INSATIABLE CRAVINGS
Insatiable Cravings – Episode 133
Subtitle; {Loving You Is A Loosing Game}
TAGS: Age-gap, Mafia, Forbidden Love, Drama, Tragedy and Betrayal.
Settings: United Kingdom, Russia and others.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
~ Dominic ~
The sky was still dark when I left the bed.
Genevieve lay curled on her side, the duvet tangled loosely around her legs, her breathing soft and even. One arm was stretched across the empty space I’d left, as if she’d been reaching for me in her sleep. Sleep I’d only managed to coax her into barely two and a half hours ago—with the promise that I’d wake her before I left.
I stood there longer than I should have. Watching her. Missing her—even though I hadn’t yet left.
She looked so bloódy peaceful. Like the chaós outside hadn’t found its way in. Like there weren’t men out there who might húrt her just to puñish me.
I didn’t deserve her. God knows I didn’t. But that’s never stopped me from needing her like I need air.
I was already dressed—brownish-red hoodie, matching joggers, something warm enough for the early chill. I’d brushed my hair back, though I still looked exactly how I felt: knackered, grim, and not nearly ready.
My phone buzzed on the bedside table.
One of the guards. Car was ready.
I silenced it. Still not ready.
My gaze shifted back to her. Still here. Still breathing. Still mine. If I walked out without waking her, she’d be livid. She’d worry. She always worried.
So I sat on the edge of the bed and gently ran my fingers through her hair. She stirred, a soft whimper escaping her lips.
“Baby,” I murmured against her cheek. Even half-asleep, she leaned into me instinctively.
I smiled.
“Vixen. Come on.” I kissed her face again—soft, coaxing. She groaned in protest, a sleepy whine rising from her throat, but then her eyes blinked open and found mine instantly. “Good morning, my love.”
Her drowsy gaze swept over me, slowly registering the clothes, the silence, the hour. She sat up sharply. “You’re leaving now?”
I nodded.
She looked toward the window. Still dark. “But it’s barely daybreak.”
“Early flight, baby.”
“Aren’t you taking your plane?”
“I am.”
She frowned, confused—and a little bit húrt. “I thought we’d have breakfast together.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So you’re not eating until you land?”
“I will—”
“Don’t lie to me, Dominic,” she interrupted, cutting straight through it. “You never eat when you’re anxious.”
“I will this time.”
She huffed. “You’re such a terrible liar sometimes.” Genevieve sat up, hair mussed, wearing nothing but my shirt and the storm in her eyes. “I’ll make you a sandwich or something—”
“Baby.” I took her face in my hands. “Like you said, I’m anxious. If I put anything in my mouth right now, I’ll throw it straight back up.” I brushed the strands from her face, gentle. “I promise I’ll eat once I land in Turkey.”
“Pinky promise?”
I laughed softly. “Pinky promise.”
Her feet touched the floor, and she stepped closer, arms folding around herself. “I’m not going to lie to you—I’m scared. Really, really scared.”
God, me too.
Scared this whole thing’s a wild goose chase. Scared Viktor’s a step ahead. Scared he’ll come for her. For Rory. For the people I can’t lose.
Her voice trembled. “You will come back, right?”
“Of course.”
“But you always say that,” she whispered, voice breaking. “What if one day you don’t? What if it’s today? Or tomorrow?”
I held her face again. “Then you’ll never know. Because I’ll find a way back. I swear it.”
Echo had traced one of Viktor’s men to Istanbul. A financial transaction—coded, buried, messy. But it reeked of him. Sloppy. Angry. That made him reckless. And reckless men left footprints.
I’d follow them. Even into héll.
A tear slid down her cheek. Her voice cracked. “If anything happens to you… I don’t think I’ll súrvive it.”
“Genevieve,” I breathed, aching, “I’ll come back to you. Even if I have to crawl.”
“Promise?”
I nodded, throat too tight to speak. But she shook her head.
“No. I want you to say it. And mean it.”
“I promise you, I will come back to you,” I said, clear and certain.
Something shifted in her. Her breath caught. Then she nodded, slowly, eyes searching mine. Whatever she saw there must have steadied her.
