Chapter 1 A Night Without Return

Victoria tapped her fingers against the steering wheel while the engine remained on. Outside, the rain pounded relentlessly on the windshield, as if urging her to move. It was the fourth time this year she had waited for a call from the clinic, and the fear of hearing the same verdict again had her on the verge of collapse.

"Victoria, my love, no matter what happens, you're not alone. Did they tell you anything yet? I'm going crazy waiting."

Eder's voice echoed through the car's speaker, heavy with tension. Victoria swallowed hard. Her hands trembling, she opened the email on her phone where the lab had sent her the results. The moment she read the first lines; her soul went dark. There was no need to say a word: her cry burst out violently, uncontrollably, while the phone remained in the palm of her hand.

«Negative.»

"I can't do this, Eder..." Victoria murmured, her voice faint. "I won't be a mother. I'm almost thirty. I don't even know why I keep trying."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.

"Don't say that, please. It's not your fault, and you're not alone," Eder replied firmly, though his voice carried a note of pain. "If it can't happen one way, we'll find another."

"But I want to have a child! " she cried, slamming her hand against the steering wheel. "I want to live it! I don't want to give up."

She took a breath with effort.

"My sister mentioned some vitamins, and there are options, I know that. I won't give up, Eder. I swear to you, I'll do everything I can. "

Her tears returned, quieter this time, without bursting. Just a couple of them slipping down her cheeks as she watched the rain slide down the glass.

"I'm with you, Victoria. Whatever you decide, I'll be there," Eder tried to lift her spirits. "Don't cry, my love, I beg you. We'll have a child, trust me. Now go home... Put on the most beautiful dress you own, get ready, make yourself even more stunning than you already are. We're going out for dinner."

Victoria shot him a glare.

"Dinner? Are we going to celebrate that we're not parents?"

Eder stood up and extended his hand to her, inviting her to rise.

"Don't say that my love. You need a distraction. Tonight, will be unforgettable."

***

At the city's renowned steakhouse, an impeccably dressed waiter approached with the menu in hand.

"Waiter, bring me the best wine in the house. " He looked at his wife with a conspiratorial smile.

Victoria returned the smile, feeling the warmth of his love in every gesture.

"I need to fix my makeup; my eyes must be swollen." She headed to the ladies' room.

Eder took a pair of glasses and poured the wine slowly. However, he added a special touch to hers. When he said the night would be unforgettable, he meant it.

Dinner unfolded amid laughter and a lighthearted atmosphere. After a few glasses of wine, Victoria seemed to leave behind the sorrow of not being able to have children.

"Eder, darling..." Victoria reached out beneath the table, seeking her husband's hand. "Eder..."

He looked up, noticing the sudden hesitation in her voice.

"Tell me, love, what is it? "

Victoria blinked several times, as if trying to focus her vision.

"I... I don't feel well. I don't think I should drink any more..." She brought a hand to her temple. "I feel dizzy..."

Eder immediately stood and circled the table to her side. He took her hand with apparent concern and helped her to her feet.

The moment their bodies met; Victoria collapsed in his arms. Unconscious.

Exactly as Eder had planned.

***

In a luxurious hotel room, Salvatore shifted abruptly into bed and felt a warm shape beside him. He frowned, turned on the main lamp, and the moment he saw what lay next to him, he shot upright. Blood rushed to his head, and a furious heat surged through his body.

" Who the hell is this woman?"

He looked her up and down, and a shiver ran down his spine.

She was wearing a sensual red lace set that highlighted her perfect, natural, almost unreal figure. Her lips, painted in a deep crimson, matched her skin tone.

"She must be a damn prostitute," he thought with contempt.

Without bothering to cover more than necessary, he punched in the door code and stormed into the hallway, half-naked, shouting in fury.

"Who brought her?" His voice boomed with authority as his men looked at each other in bewilderment. "Who put that bitch in my bed? I didn't ask for any damn service tonight! "

None of his men answered, not even Jordano, his right-hand man, who frowned without fully understanding what was happening.

