out with staggers and lurches.
She vomited all the water she drank when she punched herself in the throat. Everything.
"Still can't bear to kill me? Cos you know you'll be lonely for life!" She spat and pushed herself out of that lawn, exhausted.
Marko sat back, and Thaddeus did the same beside him.
"Vera was stubborn, but strong. I'm still proud of her even after her death. But her? She's a weak stubborn head, and it's such a bother," Marko said.
"Why did Ivanna's last move caught you unprepared?" Thaddeus asked.
"Vera once made that move on me too during a mud fight, but in her case, she used a spoon...this one used a knife...I was stunned" Marko said.
"Why would she share too many resemblance with Vera?" Thaddeus asked again.
"She's a knockoff, a cheap version which should be eliminated. I won't let anyone take Vera's place in this world. Even after Vera's death, she still remains the most feared woman Chicago has ever seen, this new cheap girl won't take that, and if Leo thinks he's winning already, then he's a joke. I'll teach him a lesson." Marko muttered, staring at the pond.
"I'm thinking Christmas would be the right time. Here..." Thaddeus handed him a tab.
Marko took it, staring at the clan's activity schedules this coming week.
"In Britain?" He said.
"Yes. You only have to give me directions, and I'll draw the map." Thaddeus replied.
"Good," Marko replied, still staring at the screen.
Thaddeus smiled secretly, shifting his glasses slightly.
From her room window, Renata is watching the two. Luckily, she can see them from there.
She has goosebumps on her skin cos of the pond water, but she didn't even bother to change before coming here to peep.
Too bad she can't hear them at all.
She glued her ear to the window.
--
[Next Morning, Crimson Cave~Monika's Hall]
"FTM? How come?" Monika asked, staring at Hayden who's standing like a criminal in front of him.
"My parents..." He replied.
"No. Vera got the technique from her master in Britain, and she killed the master before leaving Britain, which left her as the only one with it, but then she taught her son before her death, leaving Leo as the only one, but you..." Monika said suspiciously,.
"My parents also trained under Vera's master from Britain, but it was kept secret. If Vera knew about it, she'd have hunted them down and tried to kill them too after she killed the master..." Hayden explained.
Monika lifted her brows. "Vera has always been a killer slût who has a large deposit of jealousy in her system. She was a control freak."
"You sound like you know her well before she died," Hayden said.
Monika leaned forward on her desk, taking her locket and opening it.
Inside, there's a picture of a father carrying a child.
"Vera has always been a slût, Hayden." She said again.
"What exactly did she do to you?" Hayden asked.
"Even Bradshaw and Moona don't know story. It's too early for you to find out. Just live... Hayden..." She replied, closing the locket.
"The Outfit will soon have a meet with a kingpin in Britain. If Leo is gonna be the one to go, then you'll get lucky and go too..." She said.
"I'm still in awe about how you seem to know everything ongoing in their clan," Hayden frowned.
"Don't think much, you won't get answers." Monika said.
Hayden left a minute after, and she stood from her chair, placing her leg on the table.
She pulled up her dress, revealing a gunshot wound scar on her thigh.
The echo of gunshots from the park that day resounded in her head, and she touched the scar...
"So beautiful."
--
Getting back to his room, Hayden met Moo sitting in bed, her legs mounted and that sly smile intact.
"What are you doing here?" He asked instantly.
She grumbled. "That's unwelcoming. Did you get this week's shot of leashing poison already? Is that why you're cranky?"
"What leashing poison?" Hayden's eyes widened.
"Oh...you still don't know?" Moo blinked innocently. "All of us here take the leashing poison weekly. Any week you fail to take it, you'll start dying slowly. I believe Leader has been adding it to your food weekly since you got here," she shrugged.
Sharply, Hayden pulled a long pin out of his belt, going for her neck with it.
He placed it on her throat, and Moo stood, not even bothering to push the pin away as it entered her flesh slightly. She bled.
"What did you just say!" Hayden demanded impatiently.
"I only told you so you know what you signed up for. You can't escape this place, Hayden. So don't make any stupid move of trying to escape cos I know you're considering it! You'll just die uselessly!" She shot.
Hayden's throat dried up.
--
[House Of Esposito, Sinners Assembly]
The assembly was always used for sinner mobsters, but this morning, it's Donna Felicia in question.
