MARKED BY THE WRONG BROTHER

The scent of copper and expensive scotch filled the air. It was a thick, cloying smell that coated the back of the throat, but neither of the men in the room seemed to notice."Please," the man on his knees gurgled, blood bubbling past his lips. "I didn't... I didn't know."Andre Volkov didn't blink. He just adjusted the diamond cufflink on his left wrist, checking his reflection in the grand mirror of the vestry. He looked impeccable. A tuxedo blacker than a sinner’s soul, hair slicked back, the ink of his tattoos creeping up his neck like ivy strangling a tree."You didn't know?" Andre asked, his voice a deceptively light baritone. He turned, "You tried to plant a bomb under the altar of my wedding, and you say you didn't know?"Thud.Andre’s polished shoe connected with the man’s ribs. The crack was sickeningly loud in the silent room."I’m getting married in twenty minutes," Andre roared, his composure snapping. "This is supposed to be the merger of the century. The union of the

Bella’s heart was a frantic, trapped thing, beating a wild rhythm against her ribs. Two minutes, Andre’s voice had echoed, and the clock was already ticking. She snatched a shawl from the desk, wrapping it tightly around her shoulders, trying to cover the evidence of the heat that still throbbed beneath her skin. The man who had stood by the fireplace moments before was an entirely different organism from the one who was now gone. He was possessive and loud, a predator who didn't care about the chase, only the kill. The man who had just touched her. "Are you incapable of following a simple instruction?" Andre demanded, turning to look at her, his eyes cold and devoid of the startling intensity she had just witnessed. "Fix yourself, wife. We have appearances to keep." He didn't notice the disarray of her dress. He didn't notice the slickness between her thighs. He only saw a slow, stupid woman. Bella forced herself to breathe. She had to get away from him, or she would shatter. H

“Yes.” Bella said solemnly.“What did she say to you?”“That power comes with many faces,” Bella replied, still confused about whatever that meant.Andre’s lips thinned. “She likes to confuse people.”“So do you.” she said to herself under her breath.The air thickened as it appeared her words were too loud and he must have heard. Andre stepped closer. “You will not play games with me, Bella. Not here. Not ever.”“I am not playing,” she said, her voice steady despite the fear pounding in her chest.His gaze flicked again, lingering this time on her shoulder. His eyes narrowed.“What is that?” He asked.Bella’s heart skipped. “A clasp,” she said. “It came with the dress.”Andre stared at it for a long moment. Then he scoffed. “Remove it.”Her fingers curled slightly at her sides stubbornly. “Why?”“Because I said so.” The silence stretched for a while between the two and Bella did not move.Andre’s expression darkened as he made a motion as though he might've grabbed it off her. Then

The WatcherAll that while, Andre's footsteps echoed in the quiet hallways as he moved away from Bella's door. His mind raced with the thoughts still swirling like a storm he couldn’t outrun. At that moment he still had no idea of what had just happened.Minutes before he had seen her slip out of her room and moved with a quiet urgency that unsettled him more than he cared to admit.He most probably wouldn't have paid any attention to it if she had moved normally to the garden or somewhere else but as soon as she had turned toward that old hallway it sparked something in his heart.At first, he'd thought it was nothing, perhaps it was just a late-night walk to clear her mind, something she'd done before. But tonight, something about it felt different.Andre mind had briefly thought about the strange cufflinks at that time. Could it have something to do with her late night walk?Aside from that Bella had turned, like she was careful not to be watched. Her steps had been quick, down

A Piece In Her Puzzle.Bella turned away from the window slowly after what felt like a long time, her breath was still uneven as she let it out slowly.The lawn outside was empty, most definitely she had mistaken seeing someone earlier as she had thought prior. “It was one of those things someone gets from staying indoors for long.” She muttered while letting out a quiet breath as she pressed her palm to her chest as if to calm her heart.“You’re imagining things,” she whispered to herself again but even she didn’t fully believe it.She walked back into the room, her fingers brushing lightly along her collarbone before drifting lower without thinking. She traced a slow line down the curve of her cleavage, her mind somewhere else entirely as she shut her eyes in reminiscence of someone.This time it wasn't Andre. It was never him as she hadn't bonded with him that way. At least not the way she did with Theo.The name came softly, like a secret hidden away in her heart.Bella smiles