CHAPTER 47

"But, baby, if I have to choose,

The joke's on you."

—Joke's On You by Charlotte Lawrence

•••

Third Person's POV:

Massimo woke up trembling. His heart was beating too fast.

"Shh. It was just a nightmare." Then, he noticed Kaylee's hand on his face. She kissed his forehead from time to time. He closed his eye and took a few deep breaths. "What happened? Want to share?" she asked, grabbing his hand with concern clear on her face.

Massimo also sat up and shook his head.

"Are you sure?" she asked, and he nodded. Kaylee put her head on his chest as he sat there with his back resting on the headboard. "You know my nightmares were not about what happened a weak ago," she told him, her fingers playing over his chest.

Massimo frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She gulped. "You know how I was married three years ago?"

He froze. She had been married? Kaylee had loved someone else? "What!?" Massimo was shocked. He looked at her to try and figure out if she was joking with him.

"You don't know?" she asked, shocked herself. He shook his head. "I was all over social media for two years, and you are saying you didn't know that?"

"Well, I didn't do a background check on you," he said, shrugging and still frowning.

"Does it matter now?" she asked.

"What does?"

"That I was married?"

"No, but did you love him? Who is he?" Massimo asked angrily.

"Easy. No. I never loved him." That somehow satisfied him. "I was from a small, middle-class family. My father died when I was seven years old. After that, nobody showed me any love or cared about me. My brother and mother married me off—or should I say sold me?—to a billionaire, Erthan Salvatore, and neve—"

"I've never heard of this name," Massimo said, his eyes scrunching as he tried to recall the name.

"They never called me or texted me until one year back, when they found out I had built my own empire. They came back—more like my brother came back asking for money. He tried to built-trip me by talking about how he had helped me gain everything, how if I had never been married to a billionaire, I wouldn't be where I am today." Massimo listened to her calmly, stroking her hair gently. "Erthan used to abuse me—not all the time, but now and then, he would… One day, he came to my room, tied my hands, a-and…" Kaylee swallowed hard. "He raped me." Her voice held so much pain.

Massimo's hands froze on top of her head. He couldn't bear this. Rape, rape, rape. Before, when he heard that word, he had only felt pain because of his sister, but now, he felt Kaylee's pain too.

"I-I tried to scream, but it was like my head was underwater." He kissed her head and held her in his arms tightly. "After that, I always locked my room before sleeping. He didn't lay his hand on me again after that night. He introduced me to his dad, and he was the only person I was glad to meet at that time. He reminded me of my own dad. One day, they got into a fight at the dinner table, and I tried to comfort his dad. He told me he wanted to see his grandkids."

Massimo held her arm a little too tightly. "You are not going to bear anyone else's child. Only mine," he said possessively, frowning.

Kaylee rolled her eyes, smiling. The words were the same as the ones from her past, but this time, they were full of love. "I missed my period for one month, so I confessed that maybe I was pregnant, and Erthan heard it all. He was furious. That night, I forgot to lock the room and fell asleep. I only woke up when I felt something sharp on my stomach." She swallowed again, tears brimming in her eyes. "He tried to kill me and my baby—who wasn't even there that time. I wasn't even pregnant. I ran to save my life. He threw a knife, a butcher knife, but it hit his dad's shoulder. And he didn't regret it. In fact, he was happy that he would be the sole owner of his dad's company and tried to kill me with that same knife. But his housemaid saw everything and called 911, and the police arrived just in time. They saved his dad and me. They sent Erthan to rehab under police custody, and after that, I built my own empire."

"I am proud of you." Massimo kissed Kaylee's face and lips.

"What happened, Massimo? If you want to share, I am here," she told him, stroking his stubble.

He sighed. "I was 12 when one of my dad's rivals attacked my dad's car. My mother, dad, and little sister, who was two years younger than me, were in that car. They were coming back from her school meeting when the Russian mafia attacked them." In his pain of recounting the past, Massimo had uttered the word 'mafia' without noticing.

"Does the mafia really exist?" Kaylee asked.

Massimo stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fuck."

"What happened?"

"Kaylee, don't panic, okay? They were the Russian mafia, and they did bad things. The Italian mafia hates them because of their human trafficking and so much more, like what happened to my family. We try our best to control crimes like rape and all—"

"We?" she asked, getting up.

"Leave it and listen to what I was saying." Now was not the time to blast the bomb over her head.

She nodded.

"Stassi was six years old back then, and she was ill. That was why my parents had left her at home, and I thank God that they had. The Russians killed my mother on the spot and held Dad captivated. They took turns raping my sister in front of him." Massimo's throat was felt dry, and it was hard to swallow. Kaylee's face was horrified. Tears of his pain left her eyes, but he was too in the memory of his past to notice. "They sent my sister back to me after my dad agreed to give them what they wanted, and they killed him after that. I saw her crying every night. I saw a ten year old, my baby sister, crying her heart out. I saw her suffering. I saw her in pain. It was too much for her, and she took her life in front of my eyes. In front of me. That night, a part of me died with her." Tears left his eyes without him knowing. "Stassi is all I have. I raised her like my own baby, and she is my baby. My baby sister."

Kaylee kissed Massimo's tears and then his lips. "What happened to the Russian mafia? Are they still after you guys?"

Massimo smirked. "They can't. The Italian mafia erased their name and mark from this earth years ago."

Kaylee looked astonished. "Wow, I thought the mafia only existed in Wattpad books."

"Oh, yeah!?!" he asked and hovered over her. She grew nervous. Before she could say anything, he smashed his lips onto her.

They kissed passionately. He kissed her neck and her cleavage. She moaned. He backed away, and she pulled her shirt above her head. Her breasts jiggled. He didn't waste a minute and took her nipple into his mouth while playing with the other.

"Fuck," Kaylee cursed and arched her back, feeling the pleasure running through her body. Massimo again kissed her lips. "I am ready," she mumbled.

Massimo looked at her. Desire filled his eyes. "Are you sure?" She nodded. "Words, baby girl. Words," he said, running his tongue over her nipple and circling it.

"Ah, yes," she moaned.

He ripped her panties apart, and she gasped. His fingers lingered on her core as one finger slid in. "Fuck, you are so wet and tight, baby girl," he hissed.

He got out of bed to take his pants off, then adjusted his not-so-little friend over her entrance and thrusting in.

They both moaned in pleasure. They both became one.