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CHAPTER FIFTY SIX (ELI'S POV)
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2025-04-14 08:06:12I wore jeans and a shirt. Nothing fancy. Faded denim and a loose white tee I found folded neatly at the end in a corner of my closet.
The idea was simple: disappoint him. Underdress. Ruin whatever plans he had in his polished, twisted mind. Maybe he wanted to parade me around like a trophy or dress me up like a doll.Well, not tonight.I stood in front of the mirror, arms crossed, daring myself to argue. I still looked good, sure. But not Ricci’s type of good. No jewelry. No suit. Just plain, unremarkable Eli.Good.The door creaked open, and I didn’t need to turn to know it was him.I caught his reflection in the mirror instead—Ricci in all black again, slacks that fit too perfectly, a charcoal shirt rolled at the sleeves, and that glint in his eyes like he always knew something I didn’t.He looked me over.A slow, deliberate sweep from head to toe.And then… he smiled.“Perfect,” he murmured, the word thicker than usual. “Come on.”I bli
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It had been a long, tense week. The kind that settles like a shadow in the halls of the estate and refuses to lift. Everyone felt it. The guards moved quieter, the servants looked down more, and even Luca—usually too quiet, too reserved—had gone stiller.I was in my study, watching the second hand of the grandfather clock tick painfully slow when there was a knock.The knock on the door was sharp, insistent. My body tensed instinctively, the way it always did when things were about to go south. "Enter," I said coldly, not looking away from the clock.I wasn't in the mood to deal with anything, but when the door creaked open. One of the outer perimeter guards stepped in, clutching something rectangular, wrapped in brown paper with no visible address. I spared him a quick glance and he looked uneasy.From the look on his face I knew it was something that couldn’t wait."Sir... we found this outside the gate.” He stammered.I raised an eyebrow, annoyed but
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I reached into the box and pulled out more photos. A dozen. Maybe more, each one more damning than the last. They were all from the same night—Ricci and Eli together at the carnival. Laughing. Holding hands. The way they looked at each other… It was sickening. It was as if Ricci was claiming him in front of the world.Ricci and Eli eating cotton candy. Ricci winning Eli a stupid teddy bear.Each image is more damning than the last.My chest felt tight, a storm building inside me.Then my fingers brushed against something hard, and I grabbed it. It was a small, folded piece of paper with a QR code on it. No hesitation now—I grabbed my phone from the table and scanned it. A video popped up, playing instantlyIt was them.Eli laughing, head thrown back. Ricci beside him, smiling like a schoolboy. They were holding hands, spinning on a ride, sharing a soda, Ricci leaning in to kiss Eli’s cheek like he was something to be cherished. T
Last Updated : 2025-04-15Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER FIFTY NINE (ELI'S POV)
I never thought I'd be sitting in a living room with Ricci, watching a movie, and actually enjoying it. The atmosphere between us had shifted somehow since the carnival. Gone was the tension, the need for a mask. For once, there was no power play, no constant games. It was just Ricci and me, in the quiet of his grand living room, the glow of the TV lighting up his sharp features.I tried not to think too much about the circumstances that had led me here. If I allowed myself to focus on that, I might find the guilt creeping in, but at this point, I didn’t care. Ricci had been nothing but… well, decent to me in his own strange way. And for a moment, I let myself believe that maybe he wasn’t the monster I had thought he was.“Okay, I have to admit,” I said, my voice light, “this movie is kind of... fun.”Ricci chuckled, his gaze flickering toward me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I told you. I have excellent taste.”I rolled my eyes, but the
Last Updated : 2025-04-15Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY (ELI'S POV)