Even Don Anthony couldn't get her past the interrogation stage, so he could do nothing but sit and watch.
Padrino Marko arrived just at the nick of time, and when his eyes scanned the Esposito angle to see Leonardo in front of his siblings, he stopped and stared at him shortly.
Leonardo stared back coldly, till the old man decided to go to his seat.
"That was crazy," Bacardi laughed.
"Tell me about it," Sandra muttered.
Leonardo's eyes went round the assembly—the top mobsters spot.
Ivanna should be there, but she's not. She's not in this building at all, but her siblings are here.
Bacardi saw Robert across herself, and she paused her lids when she saw a female mobster chatting with him, stylishly touching his arm.
She looked away, pretending not to see anything.
As for Bobby, he has started his investigation about Wendy's case, so he's silently observing.
Felicia sat on a chair in the middle of the circle, honoured to sit since she's the Donna anyways.
When Thaddeus entered to sit beside Marko, he was breathless.
"My wife is in the hospital. She got hurt from my daughter's madness, lateness wasn't intentional." He said.
Marko simply cleared his throat, directing his gaze to Felicia who looks too confident.
"Why was your fingerprint utilized in the infiltration, Felicia?" Marko started the questioning.
"I have no idea, Monika is a tricky kind, I wouldn't put it past her," Felicia replied, still composed.
"Lying with a straight face, she has talent after all," Leonardo muttered.
"What do you mean, brother?" Bobby shifted closer to him.
"Weeks ago, I sent guards after her when she left the estate suspiciously... After Island's issue. She went to the underworld hub" Leonardo said.
Bobby gasped, moving closer again. He looked at Felicia, then smiled.
"Don't tell me she exchanged her fingers for a cure, and somehow.. Monika got her her fingers from the underworld hub."
Leonardo didn't talk, meaning Bobby is definitely right.
"Interesting," Bobby chuckled.
"Donna Felicia, as much as I wanna stay by your side, it's unbelievable. If Monika had the ability to manipulate fingerprints, she'd have stormed this estate long ago. Your fingerprint was used, and it could only mean you colluded with Monika. Maybe the plan was for her to enter and kill Leo since he's not your son anyways." Thaddeus said.
"No!!' Felicia spranged up. "No. I've never harbored evil thoughts towards Leo and his siblings! I've always seen them as my own! I wouldn't do that!"
"Then explain!" Padrino Marko gnarled. "Explain why your fingerprint was used!"
"I dunno why!!" Felicia shouted.
"Felly!" Don Anthony immediately stood, breathing hard.
"Thony.." she shook her head.
"Tell the truth if you have any truth to tell. In here, I can't defend you. But if you tell the truth, your punishment will reduce." He said.
"Not you too, Thony. I know nothing about it!" Felicia denied again.
"Then how do you explain this!" Sandra slammed, stepping out.
She opened her palm, and in the middle of the palm, sat the tablet she picked from the sanctuary.
"If you're gonna do something like that, mother, at least be smart! I found it on the floor of your roses sanctuary, and i had doctors investigate it. Apparently, it's one of the prescribed medications for amputees! Meaning it's only used by people who lost a part of their bodies!" Sandra shouted.
Felicia froze.
Don Anthony's eyes widened, remembering he once sighted the tablet in her sanctuary too but he had brushed it off.
"I had a great thought about it, then I came to a conclusion, you sold your fingers to Monika?" Sandra said.
"No!! That's not it! I didn't sell my fingers! It was the hub!!" Felicia yelled, falling on her knees.
Anthony's fists balled on his desk. Thaddeus looked at him and smiled, loving this turnout.
Felicia is Anthony's greatest supporter, and without her, it's slightly over for Anthony.
Padrino Marko remained frank as he stared at the begging woman.
"It's the underworld hub! Island was suffering from the burns of Leo's sulphuric wax! I went there for the cure and traded my fingers for it! No idea how the fingers got to Monika!" Felicia shouted.
"That's not true!" Island jumped out. "My leopard prints cleared after Miss Lissa gave me an ointment! It was Miss Lissa who gave me an ointment! Miss Lissa has always been kind to me! Donna you've been kind to me too but you didn't give me the ointment! Don't try to drag me into the mud with you!"
"Isla what are you saying!!" Felicia stood and rushed to her. She held her arms, but Island broke free.
