Welcome to Gaia! ::

Across the world, when his wife was laying on her deathbed in a hospital, and his grandniece was fast asleep in her bed, the maids and nanny gone for the day, Giovanni Xanis was looking at the latest picture of his intended conquest. Years ago, he’d nearly had her, so young and ripe and unwilling. She would have been a perfect replacement for the disgustingly old and worn Maria, who had long since lost her use and appeal as a trophy. But no. His son and his worthless nephew had to get involved.

Marlo always was a mistake; letting the boy be given the same things his real son had. The same education, medical- Elzo was a stubborn brat of a son but he was still Giovanni’s son, and back then, he anticipated things would change once he had the company, entertaining the boy’s demands for equality with Marlo. Never did he expect that brat to have been planning a coup d'etat. His bratty, ungrateful, conniving, rebellious son.

Yet it was still Marlo’s fault that the girl had become willful. She’d had spite and and stubbornness, but her mother had her all but neatly packaged for him; his only obstacle had been Maria’s continued existence. But that was minor. No, no, then Marlo had to win the stupid girl’s heart and make her rebel. The mistake had even the pleasure of eventually becoming her lover apparently.

Giovanni seethed in his chair, debating how to finally make his move on the girl that had slipped through his fingers.

She had his children. After all, when he couldn’t get Jada, her mother had proved a pleasing enough diversion. A balm on his pride and a pleasure to know he was creating chaos for the girl’s family. Then that whore had to go and get pregnant with his twins. Then had the audacity to not name him as their father. A slut and a gold digging whore she wanted all she was worth. Once more, he should have just removed Maria and taken what was his. The whore would be easily enough removed once he had his children.

But he’d been too slow to act the whore had gotten her and her slutty daughter killed, leaving his children with their elder sister. Motherly, ripe, stubborn Jada.

But she was young, foolish, and oh so in love with the mistake. He had known when he’d gotten wind of the news. Maria kept tabs on her of her own volition, wanting somehow to aid her mistake of a son to find ‘happiness’. It was Maria that had given him his ammunition though the girl’s nanny. His ultimate vengeance.

Jada, pregnant and having her child in Italy. Poor planning on the girl’s part.

How easy it had been, to pay for names to change. For little ‘Hope’ to die. To adopt a parentless babe and say Maria wished for another child but was too old to bare any. A lie, he’d insured she’d never have any after the Mistake had been born. Yet still, Hope was a false gift to his wife, and she never thought to ask. If she did, she knew what would happen. Gifts were easily taken away.

Now two, little Hope looked more and more like Jada. More and more, like the mistake. He hated her, a reminder of just how far the girl had escaped him. Yet now she was back in that city, her life surely filled with reminders of her childhood. Sentiment made women weak. And her latest act against his claims on the twins had burned his rage.
Elzo was a good cover, but not perfect.

Giovanni would have his children. More, he’d have the wide, doe eyed girl as his by the year’s end. He was sure of it.

All that it would take would be one phone call.
International, he heard the phone ring twice before she picked up, and he felt himself grow excited at the sound of her voice.
“Ciao Cara.” She would be his, no matter what it took.


It was the middle of the afternoon, and Jada was enjoying yet another few hours of the twins off with their family. Elzo had taken them to do something- honestly, she asked all-too-rarely what he was going to be showing them in advance. The twins liked the surprise on her face, and she was a poor enough liar sometimes that it was better to be genuinely surprised. She had never thought that her friend would take so well to “fatherhood” as it were- certainly not that he would be so eager to show Giulia and Aidan the love that they needed from a masculine figure in their lives.

Jada could give them love, and teach them all the things that Michael had imparted to his children- Not Szelem, their mother had taught her children nothing but spite and despair and how to abuse and step on people to get to what she considered ‘the top’. Jada could teach them to gently find solace in their studies, teach them to be kind, teach them the things she learned too late- not to be afraid of love, but to cherish it and let it be your strength. To love your friends and tell them every day how much you respected them.

Their father was accurately described as Satan- not Elzo, but their birth father. She knew as well as half the world did that her mother hadn’t slept with Elzo. That she’d been one of a long, less-than-illustrious line of mistresses to Giovanni Xanis, whose picture lay proudly in the Oxford English Dictionary next to ‘sick son of a b***h’. But the opinion of half the world mattered less than what science couldn’t prove- that she hadn’t, and which of the two men the twins belonged to.

