As she was floating back down to Earth, she reached up and locked her hands behind his neck, dragging his lips to hers. She whispered, "Come for me, Nic."
He growled against her lips and slammed his body into hers with such force that her ass bounced mercilessly against the mattress. Within seconds of her demand, he was shouting his own orgasm and she could feel the rush of hot semen spurting inside her.
Together they came down from the wild heights they'd reached for, their bodies wrapped around each other, cooling in the sweetly scented air coming in through the open balcony doors. The last thing she felt before falling asleep was the press of Nic's lips against the spot behind her ear where her heart-shaped birth mark was.
"I love you," she whispered to him.
"Ti amo, mi bella."
* * *
Cassandra DeLuca paced her bedroom, going through her checklist and making sure that every single detail was perfect.
"Leave letters. Escape. Erase identity. Go to Disneyworld."
She couldn't afford any mistakes, she would only have one chance at this and she wasn't willing to fail. Failure would mean a locked cage for the rest of her life. Failure would mean death, because she wasn't willing to let this become her life. Not after she'd seen things through the eyes of her best friend. She got to experience a slice of life through her conversations with Maria, and she wanted more. She wanted those experiences for herself. It was time for this bird to fly the coop. She pictured a chicken trying to fly over a fence.
"Well, that's not right, chickens don't fly, do they?" She pulled out her phone to Google it and discovered that chickens do fly, but they aren't very good at it and most people with chickens cut their flight feathers. "Hmm, I would never do that. All chickens should be able to fly at will."
A soft knock on her bedroom door made the tightly wound Cassandra jump. She rushed over and let in the one and only person willing and able to help her escape. Maria. The only person on the estate who wouldn't die for the infraction of helping Niccolo DeLuca's wife escape. Maria was wearing one of Nic's T-shirts and his oversized robe.
"Are you ready?" she whispered.
"This chicken is ready to fly away," Cassandra whispered excitedly, then hugged Maria hard. "I'm going to miss you like a bitch, my darling bestie."
Maria hugged her back and mumbled, "I'll miss you more. Who's going to shake things up around here?"
They stepped back and looked sadly at each other. "I wish you could come with me," Cassandra said.
"Maybe sometime in the future I'll come visit, but for now, I belong with your husband."
They both laughed at the inside joke. "He'sourhusband now, you married him too."
They sobered and set about preparing Cassandra for her departure, gathering her bags from the closet where she'd hidden them and making sure all of her jewelry was tucked safely inside so she could sell it.
They'd spent months planning this. They decided that the wedding night was perfect, staff would be distracted and tired from being vigilant all day. There were guests on the property, which meant resources were stretched thinner than usual. They knew every aspect of the estate security, right down to guard rotations and which guards were more alert than others at that time of night. The biggest factor in favour of the plan would be that Nic's security wasn't expecting anyone to sneak out in the middle of the night. They were stationed around the property to protect the residents from potential outside threats.
Maria chewed her lip, worried for her friend. "Please be really careful," she urged. "Not everyone you talk to is going to be nice to you. You shouldn't go making friends with everyone you meet."
Cassandra smiled at her. "I know, I'll be careful."
Maria picked up an envelope from the bed, feeling the contents, before setting it back down. "Are you sure you want to do this? We can find a way to convince Nic to give you more freedom. He might listen to me."
Cassandra touched Maria's shoulder and waited for her to look up before saying, "I'll be fine. I need to do this."
"I know," Maria admitted, but wasn't able to hold back the tears. "I'm scared for you."
"I'm scared for me too, but I'm also excited."
"Nic and Luke are going to come after you," Maria warned.
"I know," Cassandra agreed. "And they'll find me... eventually."
"You call me if you need anything. I'll find a way to get it to you before you have a chance to hang up."
Cassandra smiled her appreciation of having such a fiercely loyal friend. It was a shame to leave Maria when the two women were developing such a strong bond. "I'll call you no matter what, and I'll send pictures too."
Maria glanced at the time. "2am rotation, it's time to go."
Cassandra picked up her bags, gave Maria a long hug and walked away. She was leaving behind everything; friends, family, the man that she’d come to love. She was doing it so she could find herself. Find out who Cassandra really was outside of an obedient daughter and wife of the mafia.
She wasn't leaving alone though. She was taking a secret. A tiny, barely there, secret. Buried deep inside her was a life that she had created with Luke. And she loved this tiny life with every fibre of her being. She was determined to give this baby a life of freedom and choice, a life without boundaries. No more walls. No more depression, no more just surviving. Cassandra was going to live.
And hopefully, when Luke found the envelope with his name on it, containing a positive pregnancy test, he would understand and want to be part of that life too. Hopefully, he would finally find the heart to choose her over loyalty to his boss.
THE END