"Isla! What's going on!"
"You didn't get me any ointment!" Island shouted.
"Penny! Penny is my witness! I went to the hub with Penny!" Felicia shouted desperately, facing Marko.
Thaddeus picked his phone. There was daad silence in the building as he dialled Lissa's line.
"Dad?" Lissa's voice came.
"You still with your mum in the hospital?" He asked.
"Yeah, she's now conscious... thankfully." Lissa said.
"Wife, can you hear me?" Thaddeus asked softly.
"Thad..." Penny's weak voice said.
"You really went to the underworld hub with Felicia? She claimed you did." Thaddeus asked.
"Is Felicia dreaming? When did I ever go to the hub with her?" Penny replied straight.
"No... Penny not you too!" Felicia shouted.
"Lalissa, did you really give Island the ointment for her body prints?" Thaddeus asked again.
"Sure. Island is a cool girl, so I helped." Lissa said.
Thaddeus hung up, and Felicia ran mad literally.
"No no no! Why is everyone lying!!!! Why!!!!!!!"
"Also, you set up your husband's driver!" Sandra continued.
She raised a piece of taboo rose, showing everyone.
Island gasped secretly.
"Particles of this rose was found inside Nino's sample at the city hospital. Apparently, you and Island poisoned him with it on the night of the teaparty, and he was forced to sleep with Island!" Sandra continued.
"It's all Donna!" Island shouted.
"She said she wanted me to sleep with Nino, that when I get pregnant, she'd send me to Germany and then she'd act pregnant here. When my due date is close, she'd come to Germany and take my child back to the clan as hers! That was her plan! She was only using me and Nino I swear! But Nino didn't cûm in me like she wanted, and she made it up as rape and forced me to accuse him! Nino is innocent! He didn't rape me!" Island narrated.
"Island!!!!" Felicia drew a gun from under her gown.
Echoes rang as she shot, but Island was quick to go down, so the bullet met a lowly mobster.
The assembly almost ruined.
"Felicia!!!" Thaddeus yelled.
Before Felicia could pull the trigger again, Anthony was with her.
He drew her hand down, and tears escaped her eyes.
"Thony, believe me... I didn't sell fingers to Monika, I didn't plan that with Island. Island said she liked him and i—"
"Don't talk, Felly." He cut her off.
"No... Thony, please trust me... I'm telling you the truth!!!"
Marko who has been silent since the start cleared his throat, and silence returned into the building.
"I want her locked in the estate dungeon for now. I hate my Christmas bloody. After this Christmas week, I'll make her a scapegoat and create a suitable death for her," he said.
"For trying to drag my wife with her, I suggest she gets the nail crown on her head till her head crushes!" Thaddeus said heatedly.
"Shut up, Thaddeus!" Anythony shouted.
"How dare you yell at a brigadier, and you should kneel to apologize for your wife's sins!" Thaddeus shouted.
By now, the siblings are already walking out of the building.
"Kneel to apologize for your wife's sins!" Thaddeus yelled.
"Thaddeus, this isn't over! Thony you can't kneel! Let go of me!!!" Felicia was crying as chains were locked on her waist and arms and ankles.
As she got dragged away by the guards like a animal, she kept looking back, screaming.
"Thaddeus! Thaddeus you and your wife and daughter will perish! I'll kill you all! Read my lips!!!!!!!"
Anthony eventually fell on his knees, humiliated for the second time.
He was still on his knees when the mobsters began leaving the building.
Thaddeus grinned, but Marko's emptiness never changed.
--
"Thought you were going to wait and defend dad," Sandra said as he walked the hall with her siblings.
"I'm not in the mood for dad, yet. He should at least pay for marrying a woman like Felicia. We all have what's eating us up, Sandra," Bobby replied, suddenly stopping.
His face is in his phone, and when he looked up, he showed the rest his phone screen.
News from the warehouse. The new velkrona drug is driving people mad on overdose. There are like ten victims already, all in the psych ward.
"The senator's son is a victim too," Bacardi read from her own phone.
"Who cares? If you're not ready to bear consequences, don't use drugs," Leonardo said and left.
"As heartless as ever..." Sandra muttered.
Bobby left the sisters too, and Bacardi saw Robert again... getting followed by the same female mobster.