The silence was never ending.It wasn’t the comfortable, nice quiet from before. No. This was the kind of silence that screamed in your ears. The type that was deafening and made you want to run mad. The type that echoed death because I knew that a lot of that was going to happen tonight.I stood in the middle of Ricci’s luxurious and once comforting living room, surrounded by soft leather couches, a massive TV, a half-eaten bowl of popcorn… and the dreadful knowledge that five people had just been slaughtered.Because of me.I sank onto the couch as my knees could no longer carry the weight of my body or maybe it was the weight of my guilt.They were Ricci’s men. His people. They died because he harbored me, protected me, kissed me on a damn Ferris wheel like we didn’t live in a world where suck actions like that could get you killed.I pressed the heel of my palm against my eyes, trying to stop the tears that threatened to spil
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The night air was thick with smoke and the metallic scent of blood.My boots crunched as I stepped on broken glass and bone as I walked through the last shattered doorway, my coat sweeping behind me like a way that reminded me of villains in movies who are out for vengeance and death.There were thirty men. All armed, alert and trained. But now, dead.All of them.I didn’t bring backup. I didn’t need it.They took five of mine. Five good men. And they did it to make a point, to show me that Eli was theirs and they wanted him back. But what they didn’t realize was that I don’t play games. I finished them.This warehouse had been one of Rossi's lesser known outposts. Remote. Hidden. Guarded only by a somewhat low level unit—good, but not great. Still, enough to send a message. I had chosen it because it would be easy. A warm-up. A warning. The real bloodbath would come later.For now, this would do.I gripped my k
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The mansion was quiet—too quiet.The kind of quiet that made your skin itch and your gut twist. I had walked through my own halls a thousand times, but tonight it felt... different. The blood on my coat was drying, cracking like paint with every step. My boots left a crimson trail of blood on the marble floors with each step but I didn’t care. I was too focused on something else to care.Too tense.Too afraid.Of him.Don Ricci is a man without emotions but tonight, I was filled with themI paused at the door to the main living room,my hand on the frame. My knuckles were scraped and sore. The high from the fight hadn’t worn off, but something heavier had started to settle in my chest, and I hated how unfamiliar it felt.It was fear.Not of death.Not of revenge.But of Eli.Of what I’d see in his eyes.I stepped in and stopped cold.He was there.Standing in the center of the living room like he’d been waiting.His gaze was
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The room was quiet save for the slow drip of water from the bathroom tap and the soft, shallow sound of Ricci’s breathing. He sat on the edge of the bed, shirtless, back muscles tense beneath bruised and battered skin, the marks of war written across him in angry reds and purple streaks.I took the bowl and walked over to the bed.I sat at the edge of Ricci’s bed, with the warm water and a cloth. The silence in the room wasn’t uncomfortable—it was nice, intimate. The kind of silence that made the air feel thick with unsaid things, like the walls were holding their breath.I knelt in front of him with a med kit, cleaning the cuts on his knuckles first. His fists had broken more than bones tonight—tables, walls, men. I worked carefully, dabbing antiseptic onto a deep gash and watching him wince just slightly.The open gash on his shoulder was angry and swollen, a slash that should’ve been stitched but wasn’t quite deep enough to require it. I dipped
Last Updated : 2025-04-17Bound by blood and lies PROLOGUE
Pain.It wasn't the kind that faded with time.It was a deep, raw and utterly ripping kind. The type that seeped so deep into your skin then settled in your bones. The kind that alters your brain chemistry and makes you question your own sanity.That was how I felt right now, shackled in the cold, hard dimly lit basement. I had expected this, planned for this.But nothing had prepared me for them.The door creaked open and the thick scent of colony and gunpowder that could only belong to one man filtered into the room. Slow deliberate footsteps echoed against the stone floor. I didn't lift my head, I didn't need to because I already knew who it was..Luca Rossi.The man I had been sent to destroy.The man who now owned me.“Still breathing?” His voice was as smooth as silk yet as sharp as steel as it carried authority.The metal cuffs dug into my wrists, it kept digging further into my already raw wrist, blood dripping lazily down my arm. My shirt was gone as well— it had been ripped
