Chapter Nine
One Month Later
Vanessa had gotten her cycle and they sat in the sitting room, the television playing some kind of movie, but she’d not been paying much attention. Her menstrual cycle hadn’t been a welcome sight.
She didn’t know if she waned to be pregnant or not.
Life with Diago had been interesting so far. They rarely went out, but when they did, she couldn’t help feeling that nervous excitement through her body. Three weeks ago, they had a mafia party that Diago felt the need to attend. At the time, she didn’t know why he wanted to, and it was only after that he told her. Her family—her father, mother, and two brothers—were present.
Diago had insisted she wear a rather revealing dress. After her kidnapping, and scar, as well as her increased weight gain, her family had done everything to keep her hidden. Larger dresses, her hair styled to cover her scar, telling her to keep silent, and not to draw attention to herself.
Susan was once again called, and she didn’t think she’d be able to leave the house in the dress Diago had chosen for her. The dress covered her breasts, it was decent in that regard, but it barely covered anything else. So, the skirt was nice and long, and she’d started to realize that Diago loved to see her legs. He preferred the skirts she wore that had long slits in the side, exposing some of her leg and thigh.
Again, she didn’t mind. The top part of the dress wrapped around her waist, giving peeks of flesh, and then crossed over her breasts, wrapping around her neck. She couldn’t wear a bra and had to rely solely on the fabric of the dress not slipping. Susan had also been told to pin her hair off her face, minimal makeup, and she’d also had to wear a pair of heels.
When Diago had to go to work, she spent her time practicing how to walk in the heels. She hadn’t tripped yet, but she still didn’t look delicate or even elegant walking in heels. She had no idea how some women made it look so graceful, as she felt more like an elephant stomping around. It was disconcerting to say the least.
The party had been another engagement, this one between a high-up capo and a young woman of only nineteen. Two powerful families joining forces and expanding their reach through marriage.
The party had been beautiful. The home where it was held looked like a mansion, straight out of a romance movie. She and Diago had brought attention to themselves the moment they entered. At first, she had no idea why they were attending the party, but then Diago had made his intentions clear.
She knew other women might be pissed off at discovering their husband had sent the bloodied sheets to their father—the proof of her virginity. Not everyone was like Vanessa, and she had known while she’d been trying to recover from the wound and subsequent infection, her father had only cared about knowing if she was damaged goods.
Someone had been able to stop him, and now she knew it was Diago. He’d been the one to stop the invasive investigation to check if she was a virgin, for which she was thankful. After everything she’d been through, that was the last of her worries, but no one had believed her when she said she was a virgin. They thought she was lying. Diago had been the only one to believe her, so she hadn’t mind Diago gloating at all. Her father had only cared about what he could do to further his own life, his own wealth.
They stayed at the party long enough to make people feel uncomfortable. Diago had told her it was him that made them feel that way, not her. It was strange, but Vanessa didn’t mind if they were comfortable or not. The party had been a lot of fun, and she’d be lying if she didn’t like that others didn’t want them there.
Thinking about her menstrual cycle and the cramps that were making it painful for her, she couldn’t help but be distracted by the thought of starting a family. Also, Diago continued to stroke her arm, which was only making her ache for him for a whole new reason. She wanted him, but knew that was not going to happen tonight.
She did like watching a movie from time to time, but this one just wasn’t capturing her attention.
“You’re distracted,” Diago said.
She lifted up, because she had been lying with her head on his lap, and she turned toward him.
“I want to ask you a favor, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to find out the truth, and if you don’t want to, you don’t have to do it.”
Diago smirked. “You have an interesting way of selling me an idea.”
He leaned back and looked so calm and relaxed that she nearly forgot what she was going to ask him.
“Maureen.” This made him frown. “My nanny … before I got kidnapped, and even after, for a short time, I had a nanny. Her name was Maureen, and I have no idea what her last name was. I just know she was this amazing woman who taught me everything I know. She was willing to bend over backward to protect me.”
“Okay.”
“And…” She clicked her fingers. “Just like that, one day she was there, and the next she was gone, and I have no idea what happened to her, or why she left. I mean, I know I was just a job to her, and there were parts of her life I didn’t know about.”