She sat in her study, the window open to let in the hot July breeze. Her hair knotted up, clad in pale denim short-shorts, ripped around the edges, and a tie-dyed scarf top she had made with Giulia. The latest legal brief sat on her desk along with her bare, pedicured feet, and she pursed her lips. He’d been suspiciously quiet of late, but she knew better than to think he’d believed the results of Elzo’s paternity tests- however accurate. No, there was something she wasn’t seeing, and Elzo seemed still to be mad at her after her fall off the wagon, so she hadn’t yet approached him about this brief. Just another weight on too-slim shoulders.

Her phone rang, and she reached over to lift it, not bothering to glance at the caller ID. She was sober, and at this time of the day was probably her agent or something to do with the twins; she lifted the phone to her ear, settling it comfortably. “This is Jada,” she greeted, her voice toned to be warm and polite- her business voice.

Ciao, Cara.

Her fingers went nerveless, and if she had been holding her phone, she might have dropped it. The voice was nothing like her old lover’s, but the words were that husky intimate greeting, and just familiar enough to make her throat go dry. Think of the devil, and he shall give you a phone call. She inhaled, mind clicking frantically, before she decided her course of action.

“Ciao, Giovanni.” she went with the intimacy of his first name, which put them on equal footing. He had to have known Cara would throw her off- or maybe it was a gamble? No- Giovanni wouldn’t gamble about such things. He had known before he said it. “I heard Maria is doing poorly. Please pass on my love to her.”

Or at least don’t tell her to eat s**t and die. Maria had been a kind enough woman when face to face with Jada, though the younger girl had never fully understood why. And now, perhaps, she never would.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

There was an audible pleasured sigh from Giovanni as she said his name. Oh, and how he wished she would say it so sweetly to him more often. But, that would be in the future. The near future if she was smarter than she’d been in the past.
“You owe me many things bellissima, two of which you’ve so wickedly tried to cut me from by my own son. Really cara mia, how cruel can you be?” He would use the pet name the mistake had. He would sour it, ruin it, give Jada one more thing to regret. One more dagger to dig and twist until she surrendered and accept her place under him.

“But I think this day we shall start with a simple thing. That you will not hang up this phone call. Unless of course you do not want that which is rightfully yours.” He let it sink it, let her gather her thoughts. He had time. He’d waited years, what was but a few more moments?
When the call did not end he resumed.
“But before business, tell me Cara, how are my little ones? Do they know how you have cheated them of their father? Given them my son as a poor substitute? I must cede that it was a clever little gambit you played girl, but Elzo is my son. He’ll tire of them soon enough. Just as he tires of all the women in his life, he’ll shirk whatever responsibilities you’ve given him in time.” He chuckled. Elzo, a father? Absurd. The boy had sired his own b*****d and let it die. Giovanni doubted his twins would be of any real consequence to the man.

“We both know how well he’s cared for that...brother of his. Do you really think he’ll be able to devote himself to taking care of two children. How foolish Cara. Please, tell me of my children. Or rather I suppose, what should be our children.”


The noise he made when she said his name made her tense, and seriously regret her decision to try and place them on any footing more intimate than a shotgun away. She did not interrupt him, though she did amuse herself by making faces at her phone as he called her- goddamn it, he did it again. “In asking about how cruel I can be, Giovanni, were you being rhetorical, or did you want an answer?” It was a trial to keep her voice light and innocent, her hand squeezing into the phone.

“I think this day, should you keep the call pleasant, I may be inclined to indulge you and stay on the line.” it was a warning, with no concrete promise. “Most of the things which are rightfully mine, Giovanni, wouldn’t involve you. I have to admit.” she let her voice drop to mischief, carefully designed. “You’ve piqued my… interest.” the pause, a delay as though she was seeking the correct word.

And interest was a much nicer word than irritation.

