I walk down the massive staircase towards the man who makes me blush an embarrassing pink color and gives me romantic gifts since the first time we met.

He has his back facing me while talking to Matteo-his brother and Rose who is clinging to him like he is her lifeboat. Matteo smirks at me as I take the last step onto the wooden floor with my blood-red train following behind me.

My love turns around and takes me in. His lips curl into a frown before his face blossoms with a bright smile that has always taken my breath away since the day we met a little over a year ago.

"How do I look?" I ask waiting for his approval.

He saunters towards me and grabs my hips in an obsessive and possessive way. "You look magnífico mi estrella," he purrs into my ear. "But I want you to change because men will be all over you and you are mine." (magnificent my star)

His grip tightens until there is a slight pain. I caress his jaw and his grip loosens and he caresses my definitely bruised hips. I lean into him and nip at his hardened jaw.

"Te amo Declan," I tell him trying to calm him down from his jealousy. His eyes flash before they soften as they look down at me. (I love you)

He lightly kisses me before grabbing my hand and pulling me after him towards the limo waiting to take us to the opera.

"The show was amazing! I would have never thought that I would become a fan of opera music," Matteo rants.

Rose chuckles at his new obsession with opera music and grabs his hand. "Babe, if you want me to buy an opera house, I will," she tells him.

I smile at the romantic gesture before looking towards Declan. He has a crease between his brows and looks slightly angry. I rub his knee to try and comfort him, but he shifts away as soon as he feels my light touch.

Feeling rejected I turn towards the moving scenery outside of the limo taking us back to the hotel in the south of France.

The limo stops and I climb out after Rose and wait for both men to slide out. Rose rubs at her bare arms before wrapping her pale arms around my waist.

"Just imagine Brooke us raising our kids together with these men," she whispers into my ear, and I want to tell her that any other day I could imagine that but not know when I was rejected by the man who I love with every fiber of my soul and heart.

When Matteo climbs out of the limo Rose unwraps herself from me to wrap herself around him. Declan is the last to climb out, but as I take a step towards him he walks straight past me and into the hotel my father owns. Tears cloud my vision, but I do my best to smile at Rose and Matteo before saying goodnight and following the angry man I love.

The elevator ride is silent but I can feel the emotions rolling off Declan in waves. He leaves the elevator first and unlocks our hotel sweet, and the door shuts in my face before I can stick my foot in between the door and door frame.

I grab my room card from my clutch and swipe it before I push through the door before it can close and my anger starts to rise. I enter the living room and see Declan going straight to the bar and getting a French whiskey decanter from the top self.

"What in the hell is wrong with you tonight?" I demand.

He forgoes the glass cup and chugs straight from the decanter. I just stand there watching worriedly for his wellbeing and very confused on why he is so angry.

After he chugs half the bottle he slams the decanter onto the counter before turning to me, and for the first time since I met him, I am frightened by what I see.

Anger.

Pure anger has me taking a step back wanting to run far away from this beast of a man. He takes two large steps toward me and I flinch.

"You want to know why I am angry?" he bellows with hate and anger taking control of his actions. "It is the fact that you flirted with all the men we walked past. With that skin-tight dress, your big breasts, and fat ass."

I gape at him shocked at his accusations about me flirting with him right next to me. I close my mouth as I stare at him. "You think that I flirted with other men while you stood next to me with your arm wrapped around my waist?" I question.

He just glares at me with hostile eyes. "Yes, I know your old ways, Brooke. How you whored yourself to every male that came your way."

I flinch at his words and those words strike my heart where I never knew could ever be hurt. My eyes tear up at his words and as silently as I can I turn my to him and make my way to the door.

"Where the hell do you think you are going?" he yells at my back. "I am not done with this conversation bitch."

"I am done with this conversation," I tell him hurt and angry at his accusation.

I grab ahold of the door handle but before I can open the door a large rough hand grabs me back the back of the throat and yanks me until I am back in that living room.

He pushes me forward and I stumble before finding my footing. I swirl to face him as his hands form a fist. "You are not leaving me. Not ever. You are mine I will kill any person who thinks they can take you away from me."

"You are not the boss of me," I shout at him my lips trembling.

He runs his hands through his head roughly before he goes deadly calm. He looks at me with an evil smirk that leaves me quaking from the tip of my head to my toes.

"If you are going to want to flirt with every fucking man in the vicinity then I will make you scared for even talking with a man," he snarls before taking three massive steps towards me grabbing my throat.

My eyes bulge at the sudden loss of air. I grab hold of his wrists to try and pry his grip off my neck. But I can't do anything to loosen his grip from around my throat.

"You are mine mi Estrella. I will kill everyone you touch and care about. So I would be careful about what you say to me," he hisses into my face.

He releases my throat so fast that I stumble backward and fall into the glass coffee table. The table shatters and the glass goes flying in every direction. A glass shard is stuck into my hand and several of the flying shards got stuck in my legs and arms.

My teary and pain-stricken face looks up at Declan as he comes at me and punches me in the jaw, and everything goes black.

I sit up in bed gasping for breath as the nightmare replays in my head. Stumbling out of bed I run to my breath and drop to the floor in front of the toilet. All the food I ate last night goes into the toilet. I flush the toilet and go to the sink. I cup my hands under the running water and splash my face. I dry my face with a towel and look into the mirror at my pale appearance.

I grab hold of the edge of the counter and breathe. "Brooke, you are not with him. You are safe," I remind myself. I take another deep breath before exhaling my fearful feelings.