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Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY THREE (ELI'S POV)
The room was quiet save for the slow drip of water from the bathroom tap and the soft, shallow sound of Ricci’s breathing. He sat on the edge of the bed, shirtless, back muscles tense beneath bruised and battered skin, the marks of war written across him in angry reds and purple streaks.I took the bowl and walked over to the bed.I sat at the edge of Ricci’s bed, with the warm water and a cloth. The silence in the room wasn’t uncomfortable—it was nice, intimate. The kind of silence that made the air feel thick with unsaid things, like the walls were holding their breath.I knelt in front of him with a med kit, cleaning the cuts on his knuckles first. His fists had broken more than bones tonight—tables, walls, men. I worked carefully, dabbing antiseptic onto a deep gash and watching him wince just slightly.The open gash on his shoulder was angry and swollen, a slash that should’ve been stitched but wasn’t quite deep enough to require it. I dipped
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY TWO (RICCI'S POV)
The mansion was quiet—too quiet.The kind of quiet that made your skin itch and your gut twist. I had walked through my own halls a thousand times, but tonight it felt... different. The blood on my coat was drying, cracking like paint with every step. My boots left a crimson trail of blood on the marble floors with each step but I didn’t care. I was too focused on something else to care.Too tense.Too afraid.Of him.Don Ricci is a man without emotions but tonight, I was filled with themI paused at the door to the main living room,my hand on the frame. My knuckles were scraped and sore. The high from the fight hadn’t worn off, but something heavier had started to settle in my chest, and I hated how unfamiliar it felt.It was fear.Not of death.Not of revenge.But of Eli.Of what I’d see in his eyes.I stepped in and stopped cold.He was there.Standing in the center of the living room like he’d been waiting.His gaze was
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY ONE (RICCI'S POV)
The night air was thick with smoke and the metallic scent of blood.My boots crunched as I stepped on broken glass and bone as I walked through the last shattered doorway, my coat sweeping behind me like a way that reminded me of villains in movies who are out for vengeance and death.There were thirty men. All armed, alert and trained. But now, dead.All of them.I didn’t bring backup. I didn’t need it.They took five of mine. Five good men. And they did it to make a point, to show me that Eli was theirs and they wanted him back. But what they didn’t realize was that I don’t play games. I finished them.This warehouse had been one of Rossi's lesser known outposts. Remote. Hidden. Guarded only by a somewhat low level unit—good, but not great. Still, enough to send a message. I had chosen it because it would be easy. A warm-up. A warning. The real bloodbath would come later.For now, this would do.I gripped my k
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY (ELI'S POV)
The silence was never ending.It wasn’t the comfortable, nice quiet from before. No. This was the kind of silence that screamed in your ears. The type that was deafening and made you want to run mad. The type that echoed death because I knew that a lot of that was going to happen tonight.I stood in the middle of Ricci’s luxurious and once comforting living room, surrounded by soft leather couches, a massive TV, a half-eaten bowl of popcorn… and the dreadful knowledge that five people had just been slaughtered.Because of me.I sank onto the couch as my knees could no longer carry the weight of my body or maybe it was the weight of my guilt.They were Ricci’s men. His people. They died because he harbored me, protected me, kissed me on a damn Ferris wheel like we didn’t live in a world where suck actions like that could get you killed.I pressed the heel of my palm against my eyes, trying to stop the tears that threatened to spil
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER FIFTY NINE (ELI'S POV)
