《Painfully Sweet》Chapter 12
Advertisement
Zophisa P.O.V
"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this earlier. I had to reapply all this makeup," I grumbled as we walked into the in-home office.
"I forgot," Luka defended.
"Why are we even having a meeting at nine o'clock at night anyway?" I asked, sitting at the chair behind the desk. Luka tucked the chair under the desk before sitting in the wooden chair on the opposite side.
"I don't know, let's just get it over with," He said as the wall phone started to ring. I took a deep breath and put on my poker face.
"Good evening gentlemen," Luka greeted as the faces appeared on the screen.
"Mr. Ricca, Zophisa," a white man with a British accent greeted. I recognized everyone's faces, especially his.
"That's Mrs. Ricca to you," I corrected him.
"Oh please, cut the charade, we all know this marriage is a sham," the man said with a scoff.
"Who are you again?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
"Alexander Bunch, a very close business associate of Luka's," he answered.
I nodded and leaned across the desk and whispered in Luka's ear.
"How close are you two?" I asked.
"I didn't know his first name was Alexander until now," he whispered back. I smirked and sat down in my chair.
"Do you know what this meeting is in regards to Mr. Bunch?" I asked.
"I though I did, but by the way you just asked I may be wrong," He Said.
"You are wrong," I said firmly, "I know exactly who you are and exactly what you do. Do you want to know why?" I paused for a second.
"Because I'm your boss, that's why," I answered, "I know everything necessary to be a leader. The only thing you know, is how my husband likes his coffee in the morning. I will break you, do you understand?"
Advertisement
Alexander cleared his throat before answering, "Yes Mrs. Ricca."
"Good, now hang up so I can talk real business," I demanded. He nodded before his screen went black.
"That was amazing," Luka said with a smirk.
"You have to make sure they fear you but don't hate you," I said jokingly. Our attention was taken off of each other when we heard someone clear their throat.
We looked at the monitor to see two other faces looking back at us.
"Our apologies, gentlemen," Luka said, clearing his throat and straightening his posture.
"Apologies?" Adrian Vilkov, leader of the Russian mafia, yelled.
"This is completely unprofessional. You are a disgrace to your father's name," Santiago, leader of the spanish mob, shouted.
"You are lucky you aren't being made an example out of right now," Vilkov exaggerated. I looked over at Luka who had a hard expression of annoyance on his face.
"You couldn't make an example out of me if you tried," Luka said sternly. I looked back at the screen and started laughing, causing the two men to laugh as well.
"You two are always causing trouble," I said to them.
"We couldn't help ourselves mija," Santiago said, his thick spanish accent made it hard to understand what he was saying.
"We couldn't recognize you with all that on your face," Vilkov said, waving his hand in front of his face, his Russian accent also making him hard to understand.
"But after we heard the way you talk to that man, we knew," Santiago said in broken English.
"Wait," Luka interrupted, "you all know each other?"
"No," I said sarcastically.
"She's married to a cold blooded killer and still can't control that mouth of hers," Vilkov chuckled.
Advertisement
"She is a cold blooded killer," Luka said with a smirk.
"Don't you forget it," I said with a wink.
"Such a beautiful couple -" Santiago started, but was cut off when his wife, Sara, walked into his office.
"Who are you talking to?" she said, looking at the screen. She saw me and gasped.
"Mija!" She squealed and threw her arms in the air. "Why didn't you tell me you were on the phone with her?" She yelled at her husband and smacked him upside the head.
"Hey nana," I said with a chuckle.
"Oh she remembers me," she said sarcastically, "You can't remember how to pick up a phone and call me!"
"You're so dramatic, I've been busy," I said with a grin.
"Doing what?" She asked sharply.
"Doing him," Santiago said, pointing at Luka. Sara's head quickly snapped toward Luka. I watched as Luka's eyes went wide and he sat up in his chair properly.
