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

YES

   "Yes," Cassandra said. "But why do you keep proposing without a ring?"

Eros' head snapped up from her neck, his face clouded with surprise. "Did you just say yes?"

Cassandra nodded before answering. "Yes. I will marry you, but you must propose properly with—"

"Of course, of course," Eros interjected and surprised Cassandra when he ran out of the bath naked and returned with a shirt, fumbling inside the pocket. He looked hilarious with desperation. He finally fished out a little blue box, tossed his shirt away, and almost slipped when he was rushing to Cassandra. She burst into laughter, and he joined her.

"Please, do not fall and injure yourself," she cautioned. Eros went over to her and kissed her lips gently.

"I won't, tesoro." He lowered to his knees, looking up at her. He could not believe he was finally about to spend the rest of his life with her. He opened the box and the diamond glimmered in the light. "Cassandra Marie Lopez..." He chuckled, and so did Cassandra. "I am not poetic at all, and I had no speech prepared for this. In fact, I had never prepared for this day in my life. But I hope you understand the depth of what I feel in my heart for you— even this ring cannot compare it. I want to grow old with you, go on a million dates with you, laugh over breakfast with you, make decisions with you, make cute babies with you, cry with you and rejoice with you. I want to hold your hands and assure you that everything will be alright, and I want you to be the one by my side, restraining me, cheering me, I want you to keep being the peace in my chaos, I want you to be my wife. Please, spend forever with me too."

"Yes," Cassandra whispered and stretched her hand. "Yes, yes! I will marry you."

Eros slid the ring into her finger, rose to his feet, and carried her. "I love you so much, tesoro."

"I love you too, bello."

Eros dropped her, took a towel, and dried her body. When Cassandra started to protest, he stopped her.

"Don't stop me, tesoro. I could do this all my life." When they were dried, he lifted her in his arms again and she giggled. "Let's go to bed now, tesoro." He carried her to the room and dropped her on the bed, climbed in beside her, and drew the cover over them. He snuggled up to her, wrapping his brawny arm securely around her as if afraid she would disappear if he did not. In a few minutes, sleep claimed both of them.

~~~

Cassandra woke up to see Eros looking at her.

"Good morning, Sunshine," he greeted.

Cassandra smiled and whined. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Yes, I slept but woke early to watch you sleep, you look so beautiful. I made the right choice."

"Enough of your sweet words. I need to make something for us to eat. I have an afternoon class."

"You don't need to make breakfast; it's already taken care of. Charlene made breakfast already."

Eros led her to the kitchen where Javier, Pedro, and Vikky were already seated to have breakfast. They all smiled when they saw the couple.

"Is that an engagement ring I see on your finger?" Javier asked. Cassandra showed her ring and they all cheered. "Congrats man," Javier hailed.

"Congratulations," Vikky went and hugged Cassandra, while the men shook hands with Eros.

"Wait, you don't start without me. What is going on here?" Bully boomed. Cassandra flashed him her ring, his face drew up in a smile and he spread his arms. "Permission boss to hug your woman."

Eros eyed him. "This is the only time I will let you touch her," he said and grabbed a cup of coffee.

They had yet another hearty breakfast in the dining room.

~~~

Dimitra sat in her dining room, staring at her phone, and throwing back shots upon shots of tequila. Lucia was not her problem, Cassandra was. She knew it right from the first day she saw that bitch that she was trouble. The mistake she made was assuming Eros could not take her seriously. Now, they were engaged. What does she have that she did not have? She was the daughter of a mafia lord, she was more inclined to this business than that bitch, her father was rich, and she had connections, her father was one of Eros' allies and she had known him for over ten years.

Why did he not see her the way she saw him? She was a woman every man wanted, why not Eros? But one thing was certain, she would not give up without a fight. She will fight them with everything in her; she would fight with her last blood. Her phone rang, she picked it up from the counter and stared at the screen for a while before answering it.

"What?" she growled. There was silence at the other end, she rolled her eyes. "I told you I will come soon; I have things to sort out." She took the phone away from her ear and dropped it on the table again.

Slinging another glass back, she picked up the phone again and dialed a number. It rang twice before a gruff male voice answered. "I need to see you; I have some news for you." She hung up and stood from the chair.

In a few minutes, she was packed in front of a gate. She stared at the gate for a while and got out of her car. The guards by the gate searched her before she was ushered into Sebastiano's mansion and led to the living room.

"The boss will be down in a minute," one of the men told her. "What do you want to take?"

"I do not want to take anything, I want to see your boss, right now," she snared. The man stared at her for a while and spoke into his device.

After speaking with whoever he spoke with, he turned to her and nodded for her to follow him. She followed him up the stairs to a large, brightly lit hallway. The guard stopped in front of a strong door, rapped softly on it, and pushed it open. Apollo sat behind the desk, hunched over some pieces of documents. He did not look up when she entered. The guard left after bringing her in.

"Who are you?" he asked, still looking at the documents.

" I am the girl who would bring you Eros' head on a platter."

Apollo looked up at her and smiled. 

Merry Christmas to you all. Enjoy your Christmas and have a prosperous New Year.