Taken by the Heartless (HEARTLESS, Book 1) (NOW EDITING)

MARRY ME

    It's been a week since they attacked Cassandra. Her injuries were healing pretty fast, and she left the hospital once she regained consciousness. Eros has been nothing but a sweetheart. At first, he wouldn't even let her feet touch the ground, and she had everything she wanted right there in bed. He would hold her and lead her to the bathroom, get her dressed, sing hilarious lullabies for her to fall asleep, and wake up early to make the cooks prepare breakfast and bring them to bed. All that caring made Cassandra heal even faster.

Eros had also taken tighter security measures and Cassandra had remembered Apollo mentioning hidden cameras in the house. Eros had called a bug team that swept the entire house, taking away all the devices. They increased security around the mansion by ten and he was extra careful, letting nothing pass him. They were still tracking the woman and Eros told Cassandra that he would get the woman that next day.

Since Cassandra was strong enough, she felt she should go back to school, but Eros had asked her to rest a little more at home. But after a week, she got bored and needed to leave the house. Apollo's text includes he was the new leader of a gang formed with some of Sebastiano's men and that he would kill Eros. Eros was ready for him, too. He would never let a manipulative Apollo destroy him. He was way too deep and cut in for it than that. Lucia had been dismissed from the house and Cassandra didn't care where she went, although she felt pity for the girl when Eros questioned her about what she knew and sent her out. She wouldn't let her kind heart be used again. Lucia deserved what she got.

Cassandra opened her eyes and found Eros' eyes on her. He was watching her and shyness washed over her. No matter how long she had known him, she always felt shy by the way he looked at her.

"Good morning, beautiful," he greeted in a husky morning voice.

She smiled and stroked his cheek. "Good morning, handsome."

"How do you feel today?"

"Vibrant," Cassandra replied and got up from the bed. "I have a chemistry class this morning and I need to attend."

Eros drew her back to bed. She shrieked and fell back into his arms in a fit of laughter. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hair.

"Why don't we have our chemistry here?"

Cassandra tried to push up, but Eros held her tightly, not letting her go. She turned to face him, wrapping her own arms around him. "You are so clingy. Do you know that?"

"Isn't that why you love me?" He kissed her passionately. "Now, I didn't forget the good morning kiss and I love you."

"I love you too, Mr. romantic."

Eros pushed up and kissed her neck, she giggled as it tickled her and tried to push away, but Eros held her tighter, still peppering her neck with kisses.

"Stop!" she yelled, but Eros continued, and then she started tickling his sides. He roared with laughter and wiggled his body, trying to stop her. "Two can play this game, you know."

"Alright, you win!" he boomed. Cassandra stopped; their eyes met and locked for a while as they smiled at each other. He leaned in and kissed her deeply. "Marry me, Cassandra." Cassandra chuckled and tried to get up from the bed, but he dragged her back and looked into her eyes, becoming serious. "Marry me." He never knew a time would come when he would want to spend forever with someone. He never believed in happy endings or marriage or love, but Cassandra had changed that perspective. She was his home, his peace, and his everything.

Cassandra hadn't expected a proposal like this. She knew Eros was crazy about her, but never knew he was crazy enough to propose. She was scared. They had not been together for long and she wanted to be certain she wasn't making a mistake with him just like she did with Apollo. It was at the peak of her love for Apollo that she accepted his proposal and she didn't want to make that mistake again. When Eros had mentioned it at first, she had taken it as a joke and almost stood to walk away but he drew her down and said seriously this time.

She stared at him, there was so much sincerity in his eyes, but then it had also been in Apollo's eyes. She wasn't comparing them, but she was scared, she didn't want anything to go bad. Knowing that Eros was waiting for an answer, she smiled and kissed his lips.

"Where is the ring?"

Eros' brows furrowed. "I wanted to ask you first then get the ring later."

"I am not accepting your proposal." Eros' countenance dropped. "Until you propose properly."

Eros face lit up again. "So, you want a ring for validation?" Cassandra nodded with a smile. "Then I will buy you a thousand rings."

Cassandra laughed and threw her head back. "A thousand rings make no sense. One ring is enough validation." She knew Eros, he always kept to his promises. She won't actually be surprised if she comes back to a thousand rings waiting for her. She leaned down and kissed him again. "I've got to go, sweet. I will see you later." She stood and headed toward the bathroom but halted. "And, could you tell Bully to stop scaring people away from me? He could walk a few feet away from me."

"Let the young man do his job, tesoro," Eros said falling back into the sheets, his heart almost exploding with happiness. His plan to catch the woman that had messed with Cassandra's life was set for tonight and after that, he would get the most expensive ring and propose properly to Cassandra; his beautiful addiction. He couldn't wait to make her his wife.

Once Cassandra was in the bathroom, he picked up his phone and started browsing for diamond rings and their prices.

~~~

Lucia wondered where Dimitra was driving her to. When Eros kicked her out of the house, she contacted Dimitra who met her and took her to a hotel and paid all her expenses. She was grateful that Dimitra was taking care of her. Dimitra was also looking into some apartments for her and some jobs since she didn't take any from Eros. She was so mad at Cassandra and swore revenge once she was balanced.

Dimitra had appeared at the hotel that evening and had said she wanted to show her something very important. She and Dimitra were becoming best of friends and she never imagined it. Dimitra brought the car to a stop on a lonely road that ended on a cliff. Lucia's suspicion spiked and she gave Dimitra a leery look.

"What are we doing here?"

"You will see," Dimitra said and opened the door. "Come out."

Lucia opened her side of the door and stepped out, but was surprised when she saw Dimitra aiming a gun at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking around.

"I'm about to kill you," Dimitra said with a wicked smirk.

"Why? I have been loyal to you."

"Yes, my dear, but you are no longer useful to me. You were getting information from Eros' mansion for me but you keep messing up even after I asked you to keep calm."

"I didn't do anything else. Please, don't kill me."

"Move," Dimitra commanded aiming the gun toward the cliff. "Your hands in the air."

Lucia raised her hands in the air, hot tears running down her cheeks as she whimpered, "Please."

"It's funny how you think I will share Eros with you, you wretched piece of shit."

Lucia shook her head. "I'm sorry. You can have him; I am not interested in him anymore. I swear"

"Of course, he is mine and would always be. Did you think I was going to let you leave after fucking Carlos? You wanted everything that was mine. How dare you."

"It ended between him and me, please don't kill me. I will do whatever you want."

"It's a little too late for that, bitch. You should know that I am a mafia's daughter and have my ways. No one will hear about you anymore, useless bitch."

Lucia was on the verge of the cliff now. "Please, Dimitra, please—" But before she could finish her sentence, Dimitra pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced Lucia's chest. A surprised look blanketed Lucia's face as she held her chest. Dimitra shot her twice again and she fell off the cliff. She moved to the cliff and watched the darkness where Lucia had fallen into and exhaled deeply.

"One man down." As she turned to leave, she got a notification on her phone, she tapped on it and the blood drained from her face as she watched her phone screen.