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CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR (ELI'S POV)
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2025-04-18 08:00:10Sunlight streamed in through the parted curtains, warm and golden, casting soft streaks of light across the bedroom floor. It was the kind of soft light that made everything feel slower, more delicate—like the world had hit pause just for us.
I stirred before he did.Ricci—Enzo—was still asleep, his breath steady, chest rising and falling in a rhythm that seemed almost too peaceful for someone who had slaughtered thirty men the night before. His arm was draped loosely around my waist, the other bent behind his head. His face, usually so hard and unreadable, was relaxed now. The lines of violence, command, and danger erased by sleep.I studied him in silence.The faint stubble on his jaw, the little injury on his lip that had started to scab, the faint bruises already forming on his ribs. Every inch of him told a story—and yet, here in this quiet morning I could almost forget what he was capable of.Almost.A part of me wanted to move. To slip out of bed, sta
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Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE (ELI'S POV)
I didn’t say anything right away. Instead, I reached out and grabbed his hand, threading our fingers together.“I don’t want you to have to fight for me,” I said. “I want to fight with you.”He looked at me then, really looked. Like he was seeing me for the first time not as a tool, not as a prize, but as a partner.“You sure?” he asked. “It’s not going to be easy.”“I’m not asking for easy,” I replied. “I’m asking for us. Whatever that looks like.”The sound of a bird outside the window broke the silence. The light filtering into the room casting a beautiful golden halo on him.Enzo rolled onto his side and pulled me flush against him. “Then stay a little longer.”I smiled against his chest.“Just a little,” I whispered.But deep down, I knew.I wasn’t going anywhere.His lips found mine again, softer this time, more searching than claiming. My hand slid up his bare chest, fingers bru
Last Updated : 2025-04-18Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY SIX (ELI'S POV)
It had been almost two months.Two months of watching the same part of the sky from the same balcony. Two months of waking up to the sound of the same espresso machine, of pacing the same hallways over and over, of training in the same gym, and eating dinner in the same damn room. And while I could admit that there were far worse prisons than Ricci’s estate—especially when the warden kissed like that and touched like he did—I was starting to go a little bit crazy.“Please,” I groaned for the fifth time that morning. I was sprawled out on his bed, dramatically kicking my legs like a bored child throwing a tantrum.Ricci stood near the mirror, buttoning up his perfectly ironed white shirt. The morning sun filtering in through the window, hitting the sharp angle of his jaw just right. If I weren’t so desperate to escape, I’d have admired the view longer because damn was it an amazing one.He turned slowly, one brow raised in that arrogantlu handsome
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN (RICCI'S POV)
The night was unusually still.Even the crickets had gone quiet. The wind barely moved the olive tree branches. The stars looked close enough to touch, glittering over the coastal hills of Tuscany, bathing the villa’s terrace in pale silver light. It was like the whole world had paused—just for us.Eli was curled beside me on the wide terrace lounge, his head resting on my shoulder,a light cotton blanket draped across our legs. The stars stretched endlessly above us, brighter and than I’d ever seen them back in the city, it was beautiful. We were both barefoot, an empty bottle of wine resting near our feet.He smelled like sun kissed skin and saltwater. My hand lazily traced the curve of his arm, stopping occasionally just to feel him—solid, real, breathing. His fingers played lazily with the edge of my shirt. The skin-to-skin contact should’ve felt ordinary by now—but it never did. Not with him.We’d spent the day wrapped in a slow kind of bliss
Last Updated : 2025-04-20Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT (ELI'S POV)
The moment the terrace door flew open and Ricci’s man stepped through, everything changed.I could feel it like a sudden drop in temperature. A stillness that wasn’t peaceful anymore—but charged, like lightning had just struck a tree. The man looked like he’d run through hell barefoot—sweat dripped down his temple, he was breathing hard, his eyes were wild and a little bit haunted.He didn’t speak in English. The words tumbled out in fast, clipped Italian—coded, urgent.I recognized a few word from the conversations Ricci had trained me to understand over the weeks, but this wasn’t the usual “check the perimeter” or “bring the car around.” No, this was something else. Something serious.Ricci froze for just a second.Then everything about him changed.He grabbed his phone and his shirt in one swift motion, muscles instantly becoming taunt beneath his skin, his face shifting into that unreadable expre
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY NINE (ELI'S POV)
