The sound of a ringing phone jolts me awake and I jerk in my seat, accidently startling Sebastien, who swerves the car slightly.
"Sandy? What's wrong?" he asks, his voice slightly panicked.
"Nothing." I reply, my voice groggy from sleep.
"Bad dream." I mumble, picking up my new 'temporary' phone - as Viktor called it.
I answer after clearing my throat.
"Hello?"
Panting.
All I can hear is panting.
My brows furrow in confusion, so I move the phone away from my ear to look at the caller ID. The name makes me gulp as I suddenly become slightly anxious.
"Alek?"
"Oh, hey malyshka. Prosto nuzhno bylo uslyshat' tvoy golos." [Just needed to hear your voice.]
"Why do you sound out of breath?"
"Hmm? Oh, I just uhhh- had an issue to sort out down here. Took a bit of me, that's all."
"An issue?" I ask, mainly talking to myself as I think about what he said.
An issue, 'down here'.
Down.
As in the basement.
My eyes widen in realisation.
"Alek?" I suspiciously say.
"Da, malyshka?"
I swallow harshly before asking my next question.
"Did you just kill Vladimir?"
I can feel Sebby's gaze snap in my direction as soon as the question leaves my mouth, and I nervously fiddle with the bottom of my jumper whilst awaiting Viktor's answer. After a few moments, I put the phone on loudspeaker so I can put it down and grab my drink.
"Da, i pri etom boleznenno." [Yes, and a painful one at that.] he says, almost as though he's triumphant, proud.
Relief fills me at the knowledge that my rapist is dead, but a slight feeling of disappointment soon follows. I had my own plans on how I wanted him to die and suffer - by my own hand - by at least he's dead all the same.
"Anyways," Viktor says, breaking the brief silence.
"How far away are you guys?"
"Uhhhhh," I glance to Seb for an answer, as I have absolutely no idea.
"About ten minutes away, boss." he answers wearing a hateful expression.
"Good. I'll see you in a few hours, okay malyshka?" Viktor responds.
"Okay. Bye."
"Goodbye, my love." he says, then ends the call.
"Yeah, goodbye and good riddance." I mutter, stretching my kinked muscles out.
Sebby laughs at my response, happily agreeing with me while briefly fiddling with his phone.
"Sí, cuñado. Lo que digas. Si, Santini here?" [Yes, brother-in-law. Whatever you say.]
Me and Sebby both freeze, staring at each other in shock. Luckily, we're at a red light right now, so we're not moving. We then look at the phone, our shock still evident on our faces. We continue to stare at the phone until someone behind us beeps their horn, indicating that the red light is now green. Seb clears his throat and begins to drive, then he speaks.
"Uhhh, mancano dieci minuti. Quanto sei lontano?" [Uhhh, we're ten minutes out. How far are you?] he asks Cole, his voice still clearly showing the shock from the statement from earlier.
There's giggling in the background before I hear a woman's voice speak up.
"T." she drags the letter out.
"Stop, I'm trying to focus here." the statement is obviously a humorous one, yet it makes me question who's talking to my brother.
"Santiago Moreno, if you don't let my cousin focus, so help me God, not even the Devil will be able to help you." Cole threatens and my eyes bulge.
"Santiago Christopher Moreno, did you get with Olivia whilst I was kidnapped?" I demand.
The tone I use on him is threatening, but I say it with a smile on my face, because I knew it!
The other side of the line stays deadly silent, and my smile grows.
"Uhhhh, I- I was gonna tell you when- when I saw you, hermana, but, ummm." his response just makes my smile grow even more.
Another pause of silence.
"Thanks man. You got me in trouble." he mutters - presumably - to Cole.
That's when I lose it, bursting out with laughter.
"I knew it! What did I say lupo? I told you." I celebrate my triumph, doing a little happy dance in my seat as I reach for a chocolate bar.
Cole chuckles lightly and my heart flutters, desperately missing the sound of it.
"Yes, gattina. You did."
"Wait, what?" I hear Liv say in the background.