I never thought I'd be sitting in a living room with Ricci, watching a movie, and actually enjoying it. The atmosphere between us had shifted somehow since the carnival. Gone was the tension, the need for a mask. For once, there was no power play, no constant games. It was just Ricci and me, in the quiet of his grand living room, the glow of the TV lighting up his sharp features.I tried not to think too much about the circumstances that had led me here. If I allowed myself to focus on that, I might find the guilt creeping in, but at this point, I didn’t care. Ricci had been nothing but… well, decent to me in his own strange way. And for a moment, I let myself believe that maybe he wasn’t the monster I had thought he was.“Okay, I have to admit,” I said, my voice light, “this movie is kind of... fun.”Ricci chuckled, his gaze flickering toward me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I told you. I have excellent taste.”I rolled my eyes, but the
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT (MATTEO'S POV)
I reached into the box and pulled out more photos. A dozen. Maybe more, each one more damning than the last. They were all from the same night—Ricci and Eli together at the carnival. Laughing. Holding hands. The way they looked at each other… It was sickening. It was as if Ricci was claiming him in front of the world.Ricci and Eli eating cotton candy. Ricci winning Eli a stupid teddy bear.Each image is more damning than the last.My chest felt tight, a storm building inside me.Then my fingers brushed against something hard, and I grabbed it. It was a small, folded piece of paper with a QR code on it. No hesitation now—I grabbed my phone from the table and scanned it. A video popped up, playing instantlyIt was them.Eli laughing, head thrown back. Ricci beside him, smiling like a schoolboy. They were holding hands, spinning on a ride, sharing a soda, Ricci leaning in to kiss Eli’s cheek like he was something to be cherished. T
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN (MATTEO'S POV)
It had been a long, tense week. The kind that settles like a shadow in the halls of the estate and refuses to lift. Everyone felt it. The guards moved quieter, the servants looked down more, and even Luca—usually too quiet, too reserved—had gone stiller.I was in my study, watching the second hand of the grandfather clock tick painfully slow when there was a knock.The knock on the door was sharp, insistent. My body tensed instinctively, the way it always did when things were about to go south. "Enter," I said coldly, not looking away from the clock.I wasn't in the mood to deal with anything, but when the door creaked open. One of the outer perimeter guards stepped in, clutching something rectangular, wrapped in brown paper with no visible address. I spared him a quick glance and he looked uneasy.From the look on his face I knew it was something that couldn’t wait."Sir... we found this outside the gate.” He stammered.I raised an eyebrow, annoyed but
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER FIFTY SIX (ELI'S POV)
I wore jeans and a shirt. Nothing fancy. Faded denim and a loose white tee I found folded neatly at the end in a corner of my closet.The idea was simple: disappoint him. Underdress. Ruin whatever plans he had in his polished, twisted mind. Maybe he wanted to parade me around like a trophy or dress me up like a doll.Well, not tonight.I stood in front of the mirror, arms crossed, daring myself to argue. I still looked good, sure. But not Ricci’s type of good. No jewelry. No suit. Just plain, unremarkable Eli.Good.The door creaked open, and I didn’t need to turn to know it was him.I caught his reflection in the mirror instead—Ricci in all black again, slacks that fit too perfectly, a charcoal shirt rolled at the sleeves, and that glint in his eyes like he always knew something I didn’t.He looked me over.A slow, deliberate sweep from head to toe.And then… he smiled.“Perfect,” he murmured, the word thicker than usual. “Come on.”I bli
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE (ELI'S POV)
The feeling of kiss lingered.His soft, warm lips on mine, the taste of whiskey on his tongue, his hot breath on my cheek and his intoxicating cologne.I had come to terms with my sexuality and I knew that Ricci was a dangerously attractive man who seemed to be attracted to me.No matter how hard I tried to shake it off, it kept replaying in my mind like a broken record. Ricci’s lips on mine—firm, slow, unyielding—and the worst part? I kissed him back.My body betrayed me at that moment. The same body that flinched at the sound of Luca’s voice. The same hands that trembled when Matteo tried to touch me. The same heart that once used beat way too loud at the sound of Luca’s footsteps and the sound of Matteo's voice.Now? Now it was quiet. Confused. Still.I leaned against the window, eyes fixed on the large estate grounds outside. It was beautiful, in that eerie, silent way. Perfectly manicured gardens. Endless marble paths. Statues that looked like they had s
