Page 97 of Controlled

Until he smacked my bottom several times in rapid succession. Now it hurt like a son of a bitch.

“Oh, God. Oh…” I threw my head over my shoulder, forming a silly expression from seeing the smile on his face.

“In time you will learn the importance of following my rules. After all, you will be my queen.” As he brought the belt down several times, I found myself floating away but not just from the moment of discipline shared or the intimacy from before.

But from the knowledge that for some crazy reason, I was right where I was supposed to be.

In his life.

In his house.

And in his arms.

Forever.

While the future was as terrifying as my past was haunting, I had a feeling that he would make good on his promise of protecting me against all odds. And maybe in turn, we could both learn to love both ourselves and each other.

Maybe…

CHAPTER 29

Creed

Family.

It was the one thing that had both been a constant and a pain in the ass in my life. I’d suffered because of having one while in turn, being made one of the richest men in the world. Did the amount of money and toys I had in my collection made up for the loss of having a normal family with celebrations and laughter? As if I knew what that was. I’d been allowed no friends as a boy, never learning to socialize beyond being little more than an overlord.

Even the time spent with my brothers had been jaded, twisted in ways that would turn most psychiatrists into screaming beasts if all our stories were told. However, families were sometimes the reason for behavioral changes, leaving clues that were extremely valuable. In my mind, perhaps that’s why the would-be assassin had been one step ahead of me the entire time. I’d believed whoever was behind the scenes was simply another enemy.

But what if he or she was so much more?

I’d left our bed at three in the morning, pressing a kiss against Bella’s forehead before leaving. I found it interesting that she was more important to me as a family member than almost anyone else had been in my life. After grabbing a scotch, I sat down behind my desk, fingering my phone before dialing the family attorney.

He answered as was required whenever one of the Saint brothers called, but I could tell he wasn’t happy about it.

“For the love of fuck, Creed, don’t you ever sleep?”

“What is it they say, Walter? Sleep is highly overrated or perhaps my favorite saying. I’ll sleep when I’m dead. I need some information only you can provide and I need that tomorrow.”

He yawned and while it was a normal reaction of being awakened so early in the morning, I was infuriated. Perhaps more by the harsh circumstances but that didn’t matter.

“Fine. Let me grab a goddamn pen and paper.”

He rustled around for long enough I tossed back half my drink. The man owned three houses in different parts of the world because of us. He should be at our beck and call.

“Okay, what?” he barked.

“You’re familiar with the name Armand Marcello?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because I want a full listing of his entire family, the whole family tree. I want to know whether he has a trust fund set up, where he’s hiding his money, who gets a significant portion of his estate, and if there is any dirty little laundry hiding behind cobwebs and concrete.”

“Why do you need to know this?”

As if it was his right to ask. “Let’s just say he had an affair with a prominent actress by the name of Carmine Rothschild and produced a daughter. I need to know if there’s any competition for the man’s estate given his death.”

Walter finally snickered. “And I can’t ask why this is important to you.”

---