NINE YEARS AGO Englewood, Chicago. Vincenzo ~~~0~~~“It’s normal for a teenage boy undergoing puberty to have sexual urges, but acting on them is demonic and God hates it.” Said the priest.My Mama’s head snapped in my direction, a silent, accusing warning, and I rolled my eyes. She had dragged me all the way down to this place and forced me to sit through mass, but the man’s sermon sounded like the annoying sound of rusty zinc on a windy day back home.I cast Fiorella a flirty look when Mama looked away and she returned it by blowing a kiss in my direction, then a wink that promised me ungodly things. Fiorella was Mama’s friend’s daughter, she was four years older than I was, but we’d been combing the streets of Chicago together since Mama and I moved to this neighborhood and screwing the shit out of each other long before we even understood what the word meant.“The back rooms. I’ll go first,” Fiorella mouthed quietly, a seductive smirk greasing her pretty face.Yeah, she’s tha
Chapter 1PRESENT DAYGold Coast, Chicago•• •• ••Vincenzo Mancini•• •• •• “Isn’t that exactly what psychopaths do?” Marcel snarled. “Make a point outside the frame and confidently present themselves as winners.” I snatched the bottle from him, eyeing him when he tried to keep his grip on it. “You’re not going to have her, and that’s final.” “A little touchy about this one, are we?” Marcel remarked with a sly smirk. I reclined in my seat, “What can I say?” A man might want to enjoy the soft hands of these sexy, naked strippers without the constant bickering of his brother and their, but not a man like me, apparently. As it turns out, women and an endless addiction to sex and the unholy love for all the fucked up things you can imagine in the dark underworld are not the only things I share with my brother. We also share a passionate desire to bite off each other’s throats. Because, where is the fun in agreeing on a simple fact instead of bickering like two-year-olds? Nay, t
Chapter 2 Eustacia “~~~”~~~”Once a feared and revered mafia princess, but now nothing more than a caged animal.This guy, the one they called Aurelio, didn't like me from the minute I was handed to him on that plane coming here, and that was a month ago.Who was I kidding? Nobody likes me.His rough grip on my arm was firm, leaving bruises that would join the collection already marring my skin. Each step as he dragged me through the block made me wince in pain, but I didn't let out a single sound.Aurelio’s face was impassive, but I could see the disgust in his eyes. He probably thought I deserved every bit of this. They all did.“Watch your step,” Aurelio barked as we descended the stairs.I bit my tongue, suppressing the urge to lash out with a smart remark, but it wouldn’t help my situation.I stumbled but caught myself, Vincenzo Mancini was following closely behind at a leisurely pace and I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me fall.We reached the bottom, and he sh
Chapter 3 Stacy °° °° °° °° It didn’t take up to a second for Vincenzo to react, snatching his gun even though the car was running at a speed he could barely control, and with a burst tire, we were likely to roll off a cliff or end up in an anthill—but that didn’t stop him. Without taking his eyes off me, he kept his pistol accurately aimed at my chest, his eyes a silent dare for me to do anything stupid with the rifle. “You’re going to drive us into a fucking ditch if you don’t control this damn piece of junk!” I hissed. “You have a knack for stating the obvious, I see.” Then his voice turned serious, “But around here, you don’t take unless I give, understood?” Something in the way he said that made my ovaries jump in excitement. Fucking idiots, I thought miserably, as if one Mancini wasn’t enough. Another loud bang outside and the little control Vincenzo had over it went flying out the window. It veered straight into the thick bush, making us both bounce uncontrollably in our
Chapter 4Vincenzo°° °° °° °°She has fire, I’d give her that.Most women in her position would have broken down by now, begging for mercy, tears streaming down their faces—maybe even dead by now.But not Stacy Salvatore.No, she was too proud, too defiant to crumble so easily. I mean, when you’ve spent years learning to be wicked and making other people’s lives miserable from your father, you become like him.The way she handled that rifle was almost admirable, if I weren’t so determined to crush that pride of hers when the time came.I led her towards the truck, finding her futile attempts to free herself from my grip almost amusing. She was smart enough to know that fighting me wouldn’t get her anywhere, but that didn’t stop her from trying.There was a wildness in her, a desperate need to prove she wasn’t as helpless as she felt. It was that same wildness that would make her useful, even if it meant keeping her on a short leash until I was ready to use her.“Let go of me,” she sp
