1 Chapter 1

Bella may love to read adventure, mystery, crime, and romance novels but she never expected her life to be like the stories she read. All she wanted was to earn enough money to open her own restaurant and maybe meet someone nice and start a family. But all that changed the day she met Dominic.

♡♡♡

Bella had been working at the small bistro trying to earn enough money to open her own restaurant for several weeks. It was hard and tiring work but it would be worth it. Counting her tips, she calculated that she had earned an extra $30 dollars to add to he weekly pay check. She was no where near close enough. Her pay check went towards her rent, groceries, student loans, and other bills. That left her tips for everything else; going out with her friends, shopping, and saving up for her restaurant.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Bella called to her coworker as she left the building.

She was tired and just wanted to go home and relax. However, fate had other plans. She was two blocks away from her building when she heard the shouting. Every instinct told her to keep walking but she didn't. She had to make sure that someone wasn't in trouble. That's when she saw the shake down. She knew that there were gangs in the neighborhoods but she lived and worked in the up scaled neighborhoods. The gangs rarely came here. Besides, the men she saw were all dressed in nice cloths. Not wanting them to see her, she ducked down the ally to hide but it was too late.

"What's this?" someone said grabbing her arm.

"I didn't see anything," Bella said. "Please just let me go."

"We can't do that," someone new said. "Not until our business has been conducted. Take her back to the house."

♡♡♡

Bella waited in the room she was placed in growing more scared by the minuet. She had no idea what these people were going to do to her. Would they kill her to keep her from talking or keep her locked up in this room? Her emotions got the best of her and she began to cry. She was terrified at what would happen to her. The door opened. Bella turned to see the man who gave the order to bring her here. Bella didn't move; she was too afraid.

"You are a beauty," he said.

Bella backed up against the wall. She had no idea where she was or why she was taken there and it had her scared. There was no reason for her to trust this man no matter how nice he was being. She had heard stories about men like him. She had also seen the way the other men had looked at her.

"Yes," he said as he walked up to her. "A real beauty."

Bella whimpered as he ran his fingers down her cheek. She didn't want him to touch her but she was too afraid to fight him off. He kissed her, pulling her close. Bella had never been kissed like that before and she both hated and loved it.

"You're mine now," the man whispered into her ear. "My woman. You'll live here with me."

"I have an apartment," Bella said in one last effort to get him to let her go. "A job. People will come looking for me if I don't show up."

"My woman doesn't work."

He kissed her again, longer and more passionate. Bella hated the way her body reacted to his touch and kiss but she couldn't help herself.

"I've seen you before," he whispered into her ear sending shivers down her back. "You looked like a rose among the others at that restaurant. You are an angel. My angelo. My rosa. I knew the moment I saw you that you were the one I have been searching for; the one meant to be my wife."

Translations:

Angelo = angel

Rosa = rose

avataravatar