The phone buzzed again.My eyes hadn’t left the photo of Nathan Cole, bloodied and broken, tied to a chair like some animal that had been hunted and caught. His body language said everything—he was near the end of his rope. My throat tightened as I tapped the new message."If you want him to survive the night, come to this location."Another message sent a pin on a map. Rome. An abandoned rail station on the city’s outskirts.It felt like ice begin to flood through my veins.I stared at it, heart pounding so loud it echoed in my ears.They were really doing this. Luca and Matteo had him. And they were playing their sick, twisted game again.I rubbed my face, trying to breathe. Think.Nathan wasn’t just an agent. He was the only reason I’d ever made it out alive. When I was still Elias Carter, drowning under cover so deep I couldn’t remember who I was, he pulled me out. He
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY (ELI'S POV)
The old railway station looked like the bones of some long-dead giant. Its frame creaked under the slightest weight as it was worn out and old, the iron rails were rusted and bent like fractured limbs. Fog clung to the ground making it more eerie than it already was, they moved around my boots like fingers trying to drag me back.Still, I walked forward.The cab had pulled away minutes ago, its headlight growing dimer until it finally disappeared into the night. I was alone now—no backup, no comms, no tracker. I didn’t even know how long I had been walking. Every step I took sounded too loud as it echoed through the quiet night. My heart thumped against my ribs like it was trying to escape.I scanned the dark.Every instinct screaming at me that it was a trap.And it was. No doubt. But it was a trap I chose to walk into.I walked around the outer wall, sticking to the shadows, eyes sharply scanning
Last Updated : 2025-04-23Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE (ELI'S POV)
I kept my face calm, even as my mind ran through every possible way to escape. Every breath I took felt like I was inhaling poison—thick with tension and with fear I’d buried but never truly outrun.“I’m not yours,” I said quietly, jaw clenched. “I never was.”Matteo’s smile faded just slightly, the flicker of irritation showing like a crack in stone. “Then why are you here, Elias?”I didn’t answer.Instead, I looked past him. My eyes scanning the shadows behind the platform, the corners of the station, the windows above—anything. Nathan had to be nearby. They don't want me to see him yet. They wanted me to feel the consequences of disobedience.Luca circled me slowly now, like a wolf circling around the prey to be its next meal. “You always had that fire,” he murmured. “Even when we broke you in.”“You tried to break me.”“Hmm. We did more than try.” He leaned in close to my ear. “But
Last Updated : 2025-04-24Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO (ELI'S POV)
The car ride was silent.Only the faint hum of the engine and the crunch of gravel under big, thick tires outside broke the silence between us as they sped down the back roads leading us further away from the railway.I turned to look at the man next to me. Nathan. They had brought him into the car shortly after me, he would be treated and then sent back to America.This made me wonder where they were taking me to.Nathan lay beside me in the backseat, unconscious again, his breathing shallow but steady. The seat beneath him was stained with blood. I’d pressed my jacket against his side, trying to soak up the worst of it.Matteo was up in front, in the passenger seat with a phone to his ear, barking orders rapidly in Italian.Luca sat opposite me, legs crossed, his hand absently adjusting the cuffs of his coat like this was any other day. Like we weren’t running from a crime scene. Like they weren’t
Last Updated : 2025-04-25
Latest chapter
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY FIVE (ELI'S POV)
I woke up the next morning to the smell of something familiar.Bacon.And not just any kind, it was the thick-cut kind Luca always insisted on ordering from that small butcher outside Brooklyn. I didn’t move at first, just laid in bed and let the scent drift around me, half-convinced it was a dream. But then came the sizzle of eggs and the faint clang of a pan being moved around from downstairs. My eyes opened.It wasn’t a dream.I got up, showered quickly, and threw on a black T-shirt and joggers. The silence in the hallways was different this morning—lighter. I didn’t trust it.When I walked into the kitchen, I froze.Luca stood at the stove, sleeves rolled up, brow slightly furrowed as he flipped pancakes like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like he hadn't thrown me into a dungeon not long ago. Like we hadn’t broken each other in every possible way.He turned when he hear
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY FOUR (ELI'S POV)
The halls were just as cold as I remembered.The same marble floors, same glass walls, same suffocating silence. It had been three days since we had landed in New York and walked back through the dark gates of the Rossi estate, and not one of them had spoken to me.Not really, at least.Just a few words here and there—“you’re free to go wherever,” “meals are at seven,” “the guest room’s ready.” All formal. Detached.Matteo’s eyes had flickered toward me a couple of times when he thought I wasn’t looking. Luca had kept his distance entirely by burying himself in meetings, calls, whatever power play he had been running behind the scenes. If I didn't know them as well as I did, I would have said that they were avoiding me out of shame but I knew better.They were watching.Waiting.For what, I didn’t know.I had spent most of the days wandering around the house like a ghost.