I stand tall and pick my head up. "You have killed many. You will kill many more before you get to the bastard who hurt you," I chant to myself before leaving the bathroom to get dressed.

I grab the YSL black purse before leaving my bedroom. My black Cristian Louboutin heels click against the marble flooring of the stairs. I take the last step down the stairs and make my way to the kitchen.

My parents are both standing in the kitchen, and Santino is engrossed with his iPad. Mom is pouring black tea into a dark blue mug with two baby handprints that my mom had my brother do at two months. Pappa is multitasking by flipping pancakes, scrambling eggs, and reading the daily newspaper.

"Good morning," I greet.

My mother looks up and smiles at me. "Going somewhere?" she asks taking in my work appearance.

I glance down at my matching mustard yellow blazer and pants and a black top underneath. My hair is in an elegant low bun with a few strands framing my face. My earrings are thin gold hoops and I have a diamond barret keeping my hair in the bun.

"Yes, since Emery and Riley are having a spa day, and Rose is watching her sisters for an hour I am going into the club to get it set up for tonight," I tell my mom but my father is no doubt listening.

"What about Anna?" my mother asks.

I grab a mug and pour some coffee into the mug before answering. "She is helping her mother out at the Spa today," I tell her.

"Wait Anna's mother owns Peaceful Roses?" she questions looking at me.

I stir my coffee with creamer and sugar and walk around the island to brush Santino's hair. He wacks my hand away and mumbles something. "Yes, I believe she owns that spa," I reply taking a seat next to Santino.

I glance at the tablet and see Spider-Man playing. "Ladybug, want some pancakes," My father asks handing a plate with eggs, pancakes, and sliced strawberries to my mother. She kisses his cheek as she takes the plate before walking around the counter.

"No thank you, I need to get to work," I reply standing up and taking a sip of coffee before placing it back down on the counter. "But feel free to save me some for breakfast tomorrow." He nods and I kiss his cheek before saying my goodbyes.

Andy pulls up in a red Lambogini that I just recently purchased. He slides out leaving the car running. I walk around to the driver's side and slide in. Andy closes the door and as soon as he steps away from the car I am gunning it down the driveway.

I speed towards my club before drifting into a parking space. I have a huge grin as I climb out of the car and walk into the building. I am greeted by the few employees working overtime.

I make a beeline to the bar, and Sean smiles at me as I sit my purse down on the bar. "How are you Brooke?" he asks cleaning a glass.

"I am good. How was last night?" I inquire.

"I decided to fire Orion after he tripped over his own feet and dropped two beers and a margarita on a man who looked well dressed and his lady friend on his lap," he informed me.

"Orion, maybe send him to Mason so he can learn not to gape at woman," I tell him. He nods his head because he knows that after he spent two years with my father he was in a better situation.

I leave him to ponder my suggestion and go into my office and I am welcomed with Arial with a list of things I need to get done.

***

"Miss Russo, your father is calling," Arial enforms me from the doorway to my office.

"Give it to me," I order not looking at her as I flip over a page of the contract for taking over my mother's fashion business.

"Hi, Dad, what do you need?" I ask underlining a thing I want to change for the contract with models.

"Morelli wants us to come over for a meeting. Your mother, Santino, Rose, and I are driving over there now. Can you meet us there?" he asks as I hear an engine start-up.

I set down my pen and glance at the stack of papers I need to go through. "I need to finish up my work here, but I will leave as soon as I am done," I inform him.

"Okay get here as quickly as you can. Drive safe," he tells me before hanging up.

I set the phone down on the table. "Ariel!" I shout.

She comes in quickly and closes the door behind her. "Yes, miss?" she asks.

"Can you take these papers to Sean to read over since I need to leave?" I ask but it comes out more like an order.

"Yes, of course," she nods he head and takes the pile of papers I still have to go through as I finish signing my name on the dotted line making me the new CEO of my mother fashion and model agency.

I put the pile of documents into a file to give to my mother later. I place the file into my bag. I grab my keys and my phone before leaving my office and going straight to my car.

I open the door and slide into the leather interior. I put my bag in the passenger seat and start the car before driving in the direction of Mason's family home.

I get to the stopping light one block down from my club before two cars; a canary yellow Bugardi and a red Ferrari with black detailing begins to follow me.

I glance out the window and the yellow Bugardi gets as close as it can to the bumper of my car. I grip my steering wheel before slowly accelerating. I drift into a turn before slamming my foot down and speeding down the winding mountain road.

The red Ferrari starts to slow down before it turns a corner and the yellow Bugardi starts to speed up. I push harder on the gas as I turn down the road towards Mason's Family Mansion.

"Fucking hell," I curse as the yellow Bugardi bumps my bumper pushing me forwards and probably scraping the fresh paint of my car.

I slowly lift my foot off the gas before slamming my foot down and I go zipping forward and the scenery becomes a blur. I take a glance at the mirror and notice the yellow Bugardi slowing down.

I do not release the relieved breath trapped in my lungs instead I continue speeding down the road. I get to a fork in the road but I ignore the stop sign and zip across the intersection.

I see a bright red Ferrari speeding straight through the intersection coming straight at me. I am not quick enough as I turn the wheel as fast as I can and I drift away as the Ferrari runs straight into the passenger side of the car.

I see a blur of red, yellow, and green before my car flips onto its roof before my beautiful fast car goes careening into a tree and my world goes black.

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