"You're fucking the little Ricca boy?" She whispered into the monitor with amusement, as if they couldn't still hear her.
"I can still hear you," Luka said as he rested his fingers on his temples.
"No you can't," Sara said sharply. Luka looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I just shrugged.
"They're married," Vilkov chimed in with a smirk.
"You better enjoy that smirk, because I'm going to rip your lips off," I threatened to Vilkov. He just shrugged and let a lopsided grin form on his face.
I just rolled my eyes and looked back at Sara. She was a short woman with a thick frame that came from having five kids. Her natural dark brown hair was pulled back into a thick curly ponytail that showed her natural, bare face.
"I'm going to hurt you," she threatened, "why didn't you invite me?"
"It was spur of the moment," I said with a shrug.
That made her start cursing at me in Spanish. The only thing I understood was the end when she said, "you drive me crazy little girl."
"You love me," I said with a childish grin. She just grunted and got up from Santiago's lap, making me laugh.
"Alright let's wrap this up," Vilkov said with a chuckle.
"Ricca, as long as you have her, you have us," Santiago promised.
"Of course nothing is set and stone until it's in writing. Have somebody draw that up and send it this way," I said, professionally. Everyone just nodded. We said our goodbyes and ended the call.
I sat back in my chair and let out a heavy breath.
"I'm hungry," Luka announced.
"Good for you," I said, standing up and walking out of the office.
-
-
-
-
Thanks for 1k !
Xox- NX
Advertisement
- In Serial20 Chapters
The Magic of Logistics
The harbour Luc has been dropped into is not a normal one. It looks like a medieval town, it's full of strange people and some of them are waving magic around. Luc will need to rely on new friends and his own determination to learn how to harness the magic of the Aether. He has to find his way back home. --- Hi everyone, This is my first story in English. Please tell me if I've used a word incorrectly. It's a slow-paced, slice of life isekai focused on Luc's goal of going home, his learning of the magic and gathering the resources he needs to grow. The chapters after the first one will be about 2-3k words long. I'll try to post at least once a week. Hope you enjoy! Cover art from here: https://www.deviantart.com/joakimolofsson/art/Harbor-354494418
8 68 - In Serial8 Chapters
Entangled Fates Book 1 - Quantum Beginnings
“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” —Eliezer Yudkowsky Hey all, we're moving over to book 2. This content is in a state of transition. The book is now availble on Amazon (includes extra chapters): https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B07W1534R8 Artificial intelligence was nearly mankind’s last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set. Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn’t quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips. A new generation of mega-corporations rose from the ashes. When one melds a quantum computer to a barely functional mental patient as a PR move, there are those who seek to profit, those who want to destroy it, and Alex. Alex Sage is a typical college student trying to keep up his grades and maybe find a meaningful connection with the fairer sex. Then, an automated semi crashes into his home, killing his family and turning his head into a pin cushion in the process. Alex awakens to find most of his memories gone and an illegal AI hidden in his brain implant. Now the pet project of a tech billionaire and heavily in debt, Alex struggles to stay valuable enough to be kept online. Still grappling with the repercussions of his injuries, and threats from a dangerous anti-augmentation political movement, there are no easy answers and threats loom around every corner. Alex must use whatever resources he can to escape from under the thumb of a ruthless corporation, while keeping those he comes to love safe. Chapters will stay up on RRL until Aug 10. It'll go up on Kindle Unlimited after that. How do you get those extra chapters I didn't have planned for RR? If you want them, they'll be in the published book. Book 2 will still make sense without them - I made sure of that. But... isn't $3 a lot for extra chapters? Think of it as tipping me for a good job and you'd also be getting my eternal thanks. If you enjoyed it so much that the idea of missing out a few chapters haunts you, I did my job as an author and made an engaging story. What's in those extra