The silence in the waiting room outside Serena’s private room was heavy, pregnant with pain, with hope and somewhere below, the uncertainty of death which lingered in the room. The Delnos had had Louis’ fiancée shifted into a room which had all the extras he wished for her. Huge, spacious and clean.Like a suite in a luxury hotel.The hospital room was dimly lit, bathed in the low hum of machines and the steady, rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. In the middle of the sterile white room lay Serena Kingston—still, pale, and heartbreakingly fragile. Tubes ran from her nose and arms, machines breathing for her, measuring the faint flickers of life still pulsing beneath her skin. Her flame coloured hair was spread across the pillow like a shadow, her face too tranquil, if such a thing was possible, as if asleep in a place far from here.Louis Delano sat at her bedside, elbows on his knees, fingers laced so tightly his knuckles had gone white. His eyes, ringed with sleepless nights, di
Bianca walked into the visitor’s private room in the hospital where Serena was lying, still in a coma. The moment she entered, she noticed the group huddled in the corner, speaking in low tones.The words “Mumma” and “Rudenko” alerted her.Something big had happened. Jamie turned to look at her, her face pink from weeping and she threw herself into Bianca’s startled arms.“Mumma…” she sobbed hysterically,” That Rudenko woman…called Mumma yesterday…”Bianca felt her heart go out to he smiling, pleasant and beautiful matriarch of the Delano family. She had always been kind and caring and she could imagine how the call must have disturbed poor Proserpina.And quick on the heels of that thought came another,How had the Don reacted?The curvy Bianca had spoken to her Masters in the morning, for they had called her. Both the men wanted to know how she was and, most importantly, they wanted to see Cian. So she had done a video call and added archly that Montenegro looked very historical ind
Bianca walked into the visitor’s private room in the hospital where Serena was lying, still in a coma. The moment she entered, she noticed the group huddled in the corner, speaking in low tones.The words “Mumma” and “Rudenko” alerted her.Something big had happened. Jamie turned to look at her, her face pink from weeping and she threw herself into Bianca’s startled arms.“Mumma…” she sobbed hysterically,” That Rudenko woman…called Mumma yesterday…”Bianca felt her heart go out to he smiling, pleasant and beautiful matriarch of the Delano family. She had always been kind and caring and she could imagine how the call must have disturbed poor Proserpina.And quick on the heels of that thought came another,How had the Don reacted?The curvy Bianca had spoken to her Masters in the morning, for they had called her. Both the men wanted to know how she was and, most importantly, they wanted to see Cian. So she had done a video call and added archly that Montenegro looked very historical ind
When the two brothers arrived at the airfield, they were surprised to see that a few black vehicles, notably those of the Capo and Jack Lord, were also parked on the tarmac, alongside the vehicle in which Piers Delano travelled.The two men exchanged looks of puzzlement.What was going on?*Lucien Delano had been furious to hear about Hila Zaidi.“The f*cking fool woman should never have flown to Montenegro without checking,” he snarled as he paced up and won in the hotel they had checked into. James Schwartz sighed and stood, his hands thrust in his pockets, staring out at the bleak, grey landscape.They had arrived in the country a few hours ago and had received Piers' terse message soon after.Schwartz shook his head. They had landed in the tiny Balkan country of Velgarin.A small, almost forgotten country tucked into the folds of Eastern Europe — a place that rarely made headlines or appeared on tourist brochures. Its name, Velgarin, sounded old-world, faintly Slavic, vaguely Ba
Claude had just received the recording which Paddy had sent him as soon as he had the chance, and the young Delano scion had stood, his face red with wrath, listening to the recording in growing anger.Dom and Rudy had also come to him, seeing the indignant ire on their otherwise easy-going elder brother’s face. Both brothers were livid.Then, without thinking of the consequences, Claude marched up to his father, waving the phone and cried, his handsome face ruddy with pent up passion,“Pa…Sir, you need to listen to this!”The Mafia don, his shirt unbuttoned, his deep chest exposed, was on the phone, listening to Piers. The desperation which his son was controlling was evident to the older Don, and he was furious. Someone had obviously ratted out the information regarding Hila. Her cover was blown, and she was on the run.From the looks of it, she was badly wounded too.The Mafia Don rubbed his chest, scratching his hirsute chest absently, idly touching the marks left by his Woman, w
Rain slicked the ancient stones of Kotor’s old town, turning the narrow alleys into rivers of shadow and echo. She moved like a ghost between them—limping, breath shallow, one hand pressed hard against her side where the bullet had torn through flesh. Blood oozed between her fingers, hot and frighteningly steady.Right from the start, Hila Zaidi had had a gut feeling this mission could end badly. She’d felt it in her gut before she boarded the flight from Jamaica, where she’d almost been set up, before she ever set foot on Montenegrin soil. But when you’ve spent years lying, fighting, and surviving in the silence between nations, you learn to ignore the feeling. You press forward. You do the job.And if it involved the only family that had welcomed her with open arms, always accommodating her whims and moods, the Delanos, who loved her unconditionally, different as they were, she knew there had been no thought of going back.Serena Kingston, the red-haired young woman with the broad s