“And you’d like me to fill in the blanks?”
“Tell me if she is living happily? That she finally got the life she always wanted to have.” She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know if that is asking too much?”
“You’re not asking too much. You’re never asking too much, but I’ll find this woman.”
Vanessa smiled and then crawled onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.
In response, Diago put his hands at her back, running them up and down her sides. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’d like to make you feel good.”
He chuckled. “Vanessa, you do not have to pay me in that way,” he said.
“I know, and I’m not paying you. I’m asking my husband for a favor, and now I want to make him feel good.” She pressed her lips against his neck, and slowly began to trail down toward the opening of his shirt.
He was wearing way too many clothes, so she grabbed at his shirt, pulling it off over his head and tossing it to the side. Running her hands all over his chest, she marveled at the sheer strength of him, and then went back to kissing his body, trailing her lips down, going toward his cock.
He let out a growl.
He wore a pair of sweatpants, and it was so strange to see him in lounge clothes, but she loved that he was able to relax with her.
Crawling onto the floor as she kissed down his body, Diago was already lifting up, and pushing his sweatpants and boxer briefs out of the way. His cock was long, thick, and swollen, with pre-cum leaking out of the tip.
Her mouth watered for a taste of him. He’d been showing her exactly what he wanted and how he liked his cock sucked. She loved driving him wild because he loved to drive her just as crazy. She wanted to give him the same kind of pleasure.
Wrapping her fingers around his length, she stared up at him, and then took the head of his cock between her lips and started to suck him into her mouth.
He let out a low growl, and she watched his nostrils flare.
She loved this, loved the trust he gave her, and as she took him to the back of her throat, and stopped at the point of gagging, she knew she loved him.
It was the strangest feeling, and one she didn’t think she would ever feel. Love wasn’t something felt in her world. Especially with arranged marriages.
Of course, there was a time she did think love could happen, but the harsh reality of life had sunk in, and she knew the truth. Most of the couples she knew hated one another.
She didn’t hate Diago. She’d fallen in love with him, and she didn’t know what was scarier to her.
****
Diago sat in Isaac’s chair with his feet up on the desk, flipping through his latest work diary. The man had too much of a scribble for his handwriting, but Diago was adept at reading it by now. He knew the man had several bank appointments, and he’d circled some charity dates. A quick call to one of his tech guys told him Isaac was behind in his repayments to several banks, loan sharks, and even rival gangs.
Isaac certainly liked to live above his means, and since he’d not been able to curb any of his bad habits, the list of debts and problems was just growing. He loved fast cars, expensive women, and kept too many mistresses in a life he couldn’t provide for.
Diago snuck into the Norma house, because knocking at the front door just seemed boring to him. His father-in-law was due back any moment from one of the latest investment scams he was trying to set up. Isaac had his hands in a lot of dirty business, and Diago no longer liked hiding it. He helped to hide it without Isaac’s knowledge, because of his affection for Vanessa. No one knew of his feelings for Vanessa. No one ever would.
The door to the office opened, and Isaac entered, only to stop on the threshold and pause.
“If I were you, I’d come in, close the door, take a seat, and stay silent.”
“What the fuck are you doing in my home? In my office?”
“You can be pissed at your wife, but trust me, she doesn’t even know I’m here. No one but you knows I’m here.”
“Does Vanessa know you’re here?” Isaac asked.
Diago lifted his head and smiled. “She is the reason I am here.”
“If you have come to gloat because of that bed sheet, it means nothing.”
“Nothing,” Diago tutted. “Come now, from all the debt mounting up around you, we both know you have already calculated what your daughter has cost you. Truthfully, you’re the only one to cost yourself anything, but what I do know of you, Isaac, is that you don’t like to take the blame for your own failings.” Again, he tutted. “Vanessa, a virgin. You just thought those assholes had betrayed you when they cut her up. Let’s not get into the whole messy detail of the fact you hired them to take her, and then you were liking the attention and the money, and were cutting them out of the deal anyway. Let’s forget all of that and pretend that none of it was your fault, and you figured if they were willing to cut her, scar her, then they were going to rape her. In your mind, they and Vanessa cost you a fortune.”