She went closer, pulled the female back and gave her a knee punch in the nose. The female bled, then she shifted back at the sight of Bacardi.
She rushed out of the hall, and Robert gave Bacardi a detached look before leaving too.
Sandra walked alone, but Nino soon joined her, and she slowed down.
"Thank you," he appreciated.
"I didn't catch that." She replied.
He blocked her, then bowed his head dramatically.
"Thank you, TG." He said.
When he raised his head, she folded her arms on her chest, nodding.
He left her in the hall, and she eventually smiled.
Her phone buzz notified her that there's a meet at Marko's office, so she rushed over immediately.
After she left, Island emerged in that hallway, holding her chest.
She squatted, gulping.
"I narrowly escaped going to the dungeon...geez!"
Then...
Ahe received a text..from Lissa.
Miss Lissa: Hey, new slave.
Her heart skipped beats.
--
[Marko's Office]
The office is in the underground chamber of the estate, darker than any darkness even in the morning like this. The dim lights is the only thing which showered it with a little life. Marko likes it that way.
Renata is with him in the office, helping him with paperwork when the siblings entered.
They all got notified.
Behind his black desk and old stack of documents, Marko looked up.
Leonardo, Bobby, Bacardi, Sandra.
"Sure you heard about the madness going on cos of our new drug. I've never cared about rules, which is why even the government can't hold us, but they're growing fangs now, and we have to pluck it. Their article from a minute ago says they want us to stop the drug sale, and that's a stale joke..." He said.
"The same drug that's needed in the largest kilos by a kingpin in Britain?" He opened his palms.
"Now that Felicia is locked up, and your father is mourning her, y'all have jobs throughout this week."
Bobby isn't even listening to him. His eyes are on the documents Renata is arranging.
Marko is a freak who documents the name of everyone he killed or everyone he caused their death. Could Wendy's name be on that list?"
"Bacardi, Sandra, handle the hard drugs prevention office. I don't care if you have to kill the CEO, get rid of him and his sour articles. Bobby, you stay in the warehouse as usual and keep the sales ongoing. Leo...."
Marko paused at this point, his eyes meeting with Leonardo.
"Britain is yours. Fly to Britain on Christmas Eve and get the drugs to the kingpin. There'll be no clan protection over you, so you're by yourself. Let's see how you can cross the borders with the drug that has been banned worldwide. I'm looking forward to your skills."
Leonardo said nothing. He's not in the mood to chat this man.
"And Ivanna..." Padrino continued. "She's to work with Nino and Robert, and they must handle the other baby cartels in this city. I want every drug cartel shut down! Our warehouse is the only one that has the damn right to operate!" He said.
--
[Training Hood]
Tierney and Ginny are busy at the general cyber hall, so it's just Ivanna here—with Hilda.
She intentionally avoided the assembly, but she heard everything that went down, and she doesn't pity Felicia. Why would she?
She just used her whip, practicing movements alone, professionally.
"Should I give you a name? Whip Huntress." Hilda said, and Ivanna smiled, stopping to face her.
She hung the whip on her shoulder.
"I like it, weirdly," she said.
"Here," Hilda pointed a bottled water at her, but before she could take it, she got a buzz, and she checked her phone quickly.
Quickness is a dominant gene here.
There's an update on her phone...
Update: You'll lead Robert and Nino to close down the minor cartels in the city, starting tonight. SHED BLOOD.
"Padrino has really started...great." She muttered.
"What's that?" Hilda stood with concern, but that was when Leonardo come inside.
Hilda did a bow, but he didn't even see her before he came for Ivanna.
He grabbed her wrist, but she broke free, roughly.
"Don't make me do this the hard way..." He looked back.
"Where are we going exactly? You can't just... Fûck! Leo!" She shouted, cos she's already in his arms.
He carried her, fully.
"Leo? That wasn't what you called me last night...in the bathroom..." He whispered with dipped brows, and she quickly pressed her palm to his lips, glaring.
"I'll kill you..."
He walked out of the hood, and Hilda smiled, drinking from the bottled water instead.
Leonardo brought Ivanna to her apartment, and immediately the door closed behind them, he caged her there by the doorway.
She quickly folded her lips, smirking while at it.
"Oh?" Leonardo tilted his head, staring down at her with the same look he had in his eyes last night in the bathroom. The madly obsessive one that makes his eyes sleepy.
