Sin Of Innocence

Episode 8

I thought that once I had Christina, I would finally get rid of this obsession I had with her. I was wrong. It seemed as though my obsession grew stronger. My mind always ran wild with thoughts of Christina, and I was practically shaking just to touch her again. I was addicted.

It had been three days since I last saw her. Three days was way too long of a wait for me. It felt even longer of a wait after the way she filled my body with so much pleasure. If only she understood how crazy I was about her.

The most insane part of it all was her ability to play hard to get. I tried everything to get her phone number, but not even my brother could find it. She probably didn’t even have a phone. Christina was an old soul, and I could detect that even when she was nineteen. 4

“Sir, your brother, Luca, is on line two,” Matteo informed me.

I signaled my personal assistant to go away with a wave of my hand before picking up the phone. Leaning back in my chair, I brought the phone up to my ear.

“Emanuel,” came the sound of my younger brother’s voice. It had been so long since I last heard from Luca. As much as it pained me to say, I missed him. He was my brother after all, and there was once a time where we were much closer.

“Luca,” I smiled. “How are you? How’s my nephew?”

“I’m fine, and Alessandro is fine too. He likes his new nanny. Sometimes, I think he likes her more than he likes me,” my brother sighed.

I felt bad for him. Alessandro was a shy boy who found comfort in being alone. It must’ve been hard for Luca to ever connect with him, especially since he was always so busy. I had always wondered if having a mother in his life would have made any difference. 2

“That’s good to hear. What does this nanny do that gets him to open up to her?” I chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood.

I could just hear the smile in his words as he spoke, “I think he just has a crush on her or something.”

There was a silence that settled over us. I was sure he was thinking the same thing as me. We were reminiscing about what life used to be before everything changed.

“What can I do for you, Luca?” I asked.

“It is about Liam Franco,” he answered.

My jaw clenched at the sound of that bastard’s name. I had almost foolishly forgotten that Christina may still work for him. It was wrong of me to assume she would just openly obey my wishes and stay far away from him. I should have checked up on her, and I was praying to whoever would listen that Luca wasn’t calling me to tell me something was wrong with Christina.

“What about him?” I questioned.

Luca sighed. “There was a woman, Stephanie Hearse, and I saw her a few weeks ago. She was a stunning woman with a body to matter. When I was going to approach her, Liam beat me to it. The funny thing is that a week later, this woman goes missing out of nowhere. No traces, no fingerprints, and all of her stuff is still at home. This woman has no reason to leave, yet she disappears a week after I saw her with Liam…” 6

“Don’t tell me,” I breathed.

“I let it go because I quickly assumed what the rest of the world did, she got tired of her life so she ran away. Then, my friend calls me and tells me that he went to visit Liam, and guess who’s bag he found there? Stephanie’s,” he informed me.

I was squeezing my phone so tight to the point my knuckles were white. All I could see was fire as I stared out at the books on my shelves. There was this sudden urge to strike and kill, and I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to suppress it.

“You are sure it was Stephanie’s?” I asked.

“I am sure because that same friend told me everything was splayed out around it. Her ID, her car keys, everything. I guess Liam caught him staring because he then picked it up and muttered something about a one night stand. It could be anything, but I don’t know. It is too fishy to be nothing. Just watch out for that girl you told me about a couple days ago,” Luca answered. 1

“I’ll call you back later. Send my love to Alessandro,” I spoke just before hanging up the phone. 1

I wish there was a way to get a hold of Christina. There was always the option of showing up at her house, but I wasn’t even sure she would be home.

“Who was that?” Christina’s voice rang from the other side of my office. 1

My eyes darted over to the beautiful woman dressed in a long black jacket that practically reached her feet. She still made it look daringly sexy. She came just in time to soothe my worries.

“My brother. What are you doing here?” I questioned. My enthusiasm didn’t bother to make its appearance in my tone. I was so glad to see her, but my wariness just wouldn’t ease. The thought of what Liam was planning to do to her was enough to strip me of any joy.

“You have a brother?” she asked, her brow rising slightly.

I watched her heatedly as she began to walk over to me. Her body swayed with her every step, making her look all the more majestic. It took everything in me not to grab her and throw her on my desk.

“I have four.”

“No sister?” she wondered.

I smirked once she neared my desk, my eyes stopping to look at the cleavage of her breast. She knew exactly what she was doing to my body when she leaned over and presented me with an even better view. 1

“No, all boys,” I answered her.

“Tell me about them.”

My gaze trailed up to her eyes where I found curiosity gazing right back at me. Her head held a slight tilt as she looked at me. Christina came off so innocent, so cute. It made it hard to tell her no.

I let out a loud exhale. “Samuele, my eldest brother, he is nice when he chooses to be. He got married at my dad’s request and took over my father’s billion-dollar corporation after he passed away. Ever since then, I only speak to him on occasion.

“Luca, my younger brother,” I muttered, huffing out a sigh. “He was always so different. Luca felt like the world was against him, and maybe that was why he turned out to live such a dangerous life. I must say, though, he loves his family and he would do anything for me and my other brothers as well as his son,” a smile intruded my features at the thought of the adorable child, “little Alessandro.” 3

“Lastly, the twins, my youngest brothers, Dante and Dominic. My mother adopted them when they were six years old. Dante was mute until he was thirteen, but he was so damn smart. On the other hand, Dominic always talked, he rarely shut up—they really helped balance each other out. They went through something traumatic when they were younger that they still never mention.” A distasteful feeling tingled at my tongue. “And now I don’t think they can ever stay away from each other because of it.” 9

She was looking at me longingly. There was a small smile played tauntingly on her lips. I wondered what was going through that beautiful head of hers.

“I’ve never seen you so… passionate before,” she said.

I reached for her hand, where she calmly slipped her palm into mine. I led her around my desk and over to me.

“You should see me when I talk about you,” I muttered.