“That’s good.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe he had a heart attack. He’s so young.”
“I know.” My chest ached.
“So,” Nika clapped her hands together. “Tell me, what’s new? You haven’t been home lately. Are you living here now?”
“Um…” Matteo and I had never talked about it but we both knew it would be happening. With the baby coming, we needed to sort out our living arrangements. “Well, we will be living together once the baby comes and we get married.”
“That’s nice…wait, what?” Her head whipped around.
I giggled, flashing the giant rock on my finger.
Nika squealed, throwing her arms around me. “And a baby too?”
“Yes.”
She squealed again, hugging me tight. “Oh I am so happy for you,” she exclaimed, her voice cracking.
“I’m happy too,” I whispered, wiping the tears from under my eyes.
“When did you find out?” Nika asked, placing a hand on my tiny baby bump.
“Officially? The day Matteo…when he ended up in the hospital.”
“When are you due?”
“Not sure yet. We have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow,” I said, anxious to see my baby, the little bean growing inside of me.
“Oh exciting.” Her smiled widened. “And this ring. Holy shit, girl. I have no idea how I missed it.”
I laughed. “That’s why I wanted you over first so I could tell you my news.”
“It pays to be the best friend,” she joked, helping me bring the food and drinks out onto the balcony.
We chatted like we used to. Nika filled me in on what had been going on at Cello’s. Apparently it had become so busy that my cousin decided to open up another restaurant.
“That’s wonderful,” I stated, sitting on the patio couch. “It’s about time.”
“Yeah. No doubt.” Nika sat across from me, taking a sip of her white wine.
“So what’s been going on with you?” I asked, noticing she was looking everywhere but directly at me.
“Nothing.” She shrugged, her cheeks reddening.
“Nika,” I sat forward. “Talk to me.”
“Remember how I told you that I was seeing someone but I didn’t want to say who because it was so new?”
“Yes. I remember,” I said, frowning.
“Well,” she took a deep breath. “I’m seeing Cello,” she said quickly.
My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“I know I should have asked you if you minded but it happened so fast, the next thing I know, I’m falling in love with him.” She gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth. “That was the first time I said that out loud.”
“You’re in love with my cousin.”
She nodded slowly.
I squealed, rushing to her side and pulled her in for a tight hug. “I am so happy. He’s lucky to have you. You’re going to be my cousin. Oh this is amazing. We need to set up a double date,” I said all in one breath.
Nika laughed. “One thing at a time.”
“Sorry.” I laughed along with her.
“So you’re not mad?”
“No. God no. I love both of you and I’m glad you’ve found each other.” Her admission of her feelings towards Cello caused me to miss Matteo. He had only been gone a couple of hours but my heart ached for him. Something twisted at my gut suddenly but I couldn’t quite place what it was.
“What’s wrong?” Nika asked me, her brows furrowing.
“Just a weird feeling.” I shrugged it off, shaking myself. “It’s probably nothing.”
A half an hour later, Emily Griffin, showed up. I hadn’t seen her since Matteo and I went to Duncan’s BDSM club.
She smiled at me. “How are you?” she asked, embracing me in a quick hug.
“I’m fine. How are you?”
She winked, fluffing her long dark hair. “Oh you know. Same old same old.”
Emily was more Nika’s friend. I always found that she was hiding something. The tall woman with her alabaster skin and ruby red lips was beautiful but there was an underlining threat hidden behind her pale blue eyes.
I liked her. But I didn’t trust her. “Where are the other girls?” I asked, sitting down.
“Cello needed them to work,” Emily said, grabbing the glass of wine that Nika had handed her.
“More girl time for us,” Nika said, clinking her glass against Emily’s.
It was odd though. I wasn’t close with any of the other girls but we got along. We had hung out before but I found it strange that they wouldn’t have at least texted me to say they couldn’t come.
“Is that an engagement ring?” Emily asked, her gaze landing my hand.
“Um…yes. Yes it is.” The scrutiny she was giving the ring on my finger made me think that she couldn’t believe someone would want to marry me.
“Huh…interesting,” her voice dripped with icy contempt. “I hope he makes you happy.”
I swallowed hard, my stomach twisting at the intensity she was giving me. “He does.”
Her eyes bored into mine.
“Mae is also pregnant,” Nika exclaimed. “Oh shit. Was it supposed to be a secret?”
“No.” I smiled. “It’s fi—”
“You’re pregnant with…his baby?” Emily asked, a flush of pink creeping up her neck.
“I am,” I said slowly, wondering why the hell she was questioning it.
“And you are sure it’s his?” She sat back, crossing her long leg over the other.
“Emily,” Nika scolded.
“Of course it’s his. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well cheating is a new norm. I wouldn’t be too excited if I were him until I knew for sure the little brat was mine.” Emily shrugged. “Just saying.” She rose to her feet. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Down the hall, first door on the left,” I mumbled.
“Thanks!” She blew me a kiss and headed inside.
“What the hell was that about?” Nika blew out a breath.
No kidding. I didn’t know what her issue was or why she cared.