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE (RICCI'S POV)
The sun was beginning to dip below the valley when I returned to the villa, the warm golden rays bathed the villa making it even more breathtaking.The issue has turned out to be a minor one but took over a day to resolve and I was more than happy to be home and soon to be in Eli's arms.It was quiet— the type of peace and quiet that I usually craved and cherished after all the blood, movie and chaos but today, something felt different.It was too quiet.Off.Too still.As I stepped into the grand entryway, I called out. “Eli?”Nothing.My pulse kicks up.“Eli?” I say again, louder now.Still nothing.Where’s Eli? I wondered.Pulling off my gloves, I walked into the living room but there was still no sign of Eli. The bedroom? Empty. Bathroom — untouched. The sheets were still rumpled from the previous morning, the pil
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO (ELI'S POV)
The car ride was silent.Only the faint hum of the engine and the crunch of gravel under big, thick tires outside broke the silence between us as they sped down the back roads leading us further away from the railway.I turned to look at the man next to me. Nathan. They had brought him into the car shortly after me, he would be treated and then sent back to America.This made me wonder where they were taking me to.Nathan lay beside me in the backseat, unconscious again, his breathing shallow but steady. The seat beneath him was stained with blood. I’d pressed my jacket against his side, trying to soak up the worst of it.Matteo was up in front, in the passenger seat with a phone to his ear, barking orders rapidly in Italian.Luca sat opposite me, legs crossed, his hand absently adjusting the cuffs of his coat like this was any other day. Like we weren’t running from a crime scene. Like they weren’t
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE (ELI'S POV)
I kept my face calm, even as my mind ran through every possible way to escape. Every breath I took felt like I was inhaling poison—thick with tension and with fear I’d buried but never truly outrun.“I’m not yours,” I said quietly, jaw clenched. “I never was.”Matteo’s smile faded just slightly, the flicker of irritation showing like a crack in stone. “Then why are you here, Elias?”I didn’t answer.Instead, I looked past him. My eyes scanning the shadows behind the platform, the corners of the station, the windows above—anything. Nathan had to be nearby. They don't want me to see him yet. They wanted me to feel the consequences of disobedience.Luca circled me slowly now, like a wolf circling around the prey to be its next meal. “You always had that fire,” he murmured. “Even when we broke you in.”“You tried to break me.”“Hmm. We did more than try.” He leaned in close to my ear. “But
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SEVENTY (ELI'S POV)
The old railway station looked like the bones of some long-dead giant. Its frame creaked under the slightest weight as it was worn out and old, the iron rails were rusted and bent like fractured limbs. Fog clung to the ground making it more eerie than it already was, they moved around my boots like fingers trying to drag me back.Still, I walked forward.The cab had pulled away minutes ago, its headlight growing dimer until it finally disappeared into the night. I was alone now—no backup, no comms, no tracker. I didn’t even know how long I had been walking. Every step I took sounded too loud as it echoed through the quiet night. My heart thumped against my ribs like it was trying to escape.I scanned the dark.Every instinct screaming at me that it was a trap.And it was. No doubt. But it was a trap I chose to walk into.I walked around the outer wall, sticking to the shadows, eyes sharply scanning
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY NINE (ELI'S POV)
The phone buzzed again.My eyes hadn’t left the photo of Nathan Cole, bloodied and broken, tied to a chair like some animal that had been hunted and caught. His body language said everything—he was near the end of his rope. My throat tightened as I tapped the new message."If you want him to survive the night, come to this location."Another message sent a pin on a map. Rome. An abandoned rail station on the city’s outskirts.It felt like ice begin to flood through my veins.I stared at it, heart pounding so loud it echoed in my ears.They were really doing this. Luca and Matteo had him. And they were playing their sick, twisted game again.I rubbed my face, trying to breathe. Think.Nathan wasn’t just an agent. He was the only reason I’d ever made it out alive. When I was still Elias Carter, drowning under cover so deep I couldn’t remember who I was, he pulled me out. He
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT (ELI'S POV)
The moment the terrace door flew open and Ricci’s man stepped through, everything changed.I could feel it like a sudden drop in temperature. A stillness that wasn’t peaceful anymore—but charged, like lightning had just struck a tree. The man looked like he’d run through hell barefoot—sweat dripped down his temple, he was breathing hard, his eyes were wild and a little bit haunted.He didn’t speak in English. The words tumbled out in fast, clipped Italian—coded, urgent.I recognized a few word from the conversations Ricci had trained me to understand over the weeks, but this wasn’t the usual “check the perimeter” or “bring the car around.” No, this was something else. Something serious.Ricci froze for just a second.Then everything about him changed.He grabbed his phone and his shirt in one swift motion, muscles instantly becoming taunt beneath his skin, his face shifting into that unreadable expre
Bound by blood and lies CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN (RICCI'S POV)
The night was unusually still.Even the crickets had gone quiet. The wind barely moved the olive tree branches. The stars looked close enough to touch, glittering over the coastal hills of Tuscany, bathing the villa’s terrace in pale silver light. It was like the whole world had paused—just for us.Eli was curled beside me on the wide terrace lounge, his head resting on my shoulder,a light cotton blanket draped across our legs. The stars stretched endlessly above us, brighter and than I’d ever seen them back in the city, it was beautiful. We were both barefoot, an empty bottle of wine resting near our feet.He smelled like sun kissed skin and saltwater. My hand lazily traced the curve of his arm, stopping occasionally just to feel him—solid, real, breathing. His fingers played lazily with the edge of my shirt. The skin-to-skin contact should’ve felt ordinary by now—but it never did. Not with him.We’d spent the day wrapped in a slow kind of bliss
