HELENA’S POVI was hearing words that I did not understand, coming from a certain person that even confused me more. I shot him an odd look, but his face remained impassive.“Do you – do you like me or something?” I asked him “Is that why you stalked me here? To kiss me? How did you – how did you know I was here?”His eyes met mine directly and unwavering “I overheard your conversation with Dante and honestly before I heard that I had already planned to kiss you at midnight, good thing I just knew where to find you – a lot magic in that midnight kiss I hear?”My mouth dropped and I couldn’t fathom words except the pulsating anger that was coursing through me“I think you need to lay off the drugs because you must be out of your goddamn mind? Are you fucking crazy” I yelled at him and his blank slightly amused stare only infuriated me further “You know what? I can’t deal with this right now, I need to find Dante”I pushed him out of the way but he held me back “Don’t go after him”“Wh
HELENA’S POV“And there’s nothing going on with you and Matteo” Dante rapped behind me when we reached the house and he trailed me up to my room, his presence behind felt like a looming darkness but one that I surprisingly sought comfort inI turned around to face him, unintentionally colliding with his rock hard chest and I stepped back, a sly smirk on my face “Are you worried that your cousin has more charm than you?”Dante’s face darkened, his mouth forming a thin line “Matteo fancies you, it’s obvious that he does”“I have no interest in him” I stepped forward towards him, my hands intricately working through his buttons and undoing them slowly, one after the other and a deliberateness to my actions. When I got to last button, my engagement ring slightly grazed Dante’s skin and he grabbed my hands.I inhaled a shaky breath.“I’m going to kill Matteo” he said, so softly, so calmly like he was talking about a trip to the city and not about killing someone.“He’s your cousin”Then I
HELENA’S POVI kissed him for hours, fucked him till I was sore, and there was a reminder of him inside me and when my eyes fluttered open the next morning with the sun streaming mildly through the window and, I found Dante staring at me.“We’re getting married” he said softly and it didn’t hit me yet until I suddenly sprang with my hair falling over my face.“You weren’t joking?” I shot my eyes to him, running my hands through my messy bed hair, a slight flash of Dante pulling my hair while he plowed into me.“Why would I joke with something like that”“But - !” I jumped down from the bed and began pacing the room “I don’t have a dress, we don’t have a venue, my mother doesn’t know about it – what of a wedding cake? We have to at least have a wedding cake”Dante kept his gaze constant on me while I ranted.“You don’t need a wedding dress, you’re perfect just like this” he said to me with a flinty gaze and I looked down at myself, I had managed to slip on a skimpy night dress the prev
HELENA’S POV“Me – I object this wedding” Her voice, soft but piercing, cut through the ceremony like a blade.The silence was deafening and I could hear the ringing in my ears while Gianna shifted her gaze from me to Dante, a sly smirk playing on her lips.“Darling you don’t have to get married to her again, I’m back now and for good” she said to him, and when I looked at Dante he looked like he had seen a ghost, eyes wide and with a certain paleness to his looks.I felt my heart lurch in my chest. The pounding was so loud, I swore everyone in the room could hear it. My gaze shot to Dante again, desperate to see something in his expression—some sign that he was unwavering, that he was committed to us.The confliction was there, I could see it. He was frozen, his eyes darting between me and Gianna, his jaw tight, as if he were battling some internal war. My stomach dropped as I watched his silence stretch on, and a cold wave of dread washed over me. He wasn’t speaking. He wasn’t sayin
HELENA’S POVI had taken out the claw veil from my hair and flung it on the patio table, but my hair remained in a French weave behind me with little tendrils framing my face. I stood on the patio, my chest heaving up and down as I faced the pool. My hands trembled with anxiety as everyone’s warning kept coming to my head, reminding me what a stupid girl I’d been. I wish I’d listened, I wish I’d listened and I hadn’t gone ahead to fall in love stupidly in love with him. He was going to go back to her, oh who was I kidding? He loved her, he always had and I had always been the one to pass time.I wiped a furious tear from my ears, unable to hold my emotions together. My chest was tight and felt hollow, my eyes brimmed with tears that I couldn’t control and I wanted to run away, go back to Paris or wherever it was that I would never lay my eyes on him again.”Helena” I heard his voice softly behind me and I whipped around, and he was the last person I expected up here. I shot him a wist
MATTEO’S POV“You said you had it under control!!” Gianna roared at me, her eyes flashing angrily. She paced the balcony of the hotel she stayed anxiously, picking nervously at her nails. I recognized that act, the entire look on her face, it was the look of a losing battle. Dante was slipping through her fingers and she wasn’t having it.“I didn’t know he was down bad like that, I mean he should have folded the moment he set his eyes on you. I know it’s a bitter pill to swallow right now but maybe Dante doesn’t love you anymore – or – or just maybe he never did”Gianna’s neck shot to me with so much speed that I was scared it’ll break. I was seated at the patio with her, flicking a cigarette on the ash tray and nursing a half filled glass of hard liquor. It annoyed me that I had to cater to Gianna’s heart break and I was barely dealing with mine. I could never get the look of Helena’s face when she crumbled at the car dealer shop – it haunted me, ached at my chest, causing a deep yea