Chapter 5Stacy°° °° °° °° I slumped in the damn chair, every muscle in my body screaming in protest. It had been days—weeks, maybe—since I’d had a decent shower or a proper meal. I twisted my wrists, even though I’d done it a thousand times in the last hour, each time with the same fruitless result.I’m fucking tired, too fucking tired.But at least I’m still breathing, that’s a ray of hope there, right?Well, after the gunshot Vincenzo fired in the car, still breathing felt like a twisted miracle. Not even a scratch, maybe his target was bad? But he did kill that guy behind me without blinking.I sighed, I’d missed my only chance to run. That’s how I knew my body was losing this fight.Fuck, I’m so fucking weak!Sitting there, I felt like a piece of shit—dirty, useless. Vincenzo’s cells didn’t allow me the luxury of basic amenities, and my body’s biological functions had practically shut down for the past three months.But right now, judging by the way my stomach cramped and how h
Chapter 6Stacy°° °° °° °°I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it—the sharp blade gleamed ominously in the dim light. The knife was supposed to scare me, with the way his eyes followed my face closely, I could tell he was expecting I’d be shaking like a leaf by now.“I see you like to talk,” he remarked dryly.I squinted my eyes to meet his. “And I see you like to make a dramatic entrance.” I relaxed in the seat, more out of tiredness than defiance. “Actually, I agree with you. Let’s get this hideous meeting over and done with. We could start with you telling me who you are.”The man chuckled, a low, sinister sound. “You don’t need to know who I am,” he said, his voice dripping with malice. “All you need to know is that you’ve pissed off the wrong people.”He stepped closer, the tip of the knife grazing the skin on my arm. I didn’t flinch. The fear was paralyzing, but I couldn’t let it show. “What do you want from me?” I asked coolly. “And quit the performance; I’m not easily scared.”
Chapter 7Stacy°° °° °° °°I woke up with a throbbing headache, the kind that felt like a jackhammer was having a field day inside my skull. Squinting against the brightness of the room, I took in my surroundings, trying to piece together how the hell I ended up here.The bed I was lying on was massive—king-sized, plush, with ridiculously soft sheets that I would have appreciated under different circumstances. The room was elegant, far too flashy compared to the dingy places I’d been in lately. Soft light filtered through the expensive curtains, and everything was tastefully decorated, almost too perfect. For a moment, I wondered if I’d died and somehow ended up in a rich person’s heaven.Or hell. I mean, for the sins I’d committed, I might as well get a five-star suite in hell. Because I sure as hell didn’t remember checking into a five-star hotel anytime recently.I sat up slowly, wincing as the room spun for a second. Rubbing my temples, I tried to recall the events leading up
Chapter 106Vincenzo⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼The villa reeked of her.I never liked her, not even as a kid when she’d parade around in her silk dresses, pretending to play the perfect wife while twisting knives into my father’s back. Hell, she’d never liked anything concerning me either. Maybe that was the one thing we had in common.The men in this place went down like dominoes, pathetic to the last. She always surrounded herself with men who looked the part but crumbled the moment you applied pressure. A quick choke, a snap of the wrist, and they folded. I didn’t bother watching them hit the ground, I was already halfway up the stairs.She was working with the Irish. Against her own blood. Against her own children. And for what? A scrap of power she’d never actually hold? A seat at a table where no one respected her? Revenge on me? It would’ve been laughable if it wasn’t so goddamn infuriating. My men had already fanned out, securing the lower levels of the house. I made my way upstairs with V
