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J O L I E N

"What happened?" Malio asked angrily after obviously being sure I'd calmed down enough to answer his question.

"I do not know. I came home and the door was open.." "And so you thought you'd just walk into the house? Jolien, we've seen so many horror movies and you're making the rookie mistake?" he interrupted me. He pushed me a hand's breadth out of his arms and looked me straight in the eyes. "You're a damn stupid thing."

"I know it was a mistake, but I didn't mean to..." I paused as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against my tear-stained cheeks. "I thought I was losing you," he breathed, his breath falling gently stroked my skin.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. My tongue was paralyzed. He kissed the trail of my tears and stopped short of my lips.

"I don't know what I would have done.." His voice cracked. "I'm fine." I said quickly. "Are you sure?" He let his gaze wander over my trembling body. "Yes." I freed myself from his grip and looked around my ruined room.

"You destroyed everything. I have to see if anything is missing. I have to call my dad and clean up." I babbled incoherently as I paced like a rat and punched my way through the rubble of his room. "First and foremost, you need to calm down we'll do it later." "We?" I looked at him confused. "Yes Jolien, we. I won't let you down again. This breakup was a huge mistake."

"You said you didn't have feelings for me anymore," I recalled our conversation. Malio watched me silently as I tossed the ripped pillows back onto the bed. "When did I say that?" I turned and put my hands on my hips.

Was he really serious now?

"In the car in front of the warehouse. You said you never had power over me. you had feelings Past tense." I explained without taking my eyes off of him.

His reaction surprised me. He laughed softly, ran his fingers through his dark hair and motioned me over, saying, "Come here." "What?" "Come here," Malio repeated, but this time a bit more energetically. My feet moved automatically and I took a few steps towards him.

He took my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes. "I only said it because you spoke in the past tense yourself. I'll always have feelings for you, my damn girl." The tip of his nose touched mine gently.

"You're engaged to another woman, Malio," I replied in disbelief. I fought back the joyful dance my heart was doing at that moment. Didn't want to take pride in his words when someone else wore his ring on her finger.

"Because I had to! But now I see that Rash was right. I can't protect you with that.", his lips were only millimeters away from my mouth. "You wanted to protect me?"

"Always. If I have to, I'll die for you. You are the most important thing in my life. I tried to push it away, hoping the feelings would go away. But they didn't. I thought it would be selfish to put you in danger, but I realized I couldn't save you." He paused and his eyes found mine. "I was never your salvation Jolien, you were mine." While his icy blue eyes grew in intensity every second and I felt like I was drowning in them, my inner self accepted the waves they triggered in me with joy. Allowed myself to get lost in them.

"I should have told you much sooner. Damn, I should have said it every fucking day." His hand rested on my cheek and my heart skipped a beat. "I'll always have feelings for you because I love you."

My eyes widened as my heart danced in front of friends.

"I've always loved you, Jolien." With one last look into Malio's eyes, which rested on mine with an unspeakable softness, I placed my lips on his.

My hands wandered into his thick, black hair, so familiar and natural, as if they had never done anything else.

He hastily pulled me closer to him, thus overcoming the last disturbing centimeters that still lay between us. As if he were trying to make up for the time we were apart with this gesture. Every millimeter of my body was electrified. Totally energized.

I slipped my hands out of Malio's hair, pushed his brown coat off his shoulders, and gripped the hem of his black turtleneck. "We don't have to do this." He gasped out of breath.

In response, I pulled the sweater over his head and then kissed him again straight away. Put all my longing, all my pain into that kiss - and finally he accepted it, putting so much more into it than I could have dreamed of.

Malio's hands wandered down my side and cupped my thighs. I hurriedly wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me to the half-demolished bed.

"This is crazy," he mumbled between kisses as his eyes fell on the ruined frame. "We just need the mattress!" I replied, grinning, failing to somehow get to his stupid belt buckle to do all of that to accelerate. To finally be able to meet the longing of my throbbing middle. "Jolien!" I heard him admonish. "Malio, shut up!" "You're in shock."

Did he actually want to discuss this now?

"I'm sane." I fidgeted awkwardly and he set me down. Without further ado, I slipped my hand down his pants and cupped his hard cock. "And I just want you to take me now."

His eyes flared dangerously. The pupils dilated suspiciously, making the ice blue eyes appear darker. But no less attractive. i loved those eyes Loved the desire I aroused in them.

He took a step towards me, cupped my face roughly and pressed his lips to mine greedily. Certainly he pushed me back a few steps - straight to the bed.

When my calves hit the edge of the bed, I paused, breaking the kiss with a heavy heart and looking at him expectantly. Malio exhaled and gently pushed me into the pillows. Grinning, I scrambled to the headboard as he grabbed my ankles and pulled me back to the edge of the bed.