“Your grandchildren are doing quite well. Giulia is in ballet classes, and she loves her teacher, and she has found herself a best friend. She has settled in quite nicely after the jet-setting life, and in addition to French, she’s getting some basic lessons in Italian, mostly to please the boys.” she didn’t think she needed to specify which boys. “Aidan is a sweetheart; he doesn’t have Szelem’s claws, but I think Giulia will develop enough for the both of them- she’s more willful than Zora and I ever were at that age, and very clever. Aidan’s trying to pretend he isn’t making plans for my birthday, and failing miserably.”

She ignored his jibe, making a few of her own, delicately laid out. “Elzo sees them quite a bit, and he’s quite protective of them. He may grow tired, but that’s why we co-parent. Should he get bored after a time, he can return them to me with no hard feelings, until the next weekend when he is inclined to whisk them away.” Her lips thinned. “As for your younger son,” she said delicately, deliberately pricking at him (did he know she knew Marlo was not his? Did she care?) “He has been an excellent uncle. Apparently he is almost as doting and intent on their health and happiness as their father.”

A moment settled, and she turned our children over in her mind, wondering which of the many implications there was the truth. “Is that all you wanted from me, Giovanni? To talk about children?”


Vixen. Minx. Oh how we wanted to sink his teeth into her and rip her apart until she was nothing more than a mess at his feet. Szelem had taught her well. But the foolish woman had made a mistake, letting her have the freedom Jada had been given. This was the end result. He’d have to thank the whore in the afterlife one day for making his conquest unduly difficult.

“Oh, my sweet, I do so adore the sound of your voice, so I will try my hardest to not startle you too much.” But he would. It was just a matter of finding the perfect timing, the right moment so she’d crumble and collapse, with only him to catch the pieces. Shifting in his seat, Giovanni smiled as the woman detailed his twin’s current conditions. So thoughtful to entertain him, to humor his whims. She could be taught, she could learn how to please him in time. Her small concessions were just stepping stones for what would be later willing words and actions.

“Good.” He said, biting back the annoyance in his voice after her little update on his son and his brother. “They should know their heritage and their mother tongue for when they move back here. I can’t have them falling behind their peers. Though, it sounds like I will have to teach Aidan a few things. You can’t coddle a Xanis.” He smiled.
“We’re liable to take advantage of you if you do that. After all, Marlo would have taught you that lesson first hand wouldn’t he have?”
He knew using the b*****d’s name would shake her. If just for a bit.

“But I digress. I did wish to talk of children, namely our children. Or would you rather I say my child? My Hope?”
His voice took on an airy quality.
“Our Hope.”


Jada had been bracing herself for it again, bracing herself to hear his voice call her the nickname she had come to love; a pet name, perhaps, but one given to her by… but the expected blow didn’t come, this time, instead his voice stroking politely over her ears, nickname-free. Her breath out wasn’t loud, but it was there. Though hopefully he wouldn’t try too hard not to anything her. Not startle. Not talk to her. He could keep his effort far away.

I have to be honest, Giovanni, I can’t say I adore the sound of your voice. It was a phrase that would win her no favors in this conversation, to she let it linger in her mind, sending it with her hourly mental daggers.

“There are no plans to go back to Italy, Giovanni.” her voice was lilting, firm. “This is their mother’s home. It is where they will be living, though you’re certainly welcome to visit, with Elzo’s permission.” Permission he would never grant, though Jada could certainly say she had made the appropriate, mannerly invitations. “As for Aidan’s lessons, he’s hardly being coddled. These children are loved, will be loved, and given every opportunity to grow. Of that, I can assure you..”

His name was uttered, and she inhaled, far too sharp. Let him know he had struck his blow, let him hear it in her soft inhale. Give him the satisfaction and make him overeager. “That’s one, Gio. Uno, yes? Like in Spanish?”

Her next inhale was unfeigned, and it was a softly pained sound. “Our children, Giovanni? Is that what you hope for?” behind the phone, her hand trembled. “I don’t know what gives you the idea.”

Our Children.
My Child. Not Children- not the plural.
My Hope- he knew about her. Knew about-
Our Hope. Was he suggesting… them? Having…. No. It couldn’t be- he wouldn’t be that blatant, even with Maria on her deathbed. He wouldn’t be that-

Well. This was Giovanni.