"Guys! Focus, I'm less than five minutes away now. Cole, how far?" Seb says, turning everyone serious.
"Two minutes." he says, his voice equally as serious.
"Okay, there are eight men there already. Stop the car and go on foot the rest of the way. They'll have one automatic each, maybe one pistol too, but that's it. They aren't heavily equipped as this wasn't planned. We'll meet you soon. Don't die and stay safe guys."
"I'll see you really soon. Ti amo, gattina."
"Ti amo, lupo." I say, smiling like a lunatic.
Sebby hangs the phone up and stops the car on the side of the road. I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion, and when I look up ahead, I can see the house and the two cars the men drove in. Seb gets out of the car and opens the passenger door behind the driver's seat. I turn and watch as he leans down and reaches for something under the seat.
"Sebby? What are you-"
He pulls out a small briefcase-like box and comes to sit back in the driver's seat. He opens the mystery box, grabbing a few cameras and a laptop that was also in the box. He opens the settings and connects the camera's to it. When he clicks onto an app, a series of blank boxes in a grid comes up, a few of them showing the direct feed of the camera's he has out on his lap.
"What do you need a live feed for?" I ask him, confused as hell.
"Well, all of us are going to wait in the house, and we'll need to know when mister 'boss man' turn up." he says, rolling his eyes when he says, 'boss man'.
Seb steps out of the car and sets up a few of the pieces to make a tripod. Once he has two, he sets them up on either side of the road. As he begins placing them in different angles, gun fire starts at the end of the road, and my head snaps in that direction. Not knowing if anyone is hurt or knowing if they're safe, I begin to grow anxious and try to distract myself by watching Seb and playing with my hoodie strings. I watch through the live feed as Seb adjusts and secures the tripod in place. He comes back to check the angles once he's done both cameras.
"Come now."
The two words come through text and are sent from Cole's phone, and I try to find relief in the fact that he's okay until it dawns on me that anyone could be using my phone. Sensing my nervousness, Seb speeds down the road as if he's trying to win a race and gets us to them in seconds. As soon as I see Cole standing there, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I undo my seat belt, practically breaking the door as I get out and sprinting over to him. He sees me and rushes to me, and I all but throw myself at him, clinging to him like he's my reason for existing - because he is.
"Lupo." I cry out, our arms wrapping around each other.
We both audibly let out a breath of relief at being reunited. I pull away hastily, inspecting him.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay. I'm okay gattina."
Cole pulls me straight back into his embrace and I jump on him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs go around his waist. We hold each other tightly like that for a few long moments until my brother speaks up.
"Ne dumayu, chto eto prineset pol'zu rebenku." [I can't imagine that's any good for the baby.] he says, matter-of-factly.
I gasp in the realisation that he's right and wriggle out from Cole's grip.
"Oh, right." I laugh nervously, rubbing my arm awkwardly.
"Hermana." Tiago comes up to me, engulfing me in a bear hug that I reciprocate as best as I can whilst keeping my stomach out of it.
I take turns hugging Carlo and Olivia, and there are two people left - a man and a woman - that I've never seen before. Judging from the way that the woman looks like a female version of Cole, and the fact that the man looks like Carlo, I'm going to take a guess and say that this is Cole's parents.
"Gattina. This is mia Mamma and mio Padre." Cole says as he gestures to them, confirming my thoughts.
"Mr and Mrs Sant-"
"Oh, please dear. There's no need for that. Just Lorenzo and Sophia, please." Lorenzo says.
"Oh, sweetheart. You're even more gorgeous than Cole said." Sophia says as she embraces me in a hug.
"Thank you, Sophia." I giggle slightly.
"Cole looks exactly like you. It's, just, wow." I say, and we both laugh.
"Mia principessa is right Cassie. You're a beautiful young woman." he says, giving me a brief hug.
Cole comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me tightly against him. I squeal and tense and Cole immediately let's go of me.
"What? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he asks, not even trying to hide his worry.
"No, no, God no."
I pause for a moment.
