MIRA
I watch with a rapidly beating heart as Darth produces the CCTV footage and a computer. Meanwhile, crocodile tears are still crawling down Halloway’s cheeks.I do not miss the evil looks she sends my way when Mason is not looking, of course. The bitch is suffering from some kind of mental psychopathy issues. I can swear it.The tension in the room is nerve wracking as the footage begins to play out on the screen. When it gets to the point where I begin speaking, I lean in closer.“Go slower right here.” I tell Mason and he sets the video to play in slow motion.I can already see Halloway sweating in her designer outfit as the video gets closer and closer to the point where she nearly choked me to death.“Mason, I honestly don’t see the p-point of this. I didn’t do anything.” She stutters nervously.Mason glances at her.“Mira insists you did. I want to give her the benefit of doubt.”The video finally pinpoints on the scene where Halloway began to look upset. My fingers on the table tighten as we finally approach the highlight.It all happens in a blur.One second, I am watching the unravelling footage expectantly, and the next, I’m completely frozen and staring at the screen in horror, unable to believe my eyes.“No. Rewind the footage. Rewind the footage, Mason! It can’t be.”Mason turns to me, his eyes dark with disappointment. I push him away and hastily click the buttons that rewind the video, but the same scenes still play out.It appears that the scene where Halloway leaped across the table and almost killed me has been completely erased. The footage just skips to the point where she lets go of my throat and Mason comes into the office .I sink into the nearest available chair, utterly dumbfounded.“I swear she tried to choke me. The footage has been sabotaged.” I whisper, still trying to wrap my head around what I just watched.Halloway jumps to her feet and slams her hands on the table, startling the crap out of me.“Enough of this nonsense! I’m sorry, Mason, I can tolerate all of Mira’s unwarranted past insults, but I will never tolerate wrong accusations. You and I both know that I would never hurt anyone, but you still went ahead to shame my reputation by requesting for the footage. Now that my innocence has been proven, I will not sit back and watch Mira continue to insult me.”“I’m sorry about all of this, Hayley…” Mason begins.I stare at him incredulously.“You’re sorry?! You’re sorry? This bitch nearly killed me. She sabotaged the footage…”“Enough of this nonsense, Mira!” Mason thunders, stunning me to silence. “I allowed that video to be brought in because you looked really upset, but I will no longer stand for this drama. Enough!”Halloway gives me a mocking glare over Mason’s shoulder.Right now, I want to hurt her so much, the feeling is like a dangerous itch beneath my skin.“You should be grateful that you’re Mason’s woman, otherwise I would press charges against you for harassment and…”I do not wait for her to finish. Suddenly, I see red. My desire to claw the bitch’s eyes out tears at me and I make a mad dash for her.I hear her high pitched shriek as I pounce on her, pulling at her million dollar hair and expensive lashes.“Mason! Help me! Somebody, please help me!” Her pained screams give me insane satisfaction and soothes the darkness that was burning in my guts.“Take that, bitch!” I growl as I hit her harder. “Doesn’t feel so great to be on the receiving end now, huh?”All too soon, a strong arm wraps around my waist, pulling me away from a crying Halloway. Still completely enraged, I struggle in my captor’s grip, hitting his shoulders.“Let me go! Fucking let me go so I can teach the bitch a lesson.”I’m still struggling when a hand wraps around my throat once again, shutting off my air flow and stunning me to silence. My red haze clears long enough and I take in the furious grey eyes before me with hurt surprise.I claw at his hands, indicating that I cannot breathe;“Mason…” I whisper.Instead of letting go, his hands tighten around my throat and dizziness begins to set it in. But that isn’t what really hurts me.What hurts me is seeing that the disappointment and anger in Mason’s eyes are channelled at me. What really hurts is the fact that he vowed to protect me, but here he is supporting the one woman who almost killed me.“Sir, you’re hurting her. I would advise you to let her go to prevent any further damage.” Darth’s voice breaks through my fog.Mason lets go of me immediately, pushing me against Darth as if the mere thought of touching me is repulsive“Darth?” He growls, his eyes still pinning me in place.“Yes, sir.”