Her soft breath sent a thrill in his blood. Oh she was playing with him now. Trying to dance to a game he’d danced before she’d even been born. A dance he’d win so long as he played every card in his deck at just the right moment. And he’d been waiting so long to play this card, he knew the payout would be grand.

“There are always plans Cara mia,” she would be his. Her, and the twins. Nothing would be taken from him twice.
“That you do not yet see the inevitable is unfortunate. Elzo will bring me my children. Oh, he might say he loathes dear Maria, but he is weak of the heart sentimentality will pull him here, giving me a window of opportunity to tell my children the truth no doubt you’ve kept hidden from them.” Giovanni closed his eyes. Let her fear it, let him taste it in her voice.
“Elzo will bring my children back to me, all in good time. His rebelliousness will end one day. Even he knows he and that b*****d cannot hold the company executives at bay forever. And when he needs me most?” Let him hear her tremble under his words.
“I will take what is rightfully mine.”

Giovanni couldn’t help the chuckle that left him as he returned to the true reason of the call.
“But yes. Our child. She’s so beautiful Cara. Your dark curls, the Xanis eyes. We could have so many like her you know?” He was smiling. He had waited so long for this. “I could give you all you’ve ever wanted. I could give you Hope.”

“She was so adorable in her pink dress at her last birthday party. Two years old. You should have seen her. My little Hope.”

Hope was his, Jada. And while she was your daughter, she belonged to him. Just as you would be in due time.


In her breath, she’d let her guard down against the next use of Cara, and Jada bit into her lip, disgust warring with the little twinge of affection that came hand in hand with the word. It was what he wanted, and she hated being unable to deny him the reaction. He knew her far too well, had more experience in such silly matters than she did, and while she could play the game, she was still young and tender, and her own maneuvers were based on surrender.

He was probably not expecting her soft laugh. “Elzo is welcome to take the twins to meet Maria. I may even join them for a brief while if there is business nearby. As for what I have told the twins…” Jada licked her lips, tamping down her revulsion, and let her voice drop. “I’ve told them that their daddy is a naughty man who needs a very hard spanking. I have to say, when they connected that Elzo was their father, Giulia was sore tempted to administer the spanking herself, just to get it out of the way.”

I will take what is rightfully mine. Over her dead body. She wouldn’t surrender the children to him. She wouldn’t let him take them- She could struggle out a few more years of this, with Elzo on her side and valid paternity tests. She could think of something. And if Elzo caved, she would still have a precedent to keep fighting. Keep struggling. Still, his chuckle sent a chill down her spine.

Dark curls. The Xanis eyes. The breath went out of her in a rush, along with a soft, pitiful noise. She was so adorable in her pink dress at her last birthday party. Two years old. No. My little Hope. There was no feigning her reaction, the indignant fury in her increasingly rapid breathing, the edge of panic at the edge of her mind. “What do you mean we could have so many like her?”

Jada was struggling for focus, looking to- find solid ground as she found herself falling. What were the chances? No- it was impossible. She’d…., she had chosen that hospital so ******** carefully. For discretion. For…


He moaned. He couldn’t help the sound, perverse and lewd as it was. She would be his. She had to become his. No other could have her. He voice, her breathing tense and falling apart. He’d dreamed of this moment. This single space of time where he could finally break another part of her. Mold her to become his perfect future.

“Spank me- Oh bellissima.” He was trembling in his seat, setting the phone down to be on speaker. “I am a very naughty man, but the one in need of the spanking is you Cara Mia. Teasing me like this.” Remind her what she had known for years. Giovanni Xanis never stopped when it came to getting what he wanted. And he wanted her since he’d been invited to her little debutante ball.

“Sleeping with that b*****d. Taking my twins. Breaking Xanis hearts, one by one. You are so deliciously good at that aren’t you? Have you sampled my son yet? Or has he been a good boy and waited for you to make the offer? I’m sure the twins would love if mommy and daddy were together.” He let that edge of anger race to his tone.
“But it would be better for mommy and their real father don’t you think?”

Twist the knife, dig it in deep.

“She’s alive bellissima. Alive and sleeping in her bed. She has the face of an angel. The face that shows how well Mongomery and Xanis blood mixes. We could make so many together. But you- You could have her Jada.” He purred her voice.
“You could have Hope again.”