HELENA’S POVI was spread out on one of the pool chairs in a pink bikini, my skin damp from the pool and now burning under the evening sun. The warmth seeped into my skin, warming the iciness out of me. it’d been two days since Dante and I got married and while the unbearable tension had managed to dissipate given ground to undeniable chemistry and never ending sex, I had also not set my eyes on Gianna, and I have been able to breathe well without the fear of her popping suddenly and snatching Dante from my hands.I took a sip from my drink, placing it back on the stool beside as I watched Dante emerge from the pool in nothing but a swimming trunk. His skin glistened under the sun, his wet hair fell over his dark eyes and when he flicked his gaze, I felt the familiar nervousness pitting its way into the depth of my stomach.“You’re looking like I could eat you right now, just laying there” he said as he approached me, then stooping low to press a sweet kiss to my lips. He tasted like
DANTE’S POVI felt my jaw dropped when I watched Helena walk down the stairs fully dressed. She had on a long flowing gown that accentuated her curves perfectly, her long hair cascaded down her back in flawless waves, her skin glowed under the dim light and I could stare at nothing but her red stained lips. Her eyes remained fixed on me as she walked down the stairs, a small smile playing on her lips which slowly morphed into a dirty smirk.When she reached me, she pressed her lips to my cheek as if placing her mark on me and declaring that I was hers, and I felt a bulge tighten in my pants. Oh, the things she does to me and at that moment I wanted nothing but to rip her pretty dress off and claim her even further, leaving my mark on various parts of her body. I could still see the bright red hickey on her neck, and it looked a little lonely. I grabbed her slim waist, pulling her to me so I could take in her intoxicating scent.I sniffed her neck, whispering in her ears “I can’t wait
Chapter: The Weight of Leaving“Leave?” I repeated, my voice barely above a whisper. The word tasted foreign on my tongue. “What do you mean, leave?”Matteo stood in the doorway, his tall frame silhouetted by the dim light filtering in from the living room. His expression was guarded, but I could see the tension in the way his hand repeatedly ran through his hair. “It’s not safe here anymore. Not for us. Not for Ava. The leaks, the attempts on my life… it’s escalating. There’s someone behind it, and I don’t think this is a war I’m ready to take. Not anymore.” He paused, his voice softening. “Especially now that I have people to consider—you and Ava.”The words hung in the air like a weight pressing down on my chest. I gripped the edge of the kitchen counter for support, feeling as though the ground beneath me had shifted. “Matteo, this is our home,” I said, my voice cracking. “It’s Ava’s home. We can’t just—”“We can,” he interrupted, his tone firm but not cruel. His dark eyes locked
HELENA’S POVFEW YEARS LATERIt was more than two years later, and I was still married to Matteo D’angelo, in fact we had a little girl now – Ava D’angelo and she was a splitting image of her father, they had the same piercing look, beautiful clear blue eyes but at least she had my hair.It was almost peaceful these past years, although I spent half of it looking over my shoulder thinking someone was going to sneak up behind me and press a cold hard pistol to my back, of course that never happened, apart from the few hiccups with the cartel and the company which by the way Matteo shielded me from – like I said it was almost peaceful but I could feel it in the air, like a smoke without fire, something was brewing and I could sense it. Matteo seemed more tense than usual, sometimes he went to bed still fully clothed, he mumbled in his sleep which wasn’t unusual but this time was different, he kept saying a name – Venza.The sky was a soft watercolor of blues and whites, with the occasio
Leadership wasn’t something you chose—it was something thrust upon you. After Dante’s death, it became clear who the next king of Algreen Cove was. The whispers had already started during the wedding reception, even as the gunfire echoed and the blood of Dante's last ploy stained the marble floors.Paulo had made his stance clear long ago. “I’m not cut out to lead,” he’d told me. And I believed him. Paulo was loyal, ruthless when necessary, and dependable in the trenches, but he didn’t have the vision or the temperament to run the cartel. That left the mantle of leadership squarely on my shoulders, a weight I had carried before I even realized I was strong enough to bear it.Two days had passed since the wedding. Two days of waking up beside Helena, the woman who had brought light back into my life in ways I hadn’t thought possible. She was mine now—my wife, the mother of the child growing inside her. I had her in my arms every morning, her soft brown eyes meeting mine as sunlight spi
