Hidden Love by MINK

1

Mariana

Istare up at the ceiling, my body numb. Either I’m a psychopath or I’m on emotional overload. I’m not sure how I should be feeling right now, knowing that my father is somewhere close by, likely tied to a chair bleeding to death. I close my eyes to picture the moment again when Fenton pulled out the knife and stabbed my father right in the chest, hoping that maybe this time I’ll have some remorse.

But still I feel nothing.

The only time I can seem to get myself to experience any type of emotion right now is when I think of Fenton. It might have to do with the fact he makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. He also makes me want things I can never have. Especially with a man like him and the world he lives in.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted out of this life. It’s clear Fenton will never leave it since he was more than willing to die for it not even hours ago. Typically, death is the only way anyone can escape this lifelong commitment. But with the way things went down today, I think I’m going to be offered the rare chance of an out. A future that I didn’t think was in the cards for me. How could I ever turn that down? The opportunity is rarer than winning the lottery.

A knock sounds at my bedroom door. Okay, not my bedroom but the one I’m currently staying in at the Lombardy estate. I’ve been here since my father offered me up as a virgin bride to Grant Lombardy, the head of the family.

My father wanted more power and figured merging the families would give him that. But he hadn’t planned on Grant already being madly in love with someone else, a woman I know he’ll be marrying very soon. That is if he pulls through and doesn't die.

He, too, was injured when everything went down and is somewhere in this house bleeding from a gunshot wound. He’s been in and out of consciousness, but they believe he’s going to make it.

The Alderone family was taken down tonight. I’d even helped the Lombardy clan against my own father. I was nothing more than a pawn to my family. They had hoped a marriage between Grant and me would call a truce between the families. But I’m sure my father had a plan to try and ruin them from the inside out. He surely wasn’t out to make peace. He only cares about himself. He would throw me to the devil if it helped him in some way.

“Sole,” Fenton calls.

I smile a little at that. He calls me the sun in Italian, probably because I’m blond. It’s nothing more than that, I remind myself. Not like I light up his life or anything stupidly romantic. I’d be a fool to think otherwise.

He opens my door, not waiting for me to respond. My heart flutters as it always does when I first see him. He always puts my mind and my body at war with one another.

I hadn’t bothered with locking the door. There was no point. I learned that quickly the first time Fenton let himself into my room when I wouldn’t answer the door. I sit up.

His black hair is wet, and all the blood from the battle earlier has been washed from his body. Some of it was his own. The bruises on his face are already starting to turn purple. Yet it doesn’t do a thing to take away from how handsome he is. I swear it only makes him look sexier.

In the short time I’ve known Fenton, I’ve fallen for him. The day my dad showed up here at the Lombardy estate demanding that I come back home, Fenton had stepped right in front of him to protect me, letting my father know I wasn't going anywhere. It was the first time in my life someone stood up to my father for me.

The crush I had on Fenton from the very first day I saw him blossomed. To be honest, it shoved me right into love. There was no stopping it. Even if he is everything I said I’d never want in a man. He’s crass, bloodthirsty, and this life will always come first to him. It’s laughable because all those things are the reasons I’ve fallen for him. I should be running for the damn hills, but I find myself doing the exact opposite.

His crude, crass comments turn me on, and his need to kill my father and the loyalty he shows to his family are things I find myself wanting from him. The things I was so desperate to get away from are now the things I find myself desiring the most. I want all of it when I imagine it with him. I wish he could give me a future, but I know he can’t.

“Are you just going to stand there?” I ask as he looms in the doorway. My words must take him by surprise. I’m unsure why. He should be used to me poking at him by now. I see the heat in his eyes as he steps into my room quickly and slams the door hard behind him, clicking the lock into place.

“You’re naked,” he growls.

“I washed all the blood off.” I shrug, trying to stay strong. I’ve never been naked in front of a man before. I’ve been dressed up in barely-there clothes so my father could show me off, but never nude.

“Your door wasn’t locked.” The deep rumble of his voice has my nipples hardening. I press my thighs together.

“Does that really matter around here? Besides—” I lick my lips. “I thought you made it pretty clear that if anyone was going to get to play with me it was you.” If he wants to be crude about me, I’ll do it right back.

In a flash, Fenton is across the room and pinning me to the bed beneath him. My legs have to spread wide to fit his size. It’s almost painful, but the burn is sweet. I can’t help but wonder if it’s the same sensation I’ll feel when he breaks my virginity.

“Don’t toy with me. I'm already on edge after today.”

“I’m not toying with you. I know what I want.”

I want to feel again, and I know Fenton can give me that. Even if this is only for tonight. It will sting to be one of many in what I'm sure is a long line of women for a man like him. I’ve heard him talk. There is no way he doesn't have mistresses all over town. Same as all the other men in this lifestyle.

“Careful.” He tries to warm me again. I didn’t think Fenton would be a man who would give more than one warning. “You have no idea what you want, little girl.”

I wrap my legs around him, thrusting up against his cock.

“Then make me a woman.”