"Can I talk to you for a sec, please? Alone."
"Yeah, gattina. Of course. Come." he holds his hand out for me.
"Cassie." Seb calls out.
"Give me a moment." I step away from Cole and go up to him.
"Da?" I ask once I reach him.
"Ty sobirayesh'sya yemu rasskazat'? Vse? Pryamo seychas?" [Are you going to tell him? Everything? Right now?]
"Well..." I trail off, thinking about it for a moment.
"Da. Da, ya dolzhen. Yemu nuzhno znat'. YA nichego ne mogu skryt' ot nego. Eto bylo by nespravedlivo po otnosheniyu k nemu." [Yes. Yeah, I have to. He needs to know. I can't keep anything from him. That wouldn't be fair to him.]
"Okay." he says, hugging me.
"YA zdes', yesli ya tebe ponadoblyus', ladno?" [I'm here if you need me, okay?]
I nod my head yes in response as we pull away from each other. I give him a small smile as I turn around. I walk back over to Cole and take his hand when he offers it to me, and we walk inside. He leads me to a bedroom in a far-ish part of the house on the second floor of the two-story house. He opens the door for me, and I go in, sitting down on the bed.
"You wanted to talk?" he asks as he takes a seat beside me.
"Ummm, yeah." I respond, suddenly very anxious.
I take a big, deep breath to try and compose myself.
"Okay. There's a lot I need to get through, and it's going a lot to ask from you, but I need to ask that you please don't say anything until I'm finished." I glance as him from beneath my eyelashes once I'm finished.
He takes my hand in his.
"Of course gattina."
I take two more deep breaths before speaking.
"The day after I got to the Volkov's house in Italy, Vladimir raped me." my breath becomes shaky, but Cole doesn't react as badly as I expected him to, so I look at him.
His eyes are a mixture of anger and sorrow.
"You already knew?" I ask in disbelief.
"Maxim, one of the guards, is from my mafia." he says.
I know Maxim, he was one of the guards assigned to the part of the house I was staying in, in both Italy and Russia. I nod my head in recognition of his statement as I let his words sink in.
"Okay, that saves me a lot of explaining then. Dmitriy?" the one words is all I need to ask for him to understand.
"Si, I know about him too. And the two 'helper' guards."
I nod my head once again, realising that the only two things I need to tell him now are the two things I was dreading most.
"I have no right to ask, but please, please, please," I beg of him.
"Don't hate me."
"Gattina, what-"
"I slept with Viktor." I flinch as I say the words, bile threatening to leave me.
Cole's hands tighten around mine and I look up at him, regretting it instantly as I see the look in his eyes.
He hates me.
The thought has me running to the bathroom, and I empty all of the food I ate in the car on my way here. Unexpectedly, firm hands wrap around my hair and pull it away from the front of my face, and a hand runs up and down my face.
"I'm sorry." I cry as tears threaten to fall.
"I know. I know I have no right to be. And I hate myself for what I d-did." I hiccup, the tears escaping me as I sob.
"It-it only happened the once. An-and I went into a rea-really bad sub-sub-drop when I w-woke u-up be-becau-cause I k-knew I had ch-cheated on y-you, but he-he convinced me t-that I w-wouldn't see y-you ever ag-gain. Th-that I w-was his now." the tears are rolling unstoppably down my face now, my vision blurry.
"Oh, gattina."
Cole unexpectedly picks me up and pulls me into his lap, holding my waist with one hand and rubbing the other up and down my back. I wrap my arms around his neck, inhaling his intoxicating scent.
"Y-ou're n-not ma-ad at m-me?" I ask, confused.
"Oh, trust me, Cassie. I'm mad. It's not exactly like I can turn back time and stop you, but I can sure as hell remind you who you belong to. Not now. But later. When we're back in Italy. When I take you home." I wince at the use of my name, but relax when he talks about 'reminders', and I melt against him when he talks about home.
"Hmmm. Home." I hum.