He seemed to very much enjoy the idea of someone on the phone getting spanked, and while he said it was her who needed it, she had her doubts. “My sexual history isn’t your business,” she chided him gently, “A lady doesn’t discuss such affairs. My siblings were passed to me in mother’s will as their Guardian. There was no taking except to love and care for them. And as for your older son, I have to refer you back to ‘a lady doesn’t kiss and tell’, Giovanni.”

The idea was- it left an uncomfortable pit in her stomach, the thought he might think Elzo and her… if he thought it, who else might? That could get terribly messy.

But then he slid the knife in, gave it a good twist, and Jada felt him gut her slowly.

The phone clattered from her ear, smacking into the desk, her hands trembling beyond her control. Her blood was running cold and hot with panic, revulsion, with- with so many emotions and feelings and thoughts that no one thing was prevalent in the forefront of her mind. Every part of her shook- her ragged inhales, her hands, her legs, She couldn’t focus, didn’t know how she was supposed to- this was- he had- “Giovanni.” her voice was almost shattered, his name spilling out thin and trembling from numb lips.

It didn’t even phase her, his suggestion that he sire more on her. Hope was alive?

No. It was too easy. It was too-

“Prove it.” her voice was a fierce demand.


He felt the shudder run through his entire body. He was shaking with the thrill of it all. The phone hitting the floor, the sound of the panic, her wild breaths. Gods above, this was his reward for his patience. His careful planning. Oh how sweet a reward it was. She was breaking apart so perfectly, so wonderfully. He only wished he could be there to drink in the sight of her face.

But he would have that expression soon. Broken, desperate, fearful Jada. All his.

“Yes amore?” His love. Let her know he planned for this. He had planned for it for so long. She would love him. She would have to love him if she wanted all that she did.

A few moments passed in silence, he hummed as she breathed, as she no doubt was trembling in fear of the truth. He wanted to draw it out. Let her mind race to wondering how. To think of her denials. Her desires. Let her marinate in her mind while he readied the fire.

“I will prove it with anything you desire amore. I have sent you an e-mail. I suggest you open it quickly. The files will only linger half an hour.” Nothing to hold on to. Just glimpses.

Photos of Hope. Newborn, taking her first steps. Her first birthday. Holding a plush horse. Her second birthday. Then? A family Portrait. Him and little hope, both smiling. One with innocent childlike wonder, the other with twisted satisfaction.

“Did you really think you were safe Jada? That your secret would not be told? Maria was always so good with getting into the graces of the help. She also is so good at letting every little secret slip when drunk. Money is power Cara. A place you could not speak a word to staff. Drugs in your blood. Weak. Vulnerable. You stole my children from me.” He laughed. He was going too far, but he loved this too much. It felt too good. He wanted that rush. So close again, Just a little more. Give him another decadent reaction Jada. Give him another shard of your crumbling will.

“Money has always been power Cara. It is why that b*****d sunk his claws into my company and won't let go. It’s why your mother came to me. It’s why your father wants nothing to do with you. It’s why I have Hope for us.” He smiled.
“She is mine, but I am a gracious man. I am willing to make her ours.”


Amore. The word felt like oil dripping over her skin, slicking wet claws down her spine, and behind the safety of the phone, she trembled with disgust. Revulsion. The nausea welled up in her throat thick and clumpy, fighting for the surface, and she tilted her head back, taking a ragged breath in. It was a vile revelation, it was- Giovanni Xanis was a very sick man.

And he had her daughter.

She flicked to the pictures, and he would know the moment she saw them; because there she was, peering out of the screen. That pale skin she had so carefully cultivated for decades to be the perfection her mother wanted from her; those lovely eyes that were so clearly his and not Elzo’s deeper blue, those rich black curls spilling around her face. Her tiny face buried in a cake. Little patent leather shoes.

“You dress her like a doll.” it was an observation, and her voice was soft and dull. The files will only linger for half an hour. But the screenshots she took, however secondhand and poorly resolved, would last longer. Long enough for her to try and decide how to counter this. Something she had never expected.