"Sir, what do you mean?"

Salvatore glared at him.

"Tell me, Jordano, did you bring a prostitute tonight?" Because I didn't ask for anything.

"No, of course not, sir. What's going on?"

"That there's a naked woman in my bed," Salvatore growled, each word filled with fury.

The men looked at each other, even more confused. Salvatore shook his head irritated and returned to the room. Whoever that woman was, he had to get her out of there immediately.

He walked over to the bed and took her arm, shaking her firmly to wake her up. The woman opened her eyes slowly, and as soon as her mind seemed to connect with her body, an immediate change came over her.

Her breathing became heavy, her skin bristled, and a scorching heat ran through her. Her nipples hardened, and her body began to respond in a way she didn't understand.

"Love... what's wrong? Where are we? " She asked confused, feeling an urgent and uncontrollable need.

Salvatore tensed his jaw and looked away from his exposed skin.

"Go away. I have not requested your services," he said coldly, pointing to the door without daring to look at it again.

But the woman shook her head, confused.

"No... spouse... I... "

Victoria blinked, her vision still blurry, but her body burned. He looked at Salvatore, or rather, looked at the prominent bulge under his boxers, and, unable to help himself, licked his lips.

Salvatore gritted his teeth, feeling like he was losing control. The stranger was completely naked in front of him.

"I warned her to leave," he growled, grabbing her arm with the intention of pulling her out of the room.

But Victoria did not see him as a stranger, in her altered mind, that imposing and furious man was her husband.

"Eder... Please..." she murmured in a broken voice, clutching her chest.

Salvatore froze. Eder? His cunning subordinate?

His jaw tightened as he felt his hands running down his bare torso. The heat that emanated from her body was scorching, her skin seemed lit up and her aroma...

Salvatore closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath.

"Honey, make me yours, I feel Oh, please! I feel like I'm burning," Victoria was trying to reach for him to touch him.

"Don't call me honey, go away, I don't like prostitutes,"

"You're a tough boy, I like it," Victoria, consumed by the immense desire that ran through her body, and the desire to be possessed, continued acting as if it were a game.

Salvatore looked her up and down, swallowed whole, and maddened by the need that also ignited inside him, he took Victoria by the arm and wanted to take her by force.

"Go away, please." Salvatore kept insisting, but Victoria kept seducing him.

Salvatore felt like he was going to explode. The air became thick, his body tensed. He was too excited, too consumed by the addictive feeling that this unknown woman emanated.

"Honey, look at me..." Victoria gasped eagerly. "I wish you very much. Don't leave me like this... Make me yours once and for all."

Victoria hung on to his neck, her lips seeking his with desperate hunger, kissing him against his will.

That was too much for him. The caresses, Victoria's excitement, her shameless dedication... and the months of dark celibacy that ate away at him.

He looked her up and down, and a shiver ran down his spine.

She was wearing a sensual red lace set that highlighted her perfect, natural, almost unreal figure. Her lips, painted in a deep crimson, matched her skin tone.

He gave in.

He seized her with force, overtaken by an unrestrainable passion. That night, he made her his.

With lust, with longing, with the intensity of a man who had always denied himself the touch of strangers. But Victoria did not behave like just any woman. And he had no idea when exactly he had ended up in her arms.

***

Salvatore's eyes flew open. He remembered what had happened the night before and let out a frustrated sigh. He turned his head and squirmed.

It hadn't been a dream.

Beside him, the woman he had slept with lay sound asleep. She was completely naked. But what disturbed him the most was the expression on her face. It wasn't the look of a prostitute satisfied with her payment. It was the expression of an innocent woman, unaware of the disaster she had just walked into.

"Shit!" he whispered, running a hand down his face.

He got up immediately, pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of soft cotton pants, and left the room to look for Eder. He needed to investigate who this woman truly was, to make sure she wasn't a spy sent by the enemy.