✈︎

je ne regrette nien (m.) i regret nothing

ROSABELLE

"Where were you last night?" My whole body tingled in anticipation after hearing my brother's words.

I ended up staying over at Emi's place for the night, informing Nino that I wouldn't be coming home.

As it turned out, the room Emi locked me in was merely the basement of the lavish mansion where he had kidnapped me, which also happened to be his house.

His place was triple the size of my villa, not that I'm comparing, but I couldn't help it. I was almost tempted to stay there for the rest of my life. And I know that I had stated the same about my villa before.

But hey, our opinions can always change, right?

And I liked big things.

"I was at one of my friend's houses, Rafe," I sighed with distress, a chilling intensity running down my nerves every time I was reminded of the overwhelm I had gone through last night.

And honestly to say, I was anything but in the mood of interrogation right now, really. God, I wanted to sleep.

I yelped when I felt a pair of tattooed arms wrap around my waist, warm breath hitting my back. "You didn't call me a friend last night, Bella," Emi's husky whisper nearly started to send me over the cliff again as his face nuzzled into my hair, oblivious to the obvious that I was talking with my goddamn brother.

Rafe may act like a kid, but he's not dumb. If anything, he's the sharpest in our family, and I assume that's why my dad assigned him to keep an eye on me.

"Is someone there with you, Rosabelle?" I knew I was messing up everything when Rafe called me by my name. Still, I decided to play it cool. "No, I'm alone, and I'll be coming home in a while."

"Can you, for God's sake, tell me where the actual heck you are?" His sudden outburst made me frown. He wasn't one to lose his cool over anything. There could be a tsunami coming, and Rafe would still act like nothing's happening.

But I was visibly irritated with him right now. "You're literally tracking my location, Rafael."

"I'm not, baby sis. I was tracking you until last night, and then your location suddenly disappeared. It's giving me error signals, you get that? Error signals. So either you're on some remote island, or you've lost your tracking chip. Which one is it?"

What?

"I can't choose either of them, Rafe. I'm in a house, and my chip is with me as well," I tried to ignore the way Emi's lips traced sensual kisses down my throat, my back arching for more even though worry was creeping up in the back of my head.

He was hearing everything Rafe was saying, letting out chuckles from time to time. "Tell your dear brother that he could use some sleep to clear his head, darlin'," Emi commented, his tone lowering when I glared at him. "It's definitely not working."

Man was so desperate to be heard.

"Then maybe get out of that house and tell me your location. I haven't told Dad about this, and you know you'll be dragged back to Chicago before the night if he finds out."

I winced when Emi's teeth harshly grazed the joint between my shoulder and neck. "End the call, Belle, right now," his voice laced with annoyance as he said.

Seems like he was annoyed with Rafael for talking about my return, so was I. However, there was no way I could comply with his demand now. "Rafe, can you chill for a second? I'm telling you that I'm fine. If something's wrong, it's with your tracker, not my location or my chip. Seriously, I'm telling you that I'm fine. Don't make a big deal out of it, please."

I was considering ending my conversation with him soon, as Emi, the wicked man, after my refusal to end the call, decided to make me agree in other ways; ways like pushing his head between my legs.

"Rose," Worry flickered in his voice, unwilling to heed my words. I sighed again, unable to decide whether it was because of the pleasure rebuilding inside me or the feeling that I need to reassure Rafe. "I'm okay, Rafe, really. I'll... call you... after returning... home," I blushed in utter shock, embarrassment filling me as I tried to push Emi away.

It was to no avail, though.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes, yes...!"

"You're going to call me when you reach home?"

"God, Rafael de Luca, yes."

I tossed my phone onto the nightstand but didn't make the mistake of not ending the call. A whimper escaped my mouth, growing louder with each passing second. "That sounded wrong, don't you think, Bella?" Emi's taunting murmur made me squirm. Heat flushed over my body as both the sensations of anxiety and excitement rushed within me.

"Emi, you're so... disgusting," I managed to say, never forgetting the words he had just uttered. Then I screamed, both in pain and pleasure.

He fucking bit me.

"Say that again, darlin'," he hummed from down, as my eyes nearly rolled to the back of my head.

God, don't let me die in this man's hands.

The way he was bringing the heaven down for me right after taking my virginity away last night?

I could definitely die.

✈︎

The feeling of being let into Emi's personal space was so profound that I couldn't even name the emotion.

My eyes widened as I saw the sheer size of his pristine, expansive kitchen. High ceilings, marble counters, state-of-the-art appliances, and an array of culinary knives. Like the rest of his mansion, it was a mix of traditional and modern design.

I had no doubt that he was a wealthy man, maybe even wealthier than I thought, and after seeing his place, I was sure of it.

So I naturally expected a team of chefs to prepare our breakfast. Instead, I found him rolling up his sleeves of his button-down shirt, exposing his inked, muscular forearms and the watch on his wrist.

Emi was skillful with the knives, chopping herbs with such ease that he made cooking look as easy as a flick of a finger.

I shouldn't have found this attractive, but I couldn't help admiring the scene before me, my eyes fixed on his big hands and the tattoos across his knuckles.

Only a man like Emi could make preparing breakfast look so appealing.

I didn't know how long I was staring until his emerald green eyes met mine, and a seductive smile played on his lips, masking the dark intentions lurking in his mind.

"Bored, Belle?" He knew very well that I was anything but bored, but he asked just to tease me. "Very much, you're taking too much time showcasing your arms rather than actually making breakfast."

That was a blatant lie, intended to get on his nerves.

"Aww, didn't feed my darlin' enough? Greedy for more?" I tried hard to hide my blush, cursing myself for my own foolishness.

I had known that this man would come up with a better, dirty comment. I shouldn't have said anything in the first place.

"You're infuriating sometimes," he chuckled at the way I rolled my eyes. But then he changed the topic, knowing that I'd burst like a balloon if I heard more of his lewd words. "How do you feel, Bella?"

However, his sudden question caught me off guard.

How did I feel?

I felt good, almost too good, even though I knew I shouldn't. Even though I had defied my dad's words.

I waited for some tiny bit of guilt to emerge, so I could say that what I did was wrong.

But the problem was, I didn't feel any guilt. I had no regrets. I'd do it again if needed, even if it's wrong.

Doing everything right was overrated anyway.

"I feel fine," I replied, not trying to sound too exhilarated. Emi smiled. "Good."

I raised an eyebrow at his words. "Why good?"

"We're going out tonight."

My eyes widened in surprise, and I fought not to jump from my seat. "Like a date?" I asked, and he nodded, smiling.

"It's a date, Belle."

You're mine for the week.

The words still played in the back of my head, vivid as ever. I was Emi's for the remaining time I had left. And I was going to cherish it.

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