HELENA’S POVA month later, it was my wedding day—a day I once thought I’d never experience again. Yet here I was, standing in the grand chapel with its towering stone walls, ancient wooden pews, and arched ceilings that seemed to stretch toward the heavens. The air was thick with the scent of lilies, and the soft hum of the organ echoed through the sacred space.Despite the joy and the wealth surrounding me, the past weeks had been tense. Every moment felt borrowed, every shadow held the potential for danger. Dante’s ghost lingered, not in whispers or memories, but in the palpable fear that someone, somewhere, was still following his orders. And yet, amidst it all, Matteo remained steadfast, his presence like a beacon guiding me through the storm.The flowing wedding dress hugged my body, a delicate lace overlay cascading down to the floor. Pearls lined my hair, glimmering like tiny moons against the soft waves. My hand instinctively rested on my abdomen, where a barely-there bump he
Two weeks passed since the night I stared at that little plus sign, and my world tilted on its axis. I'd managed to keep it to myself, burying the secret beneath a mask of normalcy. But today, as I stood in Vivianna’s hospital room, staring at her tiny, pink-faced daughter lying peacefully in the cot, I felt the weight of my silence crushing me.The words tumbled out before I could stop them. “I think I’m pregnant.”Vivianna whipped her head around, eyes wide in disbelief. “What do you mean you think you’re pregnant?”I sighed, wringing my hands together. “I am pregnant.”“For Dante?” she asked, her voice sharp and her gaze piercing.“No,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Matteo.”The name felt fragile in my mouth, as if saying it out loud might shatter something. Vivianna’s shock melted into something softer, though her brows still knit together.“And you ended things with him again because...?”“It’s complicated,” I said, pacing the room on quiet, restless steps. “Do you think
HELENA’S POVThe letter felt heavier in my trembling hands than it had any right to. I unfolded it slowly, the familiar scent of Dante—smoky, musky, and utterly suffocating—seeping out from the paper as if he had intended for it to linger. His handwriting sprawled across the page in bold, unapologetic strokes, commanding attention even in death.Helena,If you’re reading this, it means I’m dead.Congratulations. Or condolences. Whichever fits your mood better. If it’s Matteo who pulled the trigger—or ordered it—then he’s as much a fool as I’ve always thought him to be. But don’t think for a second that my death gives you freedom. You’ll never have freedom, not from me.Do you really think I’d allow you to be with him? Not in life, and certainly not in death. No, my darling, I’ve thought this through. I’ve ensured that if you ever dare to pursue a life with Matteo, there will be consequences. Dead men don’t just roll over, Helena, especially not me.I hired someone—a shadow, let’s call
HELENA’S POVThe city felt strange tonight—unusually quiet, like it knew what had happened. Even as I drove down the winding streets, tears streaking my face and my dress stiff with Dante’s blood, there was a hush that sat heavy in the air. It wasn’t peaceful, though. No, it was eerie, like the city itself mourned the life that had been snuffed out.Paulo had insisted I leave the hospital, promising me that Matteo would pull through. “Go home, rest,” he had said. “He’s going to be fine, I promise.”I wanted to believe him. I had to believe him.But Dante was dead. That fact alone had unraveled me.The man who had once held my heart so effortlessly and crushed it just as easily was gone. Dead. It didn’t feel real. He was larger than life, impossible to defeat, and yet, I’d seen his body sprawled on the ground. Despite everything he’d done—every cruel, merciless act—I couldn’t stop the ache that pulsed in my chest. A life had been lost, and no amount of hatred could erase the part of me
HELENA’S POVThe world had gone silent around me. My ears rang with the deafening echo of the gunshot, but my mind refused to process it. I crumpled to the floor, the weight of dread pinning me down. I couldn’t open my eyes. I didn’t want to.What if he was gone?What if Dante had finally done it?My heart pounded erratically, each beat clawing at my ribs as if it wanted to burst free. Somewhere in the haze, I expected Dante’s taunting voice—his self-assured arrogance slicing through the tension like it always did. But there was nothing. Just an eerie, suffocating quiet.My hands trembled as I forced my eyes open, and when I did, the sight before me turned my blood to ice.Dante was sprawled on the ground, a crimson pool spreading beneath him, staining the earth like a macabre halo. His lifeless eyes stared at nothing, the usual malice in them extinguished. I blinked rapidly, trying to piece together what I was seeing.“W-What…” My voice cracked as I struggled to comprehend.Then I sa
MATTEO’S POVHelena didn’t look back.She gave me a single glance as she stepped through the grand entrance of the masked ball, her red dress shimmering under the low lights like spilled wine. It was a glance meant to reassure, but all it did was tighten the knot in my stomach. As she disappeared into the crowd, I stayed behind, lingering by the car, letting the cool night air ground me.There was a heaviness to the night, a thickness in the air that clung to my skin like smoke. People filed into the hall, their laughter and idle chatter masking the tension beneath their ornate feathers and flashy masks. They came here to escape, to lose themselves in the decadence and mystery of the night.But I had no intention of hiding.My mask was a reflection of who I truly was—dark, daunting, and utterly unafraid. It wasn’t meant to conceal but to intimidate, to remind anyone who dared look too long that I wasn’t here to play their games. I was here for one thing, and one thing only.To kill Da