She’s mine and I want it to remain that way. Just mine. I don’t even like it that she learned — or remembered — enough Italian to strike up simple conversations.

Possessiveness. Fucking Google it.

My little Petal leans her head against my good shoulder, her small fingers wrapping around my bicep as we walk in silence.

We have done this a lot since I was shot. Walking, going into the forest and breathing the earth’s scent.

Usually, we spend more time with the workers and my little Petal would leave me stranded under a tree — with her fucking cats — and go help. They try to refuse, but she doesn’t take no for an answer and puts everything into it as she works with them.

Today the cats are with Salli and I’m not allowing her to leave me. I need my dose of her, too.

“I love it here,” she says with a sigh.

“Pretty sure it’s because I’m here that you love it.”

“Stop being an arrogant jerk.” She glares up at me. “Besides, you tried to ruin it for me.”

I raise an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Um...excuse me? You don’t remember making me run in this forest naked and barefoot while you kept shocking the fuck out of me?”

“Admit it, you loved it.”

She huffs. “Whatever.”

“You did love it. Besides…” I run my fingers over her collar and a slight shiver takes hold of her. “You love your collar.”

“I do not.”

“You mean you don’t like how I hold you by it while I fuck you raw?”

She keeps her glare, pretending to sulk, but soon enough, she returns to admiring our surroundings.

It’s genuine, the fact that she likes this place, I mean. She wakes up with a smile on her face and she speaks to her cats in that soft, happy tone telling them about all the fun they will have today.

However, even I know that if she gets a chance, she’ll run and never look back.

It’s not about her job, her friends, or the life she left behind in Chicago; it’s about her father. She’s yearning to meet Paolo and the more I keep her away from him, the more she wants to run to him — and leave me.

The fucker was right. Blood does run thicker than water.

But once again, I’ll be a motherfucking selfish bastard and keep her. Truth is, I can’t begin to remember my life before I saw her at the hospital.

It was a dull, black hole. It was fucking emptiness. And while I enjoyed tracking and carving up fuckers’ faces, it never had a purpose.

My little Petal and I might have formed a connection through the depraved kinks and fantasies, but over time, it’s become more.

It’s become something even I can’t begin to describe.

Don’t get me wrong, the fucked up sex is us. I love owning her body and making her my own tailored slut, but there’s more.

So much fucking more to my little Petal.

“You must’ve had an amazing childhood in this place.” She smiles then winces when she realizes what she said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”

“Don’t be. This place isn’t tainted. I still have the best of memories in it.”

“Such as?” Her pupils dilate with excitement.

My curious little Petal.

“Such as Nonno and Nonna. They loved me so much, I was their favorite.”

“Always arrogant even as a child.”

I chuckle. “I mean it. Nonna told me stories and Nonno took me with him on walks like these. He taught me the southern Italian ways, to respect elders and to protect the weak.”

“He must’ve been an amazing person.”

“He was.” And he would’ve loved the fuck out of my little Petal. Everyone in my family would’ve. She’s down to earth and kind and tries to make people feel at ease even if her own life has always been ten degrees of fucked up.

She said she became a nurse because she couldn’t afford to become a doctor, but deep down, she always opted for a profession that helps others.

My little Petal is soft where I’m hard. She’s kind where I’m a no-bullshit type of person.

She chuckles, the sound echoing around us like a piano symphony. The type my mother used to play for us.

“What are you laughing at?” I ask.

“I’m just remembering how you were a brute at Vita’s boarding school.”

I narrow my eyes. “A brute, huh?”

“I mean, you used to hit kids if they as much as looked at you.”

“Or you.” I squeeze her. “You would’ve been dead meat if I didn’t stand up for you, you little brat.”

“I wish…” She trails off, cheeks flushing.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

We stop beside an olive tree and I hold her chin, forcing those gray clouds to focus on me. She can run away from the world, but never from me. “If you start something, finish it.”

“I just…” She blushes furiously again. “I wish you stayed by my side.”

“You do?”

“It’s stupid, okay? Forget it.” She tries to wiggle free, but I pin her in place.

“It’s not stupid,” I whisper. “I wish I could’ve stayed by your side too.”

For some reason, those twenty years feel like lost time with her. Maybe that’s why I refuse to let her the fuck go.

Her eyes rim with tears and her lips tremble. “Stop saying things like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you care.”

“I do care, Petal. Have I not proved it already?”

She nibbles on the inside of her cheek then swiftly gets out of my hold and focuses on some plant.

I let her because I might not be prepared for her answer either.

But as I watch her bent over, staring at some squirrel, I allow myself a different type of fantasy.

It’s nothing kinky or depraved and it doesn’t have to do with how fuckable her ass looks in that bent position.

It’s as simple as having these walks with her until we’re both old and gray. Like Nonno and Nonna.

Go back to the sexual fantasies, fucker.

12

Georgina

“Faster.”

“Oh, Jas.” I moan as I ride him, my hands on his chest.

“I said, faster, Pet.” He grabs me by a handful of my waist. “It doesn’t look like you’re doing what you’re told.”

“Oh...I’m close.” I pick up my pace, but it’s not enough. Frustration bubbles inside me as he watches me with a gleam in his eyes. He likes playing this game with me and making me unravel all around him.

“You want me to make you orgasm?”

“Yes, yes, yes…” I chant. I know I’m the one who suggested to loosen him up and make him feel better, but now I need that orgasm as much as I need air.

“Ask like a good girl, my pet.”

“Please, Jas, please let me come, let me shatter all around you.”

“Again.”

“Please, please…”

“Are you my slut?”

“Only yours.”

“My pet?”