“Did you fall in?” Nika teased Emily when she walked out onto the patio a couple minutes later.
Emily didn’t answer as she sat back on the bench across from us. “Did you have fun at the club?”
“The club?” I frowned.
“The one we ran into each other at.”
“Oh. Yes, I did.” Memories of Matteo’s whip lashing across my skin sent a flush of heat over my body.
“Do you go there often?” she asked, tapping her red nails on the arm of the couch.
“I’ve only been there once,” I answered. I could see from the corner of my eye, Nika looking back and forth between us, probably wondering what was going on. But even I didn’t know.
“Did you like it? Did you enjoy being dominated? Do you submit every time you fuck your fiancé or do you play the Domme at times too?” She sat forward, licking her full gloss injected lips, her eyes roaming down my body. “Baby or not, I would love to tear your body open.”
Nika gasped from beside me, spouting question after question at Emily but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. I could only focus on Emily’s words piercing into my heart.
“Does Matteo like it when you scream for him?” she asked, a wicked grin spreading on her face.
“Who are you?” I asked, an icy cold shiver of fear gripping my spine.
Emily held her hand out in front of her, inspecting her nails. “You’re not stupid, Mae. Tell me, Marketa. Do you enjoy seeing my marks on your fiancé’s body?”
Morgan.
Matteo
Flipping through the papers, I let out a heavy sigh and a long string of curse words. This was why I had Cathy in the first place but even she was going through paper after paper, pile after pile.
“Where the hell did all of these reports come from?” I grumbled, almost ready to burn the fucking place down.
“Yo
u’ve missed work but…”
I glanced up when her words trailed off.
“This doesn’t seem right. I requested patient information from the local mental health hospital like I always do but I never expected this many files to get sent to your office.” She frowned, dropping a stack into a box.
“They want to keep me extra busy apparently,” I mumbled to myself.
She scoffed, shaking her head.
Cathy and I had an agreement. She worked for me and I helped with any case she could get me. I was a prestigious psychologist in the beginning, taking on patient after patient but it got to be too much. Clearly. So I dropped some clients, promising Cathy to still make my rounds at the hospital. Her son, I found out, had spent years behind those walls and they did everything they could for him. But one day he had enough and gave into the terrors of his mind. Cathy had told me this after I told her about the heart attack. I never knew it until now, but she considered me part of her family.
“How’s that beautiful girl of yours?” Cathy asked, knowing exactly what I needed to relax.
“Good.” I sat back in my office chair, stretching my legs out in front of me. “She’s having a couple of friends over this afternoon. It’ll be good for her.”
Cathy nodded. “That’s a wonderful idea.”
I yawned, cracking my knuckles and leaned my head from side to side. The tendons in my neck popped.
Cathy rubbed her nape, pushing her glasses further up her nose.
“We’re done,” I said, taking note of the bags under her eyes.
“You need to rest anyways.” She reminded me. “Don’t come in until Monday.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I rose to my feet, chuckling.
“What’s so funny?”
“You are the only woman that can tell me what to do and get away with it.”
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”
“No?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Just because I’m old doesn’t mean shit, Santos.”
I choked, throwing my head back and let out a fit of laughter. “I am so glad I know you.”
“What’s this?” Cathy asked a moment later.
“What?” I headed over to where she was perched at the table and frowned when I saw stacks of envelopes all addressed to me. “Open them.”
She opened the first one and pulled out a letter. “It’s from an Emily Griffin.”
“Emily.” I grabbed the letter from Cathy and scanned over the handwritten words. This woman was confessing her love for me. Her deranged mind thought I had actually proposed to her and couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with me. “What the hell?”
“Do you know her?” Cathy asked, opening another letter. This time a photo fell out. “Is this her?”
“Hey,” I pointed at the picture. “I’ve seen her at the diner where Mae works.” She was always nice to me, knew exactly where I liked to sit in the small restaurant and constantly greeted me with a smile. But I never thought anything of it.
“These letters are all about how much she loves you, Matteo,” Cathy’s brows narrowed. “This poor girl is sick. Is she a patient of yours?”
I thought a moment. “She came to see me once. It was over a year ago. I helped her through a bad break up. But that was it. I never led her on. I know I can be an asshole but Cathy, I swear…”
“I would never think that way of you. But that reminds me, this came for you earlier today.” She held a manila envelope in her hand and placed it in my hands.
I opened it, pulling out a disk. “What is this?”
Cathy chewed her bottom lip. “Something I should have shown you first. It might explain the Emily situation.” She took the disk from me and slid it into the CD player in my computer. “I am so sorry.”
Not understanding what I was seeing, my eyes widened when I appeared on the screen. “I don’t know…what is this?”
“I’m friends with your father,” Cathy explained. “I met him while on vacation years ago in Mexico and stayed in touch ever since. He told me about you. That’s how I found out about you needing a secretary. Even though you hadn’t talked to your father, I told him everything about you. How proud he would be of you. Your success. All of the ceremonies and everything that you have been to. And then I told him about Marketa and how happy you were but I could still see the sadness in your eyes.”