“Take her to my office and keep her there until I return.”His icy stare chills me straight to my bones.I let go of my sore throat and spear him with an angry glare, tears stinging my eyes.“No, Darth. I do not want to be in the same building with people who tried to kill me. Take me home.”Mason’s eyes flash with a dark expression.“Do not disobey my orders, Darth. Do as I say.”“Come on, miss. Let’s go.”Darth grabs my arm gently and I watch with mounting hatred as Mason goes to Halloway, checking her body for injuries while I’m over here, hurting from the emotional and physical injuries he’s just caused me.Just as Darth is about to pull me out of the room, I cannot help but let him feel even a quarter of the hate burning in my heart.“You were supposed to protect me.” I say through my tears. Mason remains frozen to the spot at the sound of voice. “You promised to keep the enemies away, but there you are breaking all of your promises yet again.”Mason turns to me, his eyes as cold as ice, but I’m not done yet.“I hope you enjoy the enemy camp because I will prove that Halloway did try to strangle me in this office today if it is the last thing I do, and you will be sorry that you laid your hands on me because of her.”Then I push Darth out of the way and make for the elevators.When Mason comes searching for me in his office later on, he will not find me. He won’t even find me at his home.I am done being his submissive little lamb.MIRADarth tries to keep me locked up in Mason’s office but I escape the minute he steps out for a water break.Fifteen minutes later, I am standing in my best friend’s doorway.“Vanessa! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you since last night.”My best friend gives me a not-so- bright smile and continues into the house. Okay, something’s not right. I close the door behind me and join her on the sofa.On a closer look, her face is scrubbed free of make up and she looks ten years younger than her normal age.“Okay, Nessa. Spit it out. What happened?”She shrugs.“What happened to you? You look like you’ve been crying.”I roll my eyes at her.“I asked you first, Barbie doll.”Vanessa lowers her gaze quickly, but not before I see the haunted look in those beautiful blue eyes. Her face is swollen and puffy, like she’s been crying for hours. Vanessa never cries – meaning something’s up.“Are you going to tell me or will I have to force it out of you?”“I’m fine, Mira.
MASON“Where the hell is she, Darth? Damnit, where is she?!”I’m pretty sure I look like I belong in an asylum. After checking to make sure Halloway was okay, I arrived at my office only to realise that Darth and Mira were nowhere in sight. I’ve called her phone about a bazillion times but the hard headed woman keeps sending me to voicemail. A burst of rage mixed with a strange emotion trickles down my spine. Fear.I finally found Darth on the office grounds, but Mira is still missing.“Sir, please calm down and listen to me.”My fingers tighten around his throat.“I gave you one instruction. One instruction and you failed me. Where is my woman?”To Darth’s credit, he doesn’t look scared…just worried.“I left her for a few seconds to use the restroom. When I returned, she was gone.”I shut my eyes for a beat, hoping to soothe the darkness that persistently threatens to crawl through my throat and strangle me.“You and I both know that with everything going on with the mafia, it is to
MASONEven when the little minx is holding a fucking knife against my throat, all I can think about is how her body fits so perfectly against mine.All that buzzes through my damn mind is how thankful I am that she’d come over to Vanessa’s and had not been taken by one of my uncle’s gangs.All I want to think about is how deliriously perfect it would feel to stuff my cock through those pouty lips.Stab me, baby girl. I really hope you do, because there will be no escaping my darkness then.***LILYMy fingers tremble as Mason keeps pressing closer, bringing his throat in dangerous contact with the sharp edge of my knife.“Mason, step back. I will hurt you. I really will. Please, step back.”His arm bands around my waist, pulling me even tighter against him. His lips lower dangerously against mine and I shut my eyes, not wanting to look into his eyes when he finally kisses me.“So angry with me yet still craving for the touch that only I can give.” His lips move away from mine and inste