Did Maria know? Had she thought, somehow, she could protect her granddaughter? Was she too gone to care? “I always wondered, Giovanni. The night I found out I was pregnant. The doctors found such a unique cocktail in my blood, so many different drugs they whispered that it couldn’t be coincidence, but someone trying to kill me and make it look… unfortunate. You haven’t always wanted me, now have you? When did you change your mind?”

Partly it was an attempt to get her feet back under her. Mostly, she wanted to know. Had it been him?


There was a silence at the other end. Then-
“Oh when I found out about that little incident? Things did not end well amore. It took me a while, but rest easy, the one who would have hurt you is long gone. Money can really buy anything you know.” No one would deny him his prize. His conquest. Not even petty little shits. He’d cultivated his status, he’d ensured he’d always have allies. Always have a plan. Jada had always been a goal, but not dead. He may hate the b*****d, but not enough to kill the prize.

Licking his lips he shifted in his seat. So close, just a few more cracks for him Jada dearest. Just give him a few more broken tones and he’d be complete.

“Hope is not a toy Jada. She is real, and she is perfection. Or as close as she can be given her father. But-” He sighed, pleased with the next twist.
“He doesn’t know does he? He has no idea that across the world, his little girl sleeps, and he’ll never get to see her. She is mine. There is nothing that brat can offer me that I cannot simply take from him. His company. His investments. His future. His lover.” He chuckled.
“Even his life has no worth to me. But you Jada? Oh you are worth so much more. Worthy of so much more than a cast off broken b*****d. You deserve a man who would worship you, tend to you, give you all you could ever ask for.”

She was his conquest.
“And I think you know exactly what I want in exchange for just a little bit of Hope.”


Jada stared at the pictures on her screen, the fist that closed around her heart squeezing fiercely. The little girl was beautiful, and so- so clearly hers that it was a punch to the gut. She is real, and she is perfection. High praise, from a man who seemingly accepted nothing less with any amount of grace. But how could Hope not be perfection, when she was the crowning jewel on Giovanni’s plan to get his children back from where Jada so carefully tried to protect them?

“I can’t say what he knows,” she said, and the pained honesty there was a knife to the gut. She had wanted to tell him. It had just- it hadn’t worked out. And now here she sat trembling on the other end of the phone from the man who hated him most in the world. For two years, Giovanni had cultivated the daughter of a man he hated. What had he taught her? “As for what you can take from him...” she didn’t wish him luck- and she doubted his success. But she let the doubt sit there.

“Do I deserve loyalty, Giovanni? I don’t need money, or fancy cars and houses. I have everything I could possibly want.” except for her daughter. Her Hope. Her beautiful little girl.

“Maria isn’t gone yet. Miracles happen every day. You need to be very clear with what you want from me.” Did she deserve loyalty? Yes. And so had Maria. Neither of them would get it from the man on the other end of the line.

“What was her first word?” Jada’s voice was trembling. “Please, Giovanni.”


“You deserve all that I can give you Cara.” He had been loyal for a time to Maria, until she’d lost her value and any entertainment. But he’d been young, not knowing how to draw it out and rush off not thinking. Ah, regrets of a misbegotten youth.
“If you want my loyalty, I shall expect nothing less from you. You would be mine and mine alone. You know me well enough by now. I do not take kindly when I am denied or when something is taken from me.” Years of fighting for the twins was testament enough to that firsthand. Jada would get more court summons soon- Giovanni still would push for further genetic testing.

“You have everything but a child. And you wanted so badly to be a mother yes? Don’t deny it. I took Hope recently to see her grave you know. She hasn’t grasped it yet but when I saw you there? Oh Cara.” He shuddered. This was too rich, even for him.
“You looked divine. But mourning doesn’t suit you. I would rather see you smiling, happy and fulfilled. Can Marlo offer you that? Oh- my mistake.” He sneered.

“He’s already found himself a new toy. Not that I can blame him. A casino heiress is just the kind of low brow trash he’d pick up without having the connections Elzo gave him.” Giovanni snorted, wondering how to end this little game. How to go for that killing blow.

“Maria will die Jada. I’ve waited long enough for the slut to kill herself and now she finally has and I couldn’t save her even if I wanted to. You know what I want Jada. More than the twins. More than your money.” He was breathing hard.

“You will get nothing from me, until I get something in return.”


