alpha-hero

I understand Mrs. Donovan is a free woman, Mr. Dardano. It__ all for a good cause after all, isn__ it?_ __ifty thousand dollars,_ Alessandro countered, deadly calm though inside he was fairly trembling with rage. __ne hundred thousand dollars,_ Hadley countered, getting to his feet, appearing to enjoy the spectacle of all eyes being on the two of them now. Alessandro stood, his fists clenched tight at his sides. __wo hundred and fifty thousand dollars,_ Bree was staring at them both, her mouth open. Kevin smiled at him. __hree hundred thousand dollars,_ __ne million dollars,_ Alessandro shot back, his eyes clouding with rage. So help him, if the son of a bitch opened his mouth, Alessandro was gonna shove his fist down his throat. The entire ballroom was dead silent. Holding its breath. __h_Going once?_ Alex announced. Kevin met Alessandro__ gaze, smirking. __oing twice?_ Kevin lifted his hands in surrender. __he best man won. I hope you get more than a dance, my friend,_ __old,_ Alex announced, slamming the little gavel down. Alessandro felt a rush of both victory and relief as he stared at Brianna. He walked up to her and extended his hand. __arling?

We have nothing!_ Bree reached out and slapped him with all her might. He couldn__ know the baby she carried was his. Not ever. Alessandro__ dark eyes flashed angrily at her for a split second, making Bree__ insides tense in anticipation of his rage, but then he smiled at her, his hand going to her thigh. __ell, I was hoping we__ get to know each other a little better before delving into S & M, but I__ game if you are, sunshine._ __ want you to get out,_ __nd I want you naked screaming my name, now that you know it,_ Alessandro growled, leaning in so that his breath brushed across her face in a tantalizing caress.

Mommy, how come Dona Duck don have no pants?_ Will sat on the couch eating cookies. Bree looked up. Then she glanced at the Donald Duck cartoon on the TV. __e have top but he no have bottoms,_ __ood point,_ she said. And yet the duck always wore a towel after he showered. __at__ odd,_ Will remarked. He leaned over his plate and began to split his cookies into two piles. __nd where his pee pee go? He a boy right, mommy? But he don_ have no pee pee. How he go to bafroom?

Last night, Bree had been taken. Thoroughly, utterly taken. Gently or roughly, it didn__ matter. This man had reached into the darkest part of her mind, had brought out and laid bare the desires she admitted to no one but herself in her most secret, quiet moments. Her hunger had been allowed to run free. There__ been no guilt, no remorse. Nothing was __rong_. And God, the feeling of freedom was damned addictive. What did that say about her? How could she love Michael, yet give a part of her she__ never felt comfortable sharing with Michael to this stranger.

Alessandro watched as Luke burrowed his nose in the snow and then shook his small body. __ell, that depends on whether you want a male or a female horse._ __mm. I tink I want a boy horsie. Girl horsies have babies and dat__ too much trouble._ Alessandro bit back a laugh. __ale horse it is then. Let__ see. My favourite horse__ name is Abbott._ __ But?_ Will asked laughing. __bbott,_ Alessandro corrected. __himney,_ Will suddenly decided, stopping. Alessandro blinked in confusion. ____ sorry, did you say __himney_?_ __t make sense,_ Will assured him. __anta come down da chimney and he is my pesent, right? So his name be Chimney._ __ agree. Quite logical,_ Alessandro nodded. __ell, dat one ting on my list. Der be more._ __uly noted,_ he said.

She realized he wasn__ listening to music and gave him a curious look of amusement as she picked up the cover to an audio book. __hat To Expect When You__e Expecting._ God forgive me, I love this man. __hought I should be informed, you know?_ Alessandro explained sheepishly. Bree tried to tear her gaze away from his gleaming chest. __lus all the lactating and dilating and placenta talk does wonders to crush any man__ libido.

They stared at each other, and Alessandro seriously considered turning away from his father__ wishes and just taking this woman and running off somewhere with her. He could imagine being happy with her. He felt free, easy. The feeling was heady. But dangerously so. He could never just toss aside his father__ demands that way, even if he wanted to. There would be too much at stake.

Good morning, Sunshine,_ Alessandro whispered, dragging the satiny soft object across the tip of her nose. Curiosity made her open her eyes. A rose. A blue rose. __ figured a single rose was safer than a dozen considering the massacre of the last blue roses I gave you,_ he smiled sheepishly. __appy birthday, darling._ Bree blinked and tried to remember what day it was. The fifteenth apparently. She groaned and pulled the blankets back over her head. She was officially thirty today. __ome on now, up we go,_ Alessandro pulled the blankets off her face and grabbed her arm, bringing her up. __or my birthday, I want sleep,_ she groaned. Gianni had suffered through a painful night as another tooth was starting to come in and thus his parents had suffered as well. __ope, we__e got a long day ahead of us. Let__ go._ __hy?_ Bree yawned. __ecause thirty years ago you were born and my life as I knew it would never be the same,_ Alessandro explained, nuzzling her neck.

Bree turned to him and gave him an uneasy nod. She had no idea if they were gonna make things better or worse, but she had to know for herself what Francesca had gone through, where she lived and why she made the decisions she had. If she could find out more about the ill-fated romance between Francesca and Adriano, maybe she and Alessandro could avoid a similar, miserable ending.