"Mm," she sounded, and he nearly laughed, but he controlled it and brought his hands to her sides instead. He tickled.
Once. Just once.
She bursted, releasing her lips in a short unplanned laughter.
That was enough, cos Leonardo didn't waste time.
He pressed his lips on hers, hard and dominating and claiming.
Their eyes are open, and hers are blinking, staring at him as he kissed her lips deeply, pressing her to the door tightly.
She didn't kiss back, she's just there, and that's a small issue...to him.
His hand went under her two-piece singlet. No bra. No restrictions.
He touched—her n+ples first, then he cupped her perky br+sts, squeezing them as his tongue entered her mouth, curling.
Ivanna's hands moved, too... voluntarily.
Her eyes are still open when she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing back finally.
Her eyes went shut, and Leonardo smirked before closing his too, like he just won for once.
His warm hands dropped from her breà sts, and it instantly felt illegal. It didn't feel right.
She grumbled into the kiss, losing all calculation.
"Want me to continue touching your beautifully swollen breasts? Your n+ples are hard, brutally starved..." Leonardo whispered on her lip curve when he heard that grumble.
At first, it felt like she wasn't gonna answer, but she did...
"What do you think?" He whispered back into his mouth, and the kiss ended, but not for long.
His mouth just went down to kiss the slope between her aching br+sts, licking it, using his tongue on her skin, warming her up, licking up to her neck, using the tongue again.
He licked up to her ears, then licked her lips too...
"Pretender..." He whispered.
"M0therf+ker..." She replied, her whisper lower than his own.
With his two hands on her br+sts, their lips met again.
Outside, Robert and Nino are just getting to the door.
Robert pushed it, but it won't open like something is blocking it.
He frowned. Nino blinked.
--
[A Road, 10am]
While Emma drove, Lissa sat at the back of the car.
They've been driving for an hour now, and in few minutes, they'll arrive at their destination.
Lissa worked from here. She's settling some office duties on her iPad, and she's focused, but she's still aware of how long they've come.
"I'm still confused about why Sir Leo hasn't suspected you. I mean...you have two secret places." Emma said.
"The moment Leo realized I kept the secret of how I write the letter with the nunnery ink from him, he should have known I'm a great secret keeper. VV might have taught him FTM privately, but she taught me secret keeping privately too. Unless he becomes immortal, he can never find out about my two big secrets. His spies are everywhere, but their eyes are never on me. Why? Even after everything, he trusts me." Lissa replied, turning off the iPad.
Emma drove the car into a area characterized by rocks. It's like they've left Chicago totally, but they're still in, just the urbs.
Emma continued driving, two more minutes, three more minutes. They went between two alleys.
The people here are mostly farmers who deal with animals. There are sheepfolds', hen farms, cow farms and even snake farms everywhere.
Looks like a zoo, but not one.
Emma stopped the car in front of a wide staircase, and the two females came down, wearing shades.
"I wonder when I'm going to be lucky enough to go to your first secret place. You've been going to that one even before Ivanna and her siblings broke into the clan." Emma said.
"Be thankful I even brought you to this second secret, Emma." Lissa scoffed, and Emma nodded.
They climbed the staircase, and they met the owner of the sheepfold they're going to.
It's a old woman, gaunty and giant.
"Welcome, Miss." She greeted as she handed them a key.
Emma took the key, and they walked past a long passage.
They went down a stone stairwell, another long-ass passage, and a door.
Emma opened that door, and they stepped into another part of the house entirely.
Here, there's a sheepfold.
Dirty. Smelly.
Smell of sheep pee and dung, even their wool smells.
The place is basically a garden of sheeps', surrounded by a forest and a large river behind it.
But it's not just sheeps'
In the middle of the fold, there are two people.
A couple.
Wretched and dirty like the sheeps', bedecked with wounds and cuts, tattered clothes and hair, teary faces.
Lissa twisted in a crazy dance, her heels drilling holes as she let out a silly chuckle, moving closer.
"Hello, my trump cards! Your daughter sinned again, and I'm here to punish you both...again!" She hollered, picking a set of pliers before
grinning at the wretched couple.
They're Erica and Leroy Cooper—Ivanna's parents.
TBC.
Thanks again authoress
ReplyDeleteBut Lissa is a smart bitch
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
ReplyDelete