Cara. That word again, raking over her heart and burning. Jada closed her eyes, clenching and unclenching her fists, trying to keep her trembling fingers from digging too deeply into her palms and drawing blood. Her hands, arms- all of her, shaking so hard she was practically vibrating with nausea.

“You know I can be faithful.” her voice was agonizingly soft, now. Of all of them- he’d known about Hope, he’d known about- if he knew that, then more than the paparazzi, more than whatever his son and his nephew may have chosen to believe, Giovanni would know that she could play… dutiful. Loyal. And to a point, perhaps, she would be able to force herself to turn that loyalty to him, if she needed to.

For Hope.

“I have two children.” she said it and there was something resolved there, an attempt to rally herself, to force herself not to surrender to quickly. “Two children who rely on me to keep them safe and loved and happy. I am a mother.” even if she wanted…. Well. It mattered little what she had wanted.

Giovanni was… god. He was right. Or at least right enough.

Disparaging his new lover was a subtle blow to Jada’s self-esteem, sliding a needle-thin blade into her heart, mind, and flesh. If she had been replaced so easily, when what did that make Jada herself? It was masterfully done, and she let the blade sink home while she bit into her lip.

“Nothing?” she asked, softly. “I’m not asking much, Giovanni. Just a small bit of information. I gave you as much about Giulia and Aidan.”

Not your grandchildren. But she couldn’t sell them to the man for Hope. She had to protect them, still.



He smiled on the other end of the phone. Her voice was perfection, and he felt the pleasure simmer and eb. How delightfully pleasurable this call had been. Standing he sent Jada another e-mail. One plane ticket, one way. Destiny City to Rome, Italy. A train to Florence. His address. A list of what she was to wear and bring.

He’d planned this for so long. He’d have it perfect.

“Your words ease my heart bellissima. You are really, nothing like your mother. It is what I love about you.” Love, if not in the manner of fairy tales. Love, in the way a man lusted for a woman. Giovanni knew that Jada would stall. She’d try to barter and trade. But hearing her beg? Hearing that soft desperation? What a sweet sound she made, and he could linger on that for a while longer if need be. He’d waited two years with nothing to show for it after all.

Not until now.

“And what will you tell them in a few years, when it becomes obvious that Elzo is not their father? What will you say when Aidan begins to look like me and less like Elzo? When Giulia’s face picks on little things she can’t find in her brother’s expression. My son is a poor substitute and you know it. They are not your children either Jada. No matter how you might wish it, they are your siblings, and they will always know that. It will never be the same as your flesh and blood. Speaking from experience, raising that which isn’t yours is a disgustingly bitter task.”

“You are their sister, but you are Hope’s mother.”

Giovanni’s voice lost the tone of playful toying. He wasn’t wanting to drag this out much further.
“I’ve sent you an email with all you’ll need. You know exactly what I want from you bellissima. And you will come and give it to me with a smile on your face and my name on your lips. It is your own fault for giving information so freely. Nothing is free Jada, not even love.” He smiled.

“Ciao mi amore.”


You are really, nothing like your mother. Damn right Jada wasn’t- Szelem wouldn’t be putting up with this bullshit, and she’d have called in about seven different special secret agencies or some s**t. The NSA, the CIA, the FBI, the AISE, probably ******** NASA if she thought she could get what she wanted from it. Szelem was strong and sturdy and took no s**t because she was the MASTER of s**t. Jada had learned to bend in the breeze, to bend, and bend- until she snapped. Not brittle, but not made of water or fire.

“My mother gave birth to them,” she agreed, “But I am the one who will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. They are loving, and they are good, and I won’t let that be ruined.” Still, the read receipt that would flick through to his email that she had seen his note…

You are their sister, but you are Hope’s mother. Her baby. Her little girl, physically safe, and alive, and… she’d been thinking about having another, not even knowing her beautiful little girl was out there.

“Ciao, Giovanni.” her voice was soft. “I’ll see you soon.”


Across the world, a man was smiling to himself. Years of careful planning. Biding his time. Now it was all coming together. Grunting as he stood up, he frowned at the stain on his clothes. Still, it was a small price to pay for the pleasure of hearing the Heiress break so deliciously with the news. For now, he’d go bathe and rest. He’d dream of his future.

His conquest.