Then I kissed her like a dying man. Because that’s what it felt like. Her lips clung to mine, desperate and warm. Her fingers fisted the front of my hoodie like she could keep me here with just her grip.
But I pulled away. Gently. “Stay safe, alright?”
She nodded. “You too.”
She sniffled and wrapped her arms around me again, tight—so tight I could barely breathe. “You’d better come back. If you don’t, I’ll kíll you. And then I’ll kíll myself.”
“Understood.” I smiled, even though it hurt. “Just… don’t call or text before I do, alright?”
She nodded again, wiping her eyes.
“Good girl.” I kissed her forehead and lingered there. “I love you. So, so much.”
•••
The air outside was bitterly cold, biting through the fabric of my clothes as I stepped into the corridor. The lift arrived with a hollow ding that echoed far too loudly in the quiet.
Benji joined me without a word as I slid into the car. His silence was a comfort. I didn’t want words.
London was waking up. So was Istanbul. Somewhere in that fractured city, a man existed who might be the thread that led me back to Viktor.
I’d pull it until the bastard unraveled.
✷✷✷✷
Now – Bodrum, Turkey.
The coastal wind lashed at me—sharp, salt-heavy, tugging at my coat. Waves slammed into the rocks below with relentless fury as I moved up the path in silence.
I had eyes on the man.
He was just ahead, moving with the awkward caution of someone who suspects he’s being followed but doesn’t want to believe it. Not yet.
Let him stew in it.
Let the feàr crawl up his spine.
I could’ve taken him there. One shót. Done. But I needed answers. I needed Viktor. I needed this bàstard alive.
He disappeared into an old shed at the edge of the cliff. Disused. Perfect.
I crouched behind a crumbling wall. My pulse was steady. Breath even. And then, a whisper—not out loud. In my head.
“Please… be safe.” Her voice. Soft. Fractured.
I pushed it down.
I had a job to do.
I crept forward, pressing myself against the wall of the shed. Inside, I could hear him—muttering in Russian, tense. Paranoid. Good. He was afraid.
He should be.
I caught Viktor’s name. And something else: tomorrow.
Planning a strike?
A shipment?
Something worse?
I kicked the door in. He froze. Reached for something.
Wrong move.
I slammed him against the wall, wrenched the weàpon from his grip, pressed my forearm to his throat.
“Where’s Viktor?”
“I don’t—”
Wrong answer.
I hít him again, harder. “Try again.”
He spat bloód. Laughed. “Shoót. He’ll do the same to your little girlfriend.” His eyes glittered. “Oh wait. Fiancée, isn’t it? Or maybe he’ll go for your sister.”
Ice slid through my veins.
“What’s he planning?”
The bastàrd hesitated. “Something big.”
Then—I heard it. Click.
Suppressor.
Sníper.
I yanked him sideways as the bullét skimmed his shoulder. Another one missed me.
I ducked out the back, firéd twice. No body. No sniper. Just shadows.
This wasn’t an assassinatíon. It was a warning.
A taunt.
I cúrsed under my breath and pulled out my phone, fingers shaking.
Me: I’m done here, so I’m heading back to London. Please, Genevieve—please—don’t ever, and I repeat, ever stray from your security’s path.
Then to Rory.
Me: I’ll be home in a few hours. If you need to go out, stay in your guard’s line of sight. Got it?
No replies needed.
They’d listen. They’d trust me.
The crunch of footsteps on gravel reached my ears, and I turned to see Benji and the other five men approaching, breath coming in heavy, uneven bursts.
“Did you catch him?” I asked.
“Yes, Boss,” Benji replied, the first to speak while the others stood in silence, heads bowed, eyes deliberately avoiding mine. “But he managed to get hold of one of our gúns. Shót himself.” He dropped his gaze before adding quietly, “He’s deàd.”
Déad.
My blóody lead to Viktor—gone, just like that.
Dàmn it.
I’ll give him this—his men’s loyalty are unwaveringly strong. Suicidàlly so.
But then again… so is my determination to get my hands on him.
And the question now is: how long can he really hide?
I don’t care how long he hides. I’ll find him.
Even if it’s the last thing I ever do.
TBC📖✍️