A couple of minutes pass and I get up, rinsing my mouth out with water to try and get rid of the taste of sick from my mouth. Whilst I'm bent over the sink, I hear movement behind me. I don't move, but simply raise my eyes as I watch Cole come to stand behind me. I'm shocked when he spanks me, my hands gripping the counter to steady myself.
"Count, Cassie." Cole demands.
"One, Daddy."
Spank.
"Two, Daddy."
Spank.
This goes on until lupo's spank count hits forty-four, which is above my limit, but I surprisingly don't feel the need to use my safe word, despite the fact that I'm a crying, whimpering mess right now. Especially since my bare ass has been on display for the last twenty spanks.
"Forty... five... Daddy..." I pant after each word, literally no breath left in my lungs from all the screaming I've been doing.
"Good girl, gattina." he murmurs, leaning down and kissing each of my sore, red ass cheeks.
"Do you need to use your safe word?" his Dom voice just turns me on more, and I try to discreetly rub my legs together and relieve some of the friction I need.
Cole must see, because I get another spank, followed by a command.
"Spread your legs." I do as he says - as much as I can with my bottoms still on around my ankles- as a whimper escapes my lips.
"Do not make me repeat my question gattina." there's a threat in his voice that makes me answer instantly.
"No, Daddy, I don't."
"Are you close to your limit?"
"No, Daddy." I answer truthfully, because I honestly feel like I can go longer and endure more.
"Do not push your limits to punish yourself. Do you understand me?"
I whimper again at his Dom voice, but I answer regardless.
"I understand, Daddy, but I'm not. I swear."
"Good girl."
I hear the faint sound of his zip and trousers being pulled down, which also seems to be my only warning before I get filled up and pounded, rigorously, I may add.
"Fuck." we say at the same time, and I curse the counter for not being able to squeeze it between my fingers as easily as a mattress would.
After a couple of thrusts, Cole grabs a handful of my hair and yanks me back, pulling my back flush against his chest.
"Who do you belong to, gattina?" he whispers harshly in my ear.
"You, Daddy." I get out on a moan, clutching his bicep for support.
"And who is your Daddy?"
"Cole Santini." I cry out as he bites on my ear, then licks it to soothe the sting.
"Mmmm. And who do you want?"
"You."
"And who's fucking you? Whose cock is inside your sweet little cunt right now?" he thrusts extra hard inside me, as though he's punctuating his words with his delicious dick.
"You are! Cole Santini is fucking me! My Daddy's cock is inside me!" I scream out, unable to stop myself from cumming around him.
"God." he groans.
"You're lucky I'm letting you off for that disobedience. Because, fuck, if I didn't miss you milking me like that." Cole pounds into me harder, making me want to double over, but unable to do so with his grip on my hair.
"Daddy." I breathlessly whimper, clenching around him as I feel another orgasm approaching, literally seconds after my last.
"Don't you fucking dare." his hand in my hair moves to my throat and he applies the perfect amount of pressure.
"Fuck." he breathes.
Cole releases my neck from his grip and pushes me flat against the counter again. I hold on for dear life as he continues to pound into me, chasing his own orgasm. Both of his hands grab a hold of either side of my waist, and he uses them as handlebars to help bring me back onto his dick to impale me at a much faster rate. Cole's thrusts begin to get sloppy as he gets to the brink of his high, and he slips his hand under my hoodie and bra to cup my breast, squeezing it roughly.
"Cum for me gattina. Tell me who you fucking belong to and cum."
He pinches my nipples harshly, sending me toppling over the edge I was balancing on.
"DADDY!" I cry out, cumming so hard I lose my vision for a moment.
At the same time, I feel Cole fill me up with hot spurts of his cum, his load painting my walls white. His thrusts gradually slow to a stop, and we both stand there panting. Soon after, I'm picked up and lifted onto the counter, and met by Cole's lips as he pulls into a passionate kiss. Cole helps me pull my jogging bottoms back up, whilst I'm still sitting on the counter, and then he pulls his own up. He pulls me off of the counter and I wrap my legs around his waist when he starts walking, and I take the opportunity to bury my head into his neck.