chapters? Resolving a few issues, set up for the cybernetic revolution, a rather intense sex scene with a new partner, revelations of who's really pulling strings, and a bit of set up for book 2. Complaints that people missed out on it when it was published here won't help (sorry!). I posted this for the folks who helped me shape the book, which is you all! (Again, yay!) But... Why! Why not keep it all on RR forever? My editor likes being paid for one. For two, I'd like the ability to get broader readership. If I break even on editor costs, I'll be incredibly happy. What about book 2? Drafts for Book 2 will go up around Sept 10. My draft of Book 2 is done, and it will be handed to the editor once Book 1 is published. Feedback has been even more positive. Beta readers devoured it and wanted more. I'll add a link to Book 2 once it's up on RR. I'm more or less, using you all for Beta Readers, so you get it before it's "canon" and edited. I invite active and meaningful feedback during this process. In return, you get early access to chapters. That does mean that the book content or plot might be adjusted before it gets published as I refine it. Sex Y/N? Yes. I heard the feedback, 90% wanted it explicit. You all will get the "full" experience. Will I dump all of book 2 here? Honestly, I'm not sure yet. At a minimum, it'll be up to the 75% mark as we collect feedback, much like what I did with book 1. It really depends on how good the feedback is and how nice people are. Lots of support + meaningful feedback to make it better = higher likelihood you get all the book. Will be it up here indefinitely? No, it'll probably go up on KU at some point, but I'll make sure there's enough time for a large readership to grab it here. Then we move to book 3 which already is around 60K words already. What about other adventures in the same universe/characters? Yep. Absolutely. Nothing ready to share yet though. I plan to keep those side chapters and more slice of life stories as RR exclusive. Since I'm carving this off in book-sized segments, I'll have to figure out where those disconnected story arcs belong. I'm open to suggestions.
8 143 - In Serial6 Chapters
Xeno Slayer
Gee is an Immortal Legionnaire. His cause is just, his might without question, and any xeno who steps in his path ends up dead. In Eden's name he prays. A hidden foe, unscrupulous traders, and nefarious aliens bring the feared monster of humanity out of retirement. The Xeno Slayer will vanquish Eden's foes to continue humankind's aggressive expansion. Note: This is a MC killing aliens story, not an erotica book. There will be 0 graphic sex scenes in this version.
8 90 - In Serial43 Chapters
The Labyrinth of Dreams
Currently aiming for releases around the 14th and 28th of each month. How do you deal with waking up every night for almost a year because of a nightmare? I guess it doesn’t matter because I am certain my particular nightmare isn’t a normal one. My Uncle even tried to use magic to guard my dreams and prevent the nightmares, but nothing is working. With my 21st birthday coming up, I honestly hope I can get a good night’s sleep. Yet, I can’t help but wonder why Labyrinthia, goddess of Dreams, insists on tormenting me so. Not only that, but mom and dad have been on edge ever since uncle returned from his latest travels. I hope everything is OK out there. Surely, my recurring nightmare isn’t a bad omen or anything, right?
8 168 - In Serial13 Chapters
DarkLight
Leila Drake is a patrolwoman for the Berou of Psionic Investigation. When a couple of agents from the FBI come to ask her to go undercover using her unique skills, she agrees to the mission and sets events into motion that she has no control over. Raina O'Hara is a rookie FBI agent who was paired with Leila. What seemed to her to be a simple undercover operation, will soon destroy her worldview with revelations the likes of which she never imagined. Authors note: This is my first fiction, constructive criticism is desired on everything from grammar to style and characterization.PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE
8 143 - In Serial24 Chapters
My Sons Tutor || Jayceon Taylor & Amber Riley
When Harlem starts having trouble with his math homework, single father Jayceon Taylor is forced to hire a full time tutor. Through his bestfriend Kendrick he meets Amber Riley, a college math professor who takes on a liking to Harlem. Jayceon starts to grow feelings for Amber that he just can't seem to shake but doesn't want to complicate things and disrespect his deceased ex wife.
8 74