"Where do you want to go?" His hand wandered up my leg and undid the button of my jeans. With a jerk he pulled the annoying fabric from my legs. In the meantime I slipped my sweater over my head and undid the red bra. I stared up at him, cheeks burning with excitement.

"Have you got condoms?" he asked quietly before looking around in the semi-darkness of the room. I shook my head and asked in surprise: "Don't you have any?" When he looked at me confused, I laughed. Malio always seemed overly correct to me when it came to birth control and then he didn't have any with him today of all days? That shouldn't be true.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting to have sex today!" he half-defended himself. "Great, now what?" "There are other options," Malio breathed as he dropped to his knees and wrapped my legs over his shoulders.

He kissed up my left thigh. centimeter by centimetre. His lips neared my panties and I could already feel the heat gathering there.

His eyes went up to my face as he slowly pulled my panties off my hips and I made a sound that was somewhere between a whimper and a groan.

I watched Malio expectantly as he lowered his head back between my legs. The feathery touch of his tongue grazing my sensitive spot nearly drove me insane. I bucked and moaned out loud his name.

Malio gripped my thighs roughly, spreading them even further apart with ease. He moaned deeply at the sight in front of him and the vibration it created and brushed my clit made me moan even louder. My hands found his hair the moment he entered me with his tongue. Involuntarily I pressed him even tighter to my waist. Because I wanted more, so much more.

The heat inside me was building inexorably. Came over me with such force that I started shaking uncontrollably. My whole body trembled. Took me to a whole new level.

"Malio.", his gaze met mine. His lips were wet and his eyes were still glowing dangerously.

"Sleep with me." I demanded, gasping for breath. "We don't have a condom." I grabbed his hand resolutely, "We don't need that either." I hesitated, unsure of how to interpret the expression that was now forming on his face. "Well, only if you want," I added hastily . "Are you serious?" "I'm on the pill," I answered cautiously. "Do you really want that?" "Have you slept with another woman since we broke up?" I whispered the question so quietly that I wasn't sure if he could even understand it.

But I just had to know.

He hesitated. Eyed me for a few seconds before leaning over me. His thighs spread my legs even further apart. The ice blue eyes held me captive until he said the redeeming word. "No." My heart leapt with joy and I rested my forehead against his, my pelvis pressing against his. "Please do it."

He hastily grabbed the waistband of his jeans. With a quick movement he got rid of the annoying stuff that still separated our pleasure centers from each other. I felt his hardness rub against my thigh.

Before Malio slowly pushed his way into me, piece by piece, he looked deep into my eyes. When he finally found himself inside me, his muscles tensed and he bit his lower lip excitedly. "You're so damn tight!" He stays in that position for a few seconds, giving me the time I needed to get used to his size.

Malio's right hand placed next to my head while his left slipped under my butt, changing the angle at which seconds later he was shaking my body. I had involuntarily cried out loud when he had suddenly and completely unexpectedly pulled himself out of me and with a violent thrust had penetrated me again. Took me so hard it made me dizzy.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly before kissing the crook of my neck. I nodded and he grinned evilly. His tongue licked my neck as he picked up the pace. I dug my fingernails into his back, moaning with each of his deep ones and hard bumps, bumps that squeaked the bed against the wall.

"Malio, look at me." The heat inside me was getting bigger, spreading soothingly inside me. I felt that I was only seconds away from my climax.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, needing something to cling to, and he ignited me in a state of ecstasy. He straightened up a little to comply with my request and looked me straight in the eye. "I love you too." I breathed softly.

Malio's eyes widened, his mouth finding mine again, forcing itself brutally inside, circling my tongue wildly. His erection seemed to have gotten even harder at my words. We both moaned loudly and indignantly as he kept penetrating me.

Just kept taking me through my orgasm, making my moans progressively louder. My walls closed around his throbbing cock and he eventually spilled deep inside me.

J O L I E N

Malio's words echoed in my head.

I had to watch, I had to watch...

The cruelty that lay within them was hard to grasp and yet so palpable. It was reflected in every inch of his face. In every fiber of his body. The loss had always been there, buried in the depths of his dark soul. Covered by the arrogance and brutal self-confidence he had trained over the years.

His body trembled, his hands were clenched into fists, and tears glistened in his eyes, clouded with sorrow. He had dropped the mask he had worn like a shield for years.

I puked off, ignoring the fact that the man across from me seemed just as broken at the moment as the house we were in. My arms wrapped around him in a comforting hug and for an agonizingly long moment he just stood there, muscles tense and I already feared I'd lost him to the darkness and the sadness raging inside him - but then he returned mine Hug. His face buried itself in the crook of my neck. Left wet patches on the skin there while his body suddenly trembled.

Malio cried.

This statement broke my heart even more and all the resentment about his behavior that had been building up in the last few weeks dissolved into thin air. "I'm so sorry," I whispered softly, failing miserably to offer him the comfort he needed to bear this loss. A loss that was impossible to bear.