"I've missed this." I mumble into his neck.
"I've missed you." I admit, confidently, as Cole sits us down on the bed.
He moves my head from his neck, and he smiles widely at me.
"I am really sorry, for whatever it's worth." I whisper, looking down at his chest.
"Well," he starts, rubbing a hand up and down my back.
The motion causes me to moan and in turn, he smiles a little.
"I have you back. In my arms. Where you're safe."
Cole leans forward and lays a few kisses along my collarbone.
"It'll take me some time, but I think we'll be okay, gattina."
"Really?" I ask, hopeful.
"Yeah, baby." he smiles.
"I'm just gonna grab us some water." he says, moving to get up.
I smile a little, then something suddenly hits me.
"Good. Because there's one last thing, I need to tell you." I say, giddily.
Cole chuckles in response as he fills a glass up in the bathroom.
"Do you, gattina?" I nod my head eagerly.
"Okay. What is it?" he asks, walking back over to me, glass in hand.
"We're pregnant."
Cole's POV
I freeze where I stand, staring at Cassie like a dear stuck in headlights.
"We- uh- what?"
"We're pregnant." she reiterates less cheerfully.
"How do you- um- how do you know it's not- uh" I stumble over my words as the shock travels through my veins.
"Oh. Umm. I found out the day after." she whispers, fiddling with her fingers.
"After?" I ask, confused and still very much in shock.
"After me and Viktor..." she trails off, not needing to finish her sentence.
"So, it's mine? You're certain?" I ask as the shock fades slightly.
She nods her head, her eyes trained on her lap.
"Cassie. Look at me." her head shoots up, obeying the command.
"Words. I need-"
"It's yours, Cole. A thousand percent. There's no doubt about it, I swear." she says confidently.
I look into her eyes and see complete honesty. I look down at her stomach, where our baby is growing, then back up to her face. I storm over to her and put the cup down so fast I almost spill it everywhere. I pick her up in my arms, holding onto her for dear life, and spin her around with the biggest smile I've had on my face for years. Cassie's laugh fills the air, adding to the perfect moment.
When I put her down, I do what I have never done for any man or woman before her.
I kneel in front of her.
"Hey, bambino. È papà." [baby. It's papa.] I say, resting my hand on either side of Cassie's stomach.
"Ti proteggerò con la mia vita." [I will protect you with my life.] I whisper my vow to him.
I stand and kiss mia gattina with all I have. Her hands go to my neck as mine go to her waist, carefully pulling her against me.
"Vi proteggerò entrambi." [I will protect both of you.] I murmur against her lips as we pull away.
"Lo prometto." [I promise.]
I pick up my suit jacket that I took off at some point and walk back over to Cassie.
"Since we're revealing our surprises," I say, fishing out the box in my pocket, eliciting a gasp from her.
"Cole..."
"Gattina. I never thought I could feel again after Nico died. And I sure as hell didn't think I'd find love, let alone that I'd find it with the perfect woman for me. You intrigued me from the moment I met you. No-one had ever dared to talk back to me, yet there you were, my little spitfire, and you pulled me into your web of sweetness, long before I even realised it. You helped me feel again Cass. You helped me learn what it was like to live again, and for that, I will forever be gratefully indebted to you. You've awakened me, and now I can never fall back into the darkness because I have you, my angel of light, with me to help me through life. And no matter how awful I seemed, you stuck by me." that causes her to let out a laugh through her tears.
"Yeah," she sniffles.
"That's because my warmth is attracted to your cold."
I smile at that as I get down on one knee, looking up at my queen.
"We're going to face so many challenges and obstacles on the path ahead of us, but as long as I have you by my side, I don't care."
I open the box, showing off the ring I picked out just before flying out here to Russia.
"Cassie Clarke, will you marry me? Will you stand by me as my Queen?"
Cassie lets out a sob, collapsing in front of me.
"YES!"
With the biggest smile on my face, I put the ring on Cassie's finger. I pick her up and twirl her, her laughs filling the air once more. I set her on her feet and kiss her, my soul finally feeling complete after so long. We hold each other for a little while.