“What do you want?” Isaac asked.
“Let’s see, there was Andrew, right? He was more than willing to pay the asking price for Vanessa’s hand in marriage, but he wanted a doctor’s certificate of virgin authenticity. He was willing to invest in your company, get you out of the red, and that deal could have been worth multiple millions. You might have even been set for life.”
Isaac’s jaw clenched but he remained quiet.
“Then, let’s not forget Hamilton, isn’t it? He was quite willing to pay off all your debts for a virgin bride. One that learned to ‘do as she was told, keep her mouth shut, and spit out brats.’ I do believe those were his words.”
His father-in-law glanced around, clearly looking for signs of bugs, or ways of being spied on. There was nothing to be found. Diago had his ways of finding what he needed, and it didn’t have to come with surveillance.
“What do you want?” Isaac asked.
Diago sat back.
The man was terrified of him. Even though he wanted to kill him and he saw that evil intention within his gaze, Isaac was too much of a coward to try. Most people were too afraid. Those that did attempt to kill him, well, it never ended well for them. They tended to lose limbs and die in the most horrible of ways.
“It’s simple. Seven years ago, you let go of a woman who had been a nanny to your daughter throughout her life. I want to know what happened to her.”
Isaac laughed. “That’s what this is all about? A woman? Is that why you decided to take my daughter?” He snorted. “More fool you.”
Diago stared at him “Maureen was her name. Where is she?”
“Why?”
Diago got to his feet and rounded the desk, and before Isaac could react, he’d put a small blade into his kneecap and then covered his mouth so he couldn’t scream. It was a struggle for him to even breathe as Diago had covered part of his nose as well. Isaac was struggling and Diago didn’t need to put in much effort to keep him in place.
“Because I asked you, and if you think this is painful, you don’t want to be left alone with me for another five minutes, insulting my wife, and not giving me what I want.”
He tightened his grip on the man’s mouth. “Now, I’m going to let go and if you scream for help, that’s great, I will take out your other kneecap, and we both know your two sons will come barging in here, trying to protect dear old Dad, which is great. You have to admire asshole loyalty, but I will kill both of them. Do you want to see your sons die before your eyes?”
Isaac shook his head, and he’d lost all sense of power. There was nothing for him, which was exactly how Diago liked it, and he offered the man a smile, and then released his mouth.
He was clearly in pain, but he didn’t scream for help. Diago wasn’t concerned at all. No one scared him. Everyone who had tried to take him out had died trying. It was sad, really.
He looked at Isaac and waited. “I’m not going to ask you again.”
“Maureen was a … she was a trafficked woman. She’d been stolen when she was eighteen, and she was a nanny. I liked her, and I brought her home to make my life easier. She knew too much, and she had been feeding me all the information I needed for years. Whenever I needed details on the men I was doing business with, Maureen had a way of extracting it. Men loved her innocence, her beauty, her kindness, and I know she was a good woman. My daughter adored her. Everyone did.”
Diago didn’t like this. Someone who was used like that could only go so far.
“You killed her, didn’t you?” Diago asked.
“There was no way I could have allowed her to live. She knew too much.”
Diago looked at the man before him, and he knew if he gave this news to Vanessa, it would destroy her. She’d be crushed. There was nothing good that could come from telling her the truth.
“You know how it goes, and besides, she was a liability.”
Diago didn’t care what excuses he used. The fact was, he used a woman, and then when she ceased being useful, he’d discarded her. Now, to him, he really didn’t give a shit. Men and women died all the time. Life was hard and cruel, and you either got accustomed to the bad shit that happened, or you ended up dead. It was what he’d been able to live by. Be the biggest monster.
Staring at Isaac, he couldn’t stand this man, but what had kept him alive was the fact he was still Vanessa’s father. Now, there was no way he could allow that son of a bitch to live.
The smirk on the man’s face told Diago he was gloating, that he had this power. Isaac was wrong. He had no power at all. All he’d done was seal his fate.