I didn't know how long we stayed in this position, at some point his heartbeat calmed down and the tight hug he was holding me in relaxed noticeably.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered cautiously. "We don't have time for that," Malio replied after a while. I felt my heart grow heavier. A part of me was hoping he would have the confidence to tell me about it, but I also knew that in this case my disappointment was unfair.

He gently broke away from the hug to look me straight in the face. Malio ran the back of his hand down my cheek and it wasn't until he whispered softly, "Shh, calm down babe." I realized I was crying too.

He tenderly wiped the tears from my face and leaned his forehead against mine. "I promise I'll tell you everything when we have time. There shouldn't be any more secrets, but we really have something important to do now. Look at this." He took my hand, wrapped it in his warm fingers and led me straight into the living room.

"What's that?" I stared in horror at the characters written in bright red paint directly above the couch. "Is that Chinese?" I couldn't figure out what Chinese writing was doing on our living room wall.

"Don't stand against us." Malio said and I gaped at him.

Did he speak Chinese?

"You can read that?" I pointed to the signs. He nodded, the familiar grin of hubris tugging at his lips. "Are you surprised?" "A little – I didn't know you spoke Chinese," I admitted with a shrug. I was genuinely surprised. But even more than that, I was impressed. "You don't know a lot about me, Jolien," his smirk became even broader, "But rest assured, you will have time to discover all my hidden talents because I will not let you go again. Never, do you hear?" I nodded and let him pull me into my arms. I inhaled his incomparable scent and almost didn't hear his next statement. "But there is someone you should talk to."

I looked up in surprise. His cheeky grin was gone and he looked past me with a serious expression, straight at the message on the wall.

A message that I had absolutely nothing to do with. I had no idea what they meant, much less who they were or what they wanted from us.

"What do you mean?" I searched his gaze, but his eyes were still fixed on the wall. The expression on his face was still unreadable I'm afraid it's too late for that now - because if what this message suggests is confirmed, your ignorance will be even more dangerous." I felt myself starting to tremble and it seemed like something supernatural was sucking the oxygen out of the room. I gasped involuntarily as I barely murmured, "You think my father's in trouble?"

"No Jolien." Malio paused auspiciously and fixed his gaze directly on my face again. Our eyes met and after a moment's pause he said, "I don't think your father is in trouble." I let out a breath of relief, having stopped so excited. "I know he's in trouble and it's not trouble as you know it, Jolien. We're talking about difficulties that could cost lives." I swallowed hard, shattering any hopes I had with that statement.

"You need to speak to Lynn." "Lynn?" I felt my voice start to tremble. "He's Han Xing's right hand man and..." He paused again, giving me a moment to fully follow the conversation. "...he's my prisoner." Malio finally finished . I stared at him in disbelief, and he didn't even wait for a reaction from me, but was about to push me out of the living room.

"He is what? your prisoner? Malio, what did you do?" "Possibly a mistake," he openly admitted.

I spotted the black Lamborghini parked right in front of the driveway. The expensive car, which, as on previous occasions, looked completely out of place, was half parked on the road and the driver's door was open - apparently he'd stormed straight out of the car without bothering to close it properly park or close the door behind you.

"How did you chase those guys away anyway?" I asked quietly, not really wanting an answer, but there were so many thoughts swirling around in my head right now that I just had to say them all out loud.

"First to your first question," he pointed to the passenger door. "Get in," he added unnecessarily.

What else did he think I was up to? Walk all the way? Not to mention that I didn't even know where a hotel was here, let alone how to get there.

"I've spent the last few weeks questioning his men. When I got no answers, I kidnapped Lynn. He's Han Xing's right-hand man, if anyone knows anything about Elena's hit job, it's him. "What? Are you crazy Malio?" I looked at him indignantly as I collapsed onto the seat. "Don't interrupt me, Jolien," he said sharply. "That does not matter. The problem is that he knows your father and he only wants to give you the information he has about him. "

"You mean..." He nodded and met my eyes briefly before averting his eyes and turning to the ignition switch. "He wants to speak to you and given this message, you should do the same." "But he's definitely dangerous." His laughter filled the cab and he leaned over to me.

"Yes he is, but you know what Jolien? I'm even more dangerous when it comes to your well-being." He put his hand on my cheek. "And you don't think I'll leave you alone with him for a single second, do you?" Malio's hand went to my neck, grabbed roughly and brought my face closer to his. "I'll be there. Every second. By your side. Right where I should have been for the last few weeks." His lips pressed against mine hard and I knew he meant business. Malio would be there - and he would be this time.

***

If someone had told me a few hours ago that I was going to sleep with Malio tonight, I probably would have laughed and thought that person completely insane - and yet here I was in his arms. Wasn't as close to him as she had been in a long time.