I__ quite certain offering to carry out a contract killing violates at least two of Emily Post__ etiquette rules._--Sloane Barrett, Killer Curves

I want to corrupt you, get dirty and rough with you because I know this sexy-as-hell body can take it._--Ciaran Ross, Killer Curves

Like, okay, look up at that cloud and tell me what you see,_ Bree said, pointing up at the closest cloud above them. __hat do you mean, what do I see? It__ a cloud. I see a cloud,_ Alessandro insisted. __o, what do you see? Like when you go to a shrink and they make you look at ink blots,_ Bree explained. Alessandro looked over at her. __ow much wine did you drink?_ She smacked his arm. ____l go first. I see a rabbit._ __ rabbit?_ Alessandro asked, laughing. __eah, the top of that one is shaped like ears, long rabbit ears._ __h, I see what you__e doing now. All right then. That one there_looks like_ Alessandro squinted his eyes as if hard in concentration. __n airplane._ __h, yeah. I see that,_ Bree agreed. __kay, what about that one?_ She pointed to a cloud to Alessandro__ right. __hat one looks rather like my wife__ sweet pert little ass,_ Alessandro joked. __fter two kids? You__e delusional,_ she said laughing. __y turn. I think that one looks like_ Bree tilted her head. __y wife__ beautiful round breasts,_ Alessandro injected. __top that!_ Bree said, giggling. __xcuse me, I__ just playing the game._ __o, you__e not. You__e being a horny guy._ Alessandro pressed a hand to his chest as if she had wounded him. __o prove it to you, I say we compare._ He undid the buttons of her blouse and Bree was laughing too hard to stop him.

I know full well what being a Dardano means and so will Gianni and Will, but I want more for him. I want him to know what it is to laugh and to play and to not feel like the whole world is out to get him, to find joy in simple things and not just how many zeroes are in his bank account. And more than that, I want them both to grow up and know that power is not everything. It is necessary, yes and I will teach them how to squash their enemies, how to hit first before they can destroy you but I will also teach them that without love, without a family, none of it means a good God damn. I want them to be worthy of that love when it comes, and to not be so wrapped up in this legacy and this power that they lose sight of love when it__ right in front of their eyes.

Will, was not as taken with the photo of the new baby as the grown ups around him. __t look like Mr. Potato Head._ ____ sure your baby sister will appreciate that,_ Alessandro said with a wry grin. __ girl? It__ a girl?_ Will asked with a grimace. __hat__ right,_ Bree announced as Vanessa and Brian congratulated them. __ can play wif Gianni but what we gonna do wif a girl?_ he asked, handing the picture back to them. __ope, send it backand get another boy dis time.

Her OBGYN, Dr Caroline Murdoch, popped in and asked if she could speak to Bree alone. Bree nodded and Tina left them. "I wanted to talk to you about why you fainted._ Something in her voice made Bree__ body go rigid with expectation. ___thought maybe it was the shock of_ everything,_ Bree whispered. Oh God. Oh God. She didn__ know what she was bracing herself for. __ know you and Alessandro were trying to conceive again. I want to tell you that you were successful. You__e going to have a baby, Bree,_ she said. Bree squeezed Gianni tighter and buried her face in his neck as the tears filled her eyes and streamed from her face. Oh God_Now? She was torn between joy and utter terror. They had done it, but how would Alessandro react when he found out, considering the condition he was in now. They had created another life. Another target for Arturo.

Bree grit her teeth and lunged for him but Brian held her back and Will spoke up instead. __ou go away!_ Will cried back angrily. __ know you did sumting dat made my mommy mad at my daddy. Is you fault!_ __ suggest you put a muzzle on your brat and get back in the living room,_ Bernardo ordered. __areful, Father. This is none of your concern,_ Alessandro said. __re you kidding me?_ Bree asked. __f course this is his concern because he__ the only one you give a damn about. You__l do anything for him. Absolutely anything even if it means betraying me or Will or God forbid Gianni._ __hat is not true. I would never__ __t is true!_ Bree yelled. __verything you__e done has proven that._ __ook, every marriage has problems and that is no reason to turn back on the vows you made to each other,_ Bernardo pointed out. __ou made a promise to honor the terms of the O'Reiley/Dardano vendetta. Be careful before you renege on those vows, Mrs. Dardano._ __ou and your stupid vendetta!_ Bree hissed. __egun by a man who couldn__ handle the fact that he couldn__ have what he wanted! God it must be genetic. Well, I guess I shouldn__ blame you, Alessandro. Knowing Bernardo and Adriano, at least you come by it honestly.

What did you do to make him smile?_ __h_ Alessandro bit back a grin and cleared his throat. __ might__e sung a song._ __eally? What song?_ __s his mother, I don__ think I should repeat it for you,_ Alessandro said, his cheeks and the tips of his ears pink. __h come on, Alessandro. The windows didn__ break so you couldn__ have done that bad a job._ __t__ not my ability that I__ referring to,_ Alessandro replied. Bree narrowed her eyes. __ust what were you singing to my son? And so help me if you say anything by Sir Mix-a-lot I__l castrate you,_ __ot quite,_ Alessandro said. __ll right. But, remember you asked for it. Your cousin Max, taught it to me._ Bree crossed her arms over her breasts and waited.

Bree blinked her tears back and shook her head. __ow. Then I guess you really are your father__ son, huh?_ __ou have no idea,_ Alessandro snapped before leaving. Part of her wanted to run after him but a stronger part of her knew he wouldn__ listen to anything she had to say while the red haze was still burning inside of him. He wanted a fight. She__ give him one