“Morgan,” I whispered, shocked at what I was hearing.
“Yes.”
My head whipped around.
Cathy looked back at the screen. “Watch and you’ll understand.” She turned up the volume, worrying her hands in her lap.
My voice pumped through the speakers.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Angry. Loud. I was upset. “I’m not yours. I never have been.”
“What do you want, Morgan? You already got everything you can from me. You destroyed me. What more can you take from me?” I was shouting at Morgan but no one was in the room except for me. I saw myself rip my dress shirt in half, screaming out in agony. “Stop!” I yelled, gripping my hair. “Stop talking about her. Leave me the fuck alone.” I lost it.
What the hell was I was watching? My heart raced. My blood ringing in my ears. The video version of me thrashed around the room, falling to the floor and crying out in pain. And then I saw her. Emily. She appeared on screen and attacked me, scratching and clawing at my back. Her long nails dug into my skin making me think I had been whipped but I saw it was at the hands of a possessive woman.
“Stop,” I pleaded. “No more.”
When the video ended, Cathy ejected it from the computer. “I am so sorry I had to show you that.”
“I…” I couldn’t process. And then it clicked. I was yelling at Morgan but she wasn’t there. It was Emily Griffin. My mind had conjured up images of Morgan, thinking it was her lashing out at me. Thinking it was her men who attacked me. Even though it had been years, the pain was fresh, I could still feel them forcing me to my knees. It was never Morgan. Never. But all this time, after everything, Morgan still succeeded in destroying me.
“Do you remember?” Cathy asked gently.
Memories rushed into my mind. An elation of relief soared through me.
I killed Morgan. Years ago. But she still came at me like a monster under my bed. The darkness in the corners of my room. The mind was a funny thing.
A slow grin spread on my face. Oh I definitely remembered.
Mae
The darkness took over, swallowing me into the ultimate pit of hell. Walls closed in and around me, suffocating me until I could no longer breathe. Shadows passed in front of my eyes but I couldn’t make them out. A voice, high pitched and feminine moved around me.
My muscles twitched, creaking over my bones. Every inch of me ached. The tiny fibers of hair on my body tingled with anxiety.
“Marketa,” the female voice whispered across my skin.
I groaned, struggling against the binds that held me restrained. Disorientated and unsure, I couldn’t remember what had happened.
“You’re beautiful,” the woman purred. “No wonder Matteo latched onto you.”
Morgan.
My heart sped up. I tried opening my eyes but I still only saw black. “Where…” I croaked, licking my parched lips. “Where am I?” Suddenly, light shone in my eyes, blinding me. I blinked past the burning.
“There you are, pretty girl.” Morgan came into my field of vision, cupping my face. “How do you feel?”
“Restrained,” I bit out, struggling to get free.
She smiled, taking a step back. “You’ll only be restrained for a little bit. We have to wait for Matteo to come home.”
“Home?” I looked around me. “I’m…” I was in Matteo’s dungeon. Morgan had me captive in his room. A room we played in. Bile rose to my throat. I struggled against the binds, trying to break free.
“Hey. Hey. Calm down.” Morgan pinned me down. “It won’t be much longer now.”
“What do you wa
nt?” I asked, breathing past the impending panic attack.
“I want…” Morgan tapped her chin. “What do I want?” She walked back and forth in front of me. “Do you know who I am?” She laughed. “Of course you do. Matteo must have told you so much about me. We’re in love you know.”
“That’s not what I heard,” I bit out.
“Oh poo.” She waved her hand in front of her. “Matteo likes to play games. He truly does love me.”
“You are delusional.”
“Did Matteo tell you that we’re getting married?” She flashed her hand in front of me, her finger sporting the ring that should have been on my finger. “I know he likes to tell stories. Silly boy. All those lies he had been spreading over the years, telling people how much of a monster I am.”
“I can’t argue with that seeing as you have me restrained in Matteo’s room.” A room that should have been private for him and I only.
“I’m not a monster,” she said, her voice cold. “But I do get what I want.” She giggled, inspecting her ring. “I remember when he proposed. Did he tell you the story?” She sighed. “God, it was so romantic.”
This woman was nuts. Matteo, oh please, my love. Hurry home.
“He brought me up to his cabin, cooked me his favorite Italian meal and we made love under the stars.”
I scoffed. “Please. You’re insane. Matteo doesn’t own a cabin. His favorite meal is Mexican and the only person he’s making love to under the stars is me.” Before I could process what was happening, a sharp slap landed against my cheek. I licked along my lip, a metallic taste coating my tongue. “What? Can’t handle the truth?” I sneered.
“Don’t ever speak like that to me again.” Morgan cupped my jaw, digging her nails into my cheeks.
“Or else what?” I winced when her nails dug further into my skin.
“I don’t want to fight.” Morgan placed a soft peck on my lips. “Can’t we be friends?”
I stared at her. This woman was crazy. And I had no idea how to get out of her clutches. “What do you want with me? I’ve never done anything to you.”