"I'm going to break up with Soela and call off the engagement today," I heard him murmur under his breath as he stroked my hair. "It was a huge mistake. This whole farce of constantly pushing you away from me. I was so stupid I'm so sorry Jolien I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." He looked down at me and chuckled slightly as he watched me rub his pecs. "You just wanted to protect me. You tried to do the right thing." I replied, panting heavily, because looking into those ice blue eyes took my breath away every time.

"I did everything wrong. I always hurt the people who mean everything to me. I just... No, I just couldn't lose someone else important in my life." I straightened up a bit, gently propping myself up on his chest. "What do you mean another omeone?" Malio's eyes widened in surprise. Apparently he had just realized that in the intimacy that existed between us at that moment, he might have said something he didn't want to say.

"Never mind," he said defensively. I sensed he was trying to avoid me, but that only piqued my curiosity even more. "Malio, you can talk to me," my eyes lingering intently on his. "I know, but we don't have time for that right now." He gently pushed me aside, stood up and collected his things from the floor. I watched him in silence for a while, when he finally threw my things on the bed and me with one single decisive look asked me to do the same, gave me defeat for the time being.

The fact that he was hiding something from me again hurt me. Sighing, he came up to me, kissed me on the lips and murmured, "I'll tell you later, I promise. But first you have to get out of here. Maybe they'll come back." I nodded, finally knowing he was right - even if part of my ego didn't want to admit it.

"Where am I supposed to go?" I looked around my half-ruined room. The new furniture, which wasn't even a year old, was lying in pieces on the floor. The desk, the chest of drawers, the curtains. Everything was destroyed. "I'll take you to a hotel." Malio held the travel bag open to me: “Pack the essentials together. And Jolien.." He looked at me intently, "Hurry up." Apparently the situation was even more serious than I had estimated, otherwise I could not explain Malio's pushing.

I hastily put on the jeans and sweater that Malio had dropped on my lap. I slipped on my boots and then scurried to the closet to fill the duffel bag with sweaters, jeans, socks, and underwear of all kinds. I didn't pay much attention to the various items of clothing that found their way into the holdall - Malio was putting way too much pressure on me with his constant throat clearing. "Are you ready? You can leave the school things here. I'll get them later and bring them to you.” “Malio, who were they? What did they want?” I asked, terrified as the images of the attack flooded my mind. "I think it had something to do with your father."

I couldn't believe that. But how far off was it? After everything I had already seen? After all the lies my father had already told me?

"But my father isn't even here." I let Malio pull me down the stairs. Horrified, I paused for a moment, staring in bewilderment at the walls, whose pictures had been torn down, at the holes from the beatings with the baseball bats and all the glass in the picture frames crunching under our shoes.All the furniture in the hallway had been completely destroyed.They didn't even spare the windows.Our house was a huge battlefield.

At the bottom of the stairs, Malio noticed that I had stopped. He stopped as well, turned around and took my face in his hands. "Don't you think it's strange that this happens when your father isn't here? Jolien, do you want to know what your father is hiding?"

What was that question? Of course I wanted that!

"Can you handle the truth too?" he added seriously while his hard gaze rested on my face. His sudden change in personality unsettled me. "Malio...", I took a deep breath. "Do you know anything?" Groaning, she took her hands off my face and nervously ran a hand through her black hair a few times.

"Not me," he finally answered. For some reason, I sensed there was something more. That statement wasn't the end - and it was. Because after taking a deep breath, he continued: " I actually don't know what exactly your father is hiding, but I know the warehouse he was in the other day." He grabbed his hair again and took a step back. "But I really hope it has nothing to do with the people there. I sincerely hope for you and your family that it is not what it seems. That there is a plausible explanation for all this. A statement in which no blood was spilled and will remain so in the future." His words scared me. A fear that made my throat tighten and yet I wanted to know more.

"Who are these people?" Malio smiled wryly and I didn't think it was possible for this fear to swell inside me and yet it happened at that moment. The raging fear in me bundled into a new one, yet Worse sensation Panic So threatening and possessive that I felt like I could only experience this choking panic for the rest of my life.

"It's an old Chinese family. The worst in the state. They are ruthless, manipulative and brutal. They're dangerous, maybe even more dangerous than the La Cruels and us together." Malio explained in a serious voice. "How do you know all this?" He paused. A long pause in which he seemed to revel in the past. In a painful past

Deep sadness lay like a veil over his ice-blue eyes. I grabbed his hand. A gesture that should give him the necessary courage to say what was obviously like a heavy stone on the tip of his tongue. "I know because they killed my sister." It only took one sentence, nine words and forty-two letters to understand Malio properly the first time. To understand why he was the way he was. Cold. Emotionless and unapproachable.

A pained expression crossed his pale face as he breathed the next words in a pained voice: "And I had to watch."