"Not to ruin the moment, but we still need to talk about you and Viktor at some point." I say after a few minutes.
"I know. I know." she says, resting her head against my chest, her arms wrapped around me, just as mine are wrapped around her.
"Does anyone else know?" I ask suddenly, as I realise, I haven't asked.
"About me and Viktor?"
"No, gattina. About our baby."
"Ohhh." she laughs a little, looking up at me.
"Just Sebby. No-one else. I wanted to tell you in person." she smiles sheepishly.
I smile and press a kiss to the tip of her nose. I lift her up and her smile brightens, her legs wrapping around me.
"You're adorable." I say as I start walking out of the bedroom.
I walk us downstairs and to everyone who is still standing around outside, their conversations quieting down when they see us. I let Cassie down - thankfully on steady enough legs - and motion for her to go and tell them the news. When she hesitates, I speak up.
"So, we- uhhh. We have some news." I say, placing my hand on Cassie's lower back and guiding her closer to everyone.
"First off," I clasp Cassie's left hand, interlacing our fingers, and raise it for everyone to see.
The two other women gasp and rush over to us, admiring the ring and gushing over it. My pa and zio give me shocked looks, both of them looking back and forth between me and Cassie. I look at Santiago and Sebastien, nodding gratefully at both of them.
I had asked Sebastien for his blessing over dinner when I initially met him, and I asked Santiago for his just before I left to go and buy it. Truth be told, I would have proposed regardless of what either of them had said, but nevertheless, I got both of their blessings.
I glance over at the three women embracing each other, smiling at the joy in their little bubble. I look back at the two men staring at me and, eventually, pa comes up to me and gives me a hug.
"Congrats, figlio. Sono felice per te." [I'm happy for you.] he says once he pulls away from the hug, patting me on the back afterwards.
"Grazie, papa." I smile at him as I speak.
Mio zio is next, giving me a stern pat on the back.
"Si, son. Anch'io sono felice per te." [I'm happy for you, too.]
Just like my Pa, I smile at my zio when I say, "Grazie, zio."
"Okay okay. C'è un'ultima cosa." [There is one last thing.] Cassie says, smiling as she comes up to stand next to me.
I stand behind her, resting my hands over her stomach and my face on her shoulder, my head angled to face her neck.
"There's more?" Ma beams, the brightest of smiles on her face.
Cassie rests her hands over mine, glancing down. The action causes Ma to gasp and cover her mouth with her hand as she grabs a hold of my Pa's bicep.
"You're pregnant?" Santiago says, staring wide-eyed at Cassie.
She smiles sheepishly, nodding her head and relaxing against me. Santiago comes speeding over to her with his arms open, and I let go of her so they can hug. Ma pounces on me, wrapping her arms around my neck and crying.
"Oh my God! My baby's all grown up." she weeps, clinging onto me for dear life and squeezing the oxygen out of me.
Pa comes up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and turning her so she's hugging him instead of me. I shoot him a grateful look and he nods at me.
"Congratulations, mio figlio. Sarai un ottimo padre." [my son. You'll make a great father.]
"Grazie, Pa." I say, going around Ma and giving him a side hug.
"Congrats nipote. Sono sicuro che voi due vivrete una vita felice insieme a vostro figlio. [nephew. I'm sure you two will live happy lives together with your child.] zio says, embracing me in a quick hug.
"Grazie, zio."
Olivia comes over to me, congratulating me. Then Sebastien, and then Santiago. We're all in our bubble of happiness; Cassie is in my arms, Ma in Pa's, Olivia in Santiago's. Zio disappears into the house, excusing himself to go to the bathroom. Everyone is here, and I couldn't be happier than I am right now.
"Guys!" Sebastien says suddenly from the driver's seat of the car he came in.
Our heads turn to him as all conversation and laughter ceases to exist at the urgency in his voice. He looks down the road and them at us, a worried expression worn on his face.
"Viktor's here."
Word Count: 4,708