MIRARelief mingled with a bit of disappointment swamps me as Mason leans back and proceeds to tuck himself back into his slacks like he didn’t just attempt to eat me raw a few seconds ago.He spears me with a cold look in the mirror.“You’re lucky that this ball is important, princess. You’re very lucky.”He steps back and I scurry away from him, trying to gather my wits. He gives me a brief once over before disappearing down the hall to Vanessa’s bedroom. I would run away if I didn’t know that Darth was waiting at the door to catch me and bring me right back to the devil. Instead, I heave a shaky breath and hunker down on the floor, completely exhausted, and try to wrap my head around the fact that I had all but begged Mason to take me on the table earlier.Where the hell is he going anyways?I get my answer when he returns with a blanket, his icy stare still very much in place.I inch away when he attempts to drape the blanket around my shoulders.“You’re crazy if you think I’m g
MASONI still haven’t told Mira that I am one of the evil bastards who tried to abuse her years ago. I still haven’t told her that my own uncle almost forced her into a life of sex slavery and ruined her entire life.I haven’t told her that I will launch an all out attack on La Famiglia next month…and I might not come out alive. I only lift her hand to my lips and kiss it softly.I know I should probably count my losses now and let her go before things begin to get crazy and the truth starts flying. Maybe I’m a selfish bastard, but I know Mira would run out the front door once she realises who I really am, and I plan to hold on to her for a long, long time.She asks me if I love her.What I feel for Mira Fernandez is darker and wilder than love. A few months ago, I thought I was obsessed. Turns out, my feelings run even darker than that.And I’m beginning to get the hunch that the darkness might one day ruin us both. But even then…I’m never letting go.If it keeps her by my side, I w
MIRAI have absolutely no idea where I’m going. I only stumble blindly down the room until I get to the door. I have no idea that tears are running down my cheeks until the salty taste slips past my lips and into my mouth.The pain in my chest swells until it’s choking me, until I can barely breathe. The whole party suddenly feels suffocating. I need to get out of here!Subtly aware of the fact that I probably look like a raccoon now, I pause for a second to dab at my wet face and wipe my tears, but deep down, I know I will never be able to wipe away the memories of what I just heard.I will never be able to wipe away this choking, overwhelming sense of betrayal.I stumble towards the exit once more, not caring to watch where I’m going.“You’re mine. Only mine.” Mason’s words echo in my head like a broken record. Liar. He’s a complete liar and like a pathetic fool, I believed him. I let myself trust him. I let myself fall in love with him.My soul feels like it’s been crushed to a mil
MASONThe moment Darth informed me that someone else, specifically him, Axel Roman, had his hands on my woman, I saw red. I had unfinished business with Halloway, but I abandoned it and practically flew down to the main ballroom.Now, I watch from a distance as the motherfucker greedily soaks up her laugh and smiles. I watch as she gives another man all her attention.I watch as Mira Fernandez disobeys me once again.How I’m able to stand still and not walk over there and bash Axel’s head in is a fucking miracle…one that might not last very long. He leans forward to pick a stray strand of hair that grazes her cheek and I clench my fingers in blinding rage.“How long has this been going on?”“About fifteen minutes now.” Darth responds.I shut my eyes for a brief second to quell my venomous anger. That will be fifteen punches for the fifteen minutes that Axel Roman has tried to take what belongs to me.I’m aware that the fact that he’s here is a warning, and I vow to send back that war
MIRAI fly into the first room I can find – which happens to be the bathroom. My pulse thumps rapidly as I make my way down the marbled floors, looking for an empty stall to hide. My mind flashes to the black clouds I could see in Mason’s eyes earlier. Something tells me that if he catches me this time, I might likely not survive his wrath. I finally find an empty, half open stall and slip in quickly, locking the door behind me. My legs are trembling as I listen quietly for any sounds. Five minutes later, I hear the sound of footsteps as people walk in.“Can you believe that Mason brought his slut to a high profile party?”From the sounds they’re making, it is apparent that the ladies came in to powder their noses. I roll my eyes.“I know, right?” The second one replies. “Once a slut, always a slut. She even kissed another man while he stood right there. Where did he even find that whore?” I stifle the urge to open the door and give those bimbos a piece of my mind. Instead, I bring