Chapter 104Stacy⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼He murdered her.The thought circled endlessly in my mind, like a cruel pendulum swinging back and forth, slamming into me every time. He murdered her.I was still sat in that cold, damp cell, my legs still strapped in unforgiving metal chains. My tears had dried hours ago, leaving my cheeks stiff and raw. Nisca’s head rested in my lap, her lifeless body sprawled awkwardly, her once-bright eyes now dull and glassy. My hands were covered in blood, either hers or mine, I wasn’t sure.When Clyde dragged her in last night, limp and wrapped in a sack, I thought I might’ve been hallucinating. It wouldn’t have been the first time my mind played tricks on me. But then they ripped the sack off her head and tossed her at my feet like garbage.“You must be lonely,” Clyde had said, his voice dripping with smug satisfaction. “I brought you a companion.”That companion was Nisca. But it was not the smiling, love sick girl who’d tried to protect us when they barged into
Chapter 104 Vincenzo ⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼ FEW WEEKS AGO Chains dangled from the ceiling, the metallic clang echoing every time Valente twitched, which was often. He was tied to a steel chair, wrists strapped so tightly that blood trickled down his arms in sluggish streams. His face was a mess….swollen, bloody, barely recognizable as human after the first round. I flexed my knuckles, the blood coating them sticky and warm. “You scream like a woman, Valente. Did your mother raise you that way, or is this just your natural state?” “Please,” he gasped, spitting blood onto the floor. One of his teeth clattered to the ground like a broken pearl. “Please, Vincenzo—” “Please?” I crouched in front of him, gripping his chin so tightly his jaw cracked under the pressure. “You think ‘please’ is a magic word? Jesus, what are you, a nun?” He whimpered, his bloodshot eyes darting toward the door like he thought salvation might walk through it. “Let me explain something to you,” I said, my voice dropping
Chapter 103Stacy⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼I’d worn cuffs too many times to not recognize the feel of them.The cold air stung my skin as I sat curled on the stone floor, hands trembling despite my effort to steady them. The dim light overhead flickered, barely enough to chase away the suffocating darkness that pressed against the walls of this room. No, it was a cell…my cell. Where the hell am I?Was I hallucinating? Oh yeah, my mind must be playing games, dating back to the time when I was shackled up in that tiny room in Russel’s warehouse, listening to my father scream while Russel took pieces off his skin. I’ve had those before. But why did it feel so real today? I had no idea how long I’d been here. Hours? Days? It was all a blur of rough voices outside the dark, chains scraping against cement when I moved, and the unmistakable sound of Irish men moving around like wolves waiting for the kill. Did Vincenzo capture me again? But Vincenzo is not Irish. Dante? Why would he want me chained up a
Chapter 102 Vincenzo⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼Russel asked Nikolai to babysit me. Well, not technically, but having him follow me around for the last two weeks could be considered babysitting at this point.He thought I was fucked.The chair beneath me groaned, probably in sympathy with my irritation. Meanwhile, Dante sprawled across from me like he owned the damn world, oozing arrogance. And maybe Russel was right, because the only reason the man was still breathing was Nikolai.“You must be losing your touch if it took this long to find me,” Dante drawled, casually reaching for the glass of water in front of him. He was mocking me with every second he wasted. “Perhaps I wasn’t hiding. Did you think of that, Vincenzo?”I didn’t respond.My patience was hanging by a thread. No, not even a thread. It was barely hanging by a single hair. My mind felt like it was on fire, fueled by two weeks of sleepless nights, numerous dead ends, and the glaring absence of activity in my life.I’d gotten too used to t
Chapter 101Stacy⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼TWO WEEKS LATERI’d escaped a physical prison only to end up in an emotional hell. There’s something uniquely pathetic about sitting cross-legged on the floor of a shoebox apartment, trying to piece your life back together. And by ‘life,’ I mean the sad collection of my father’s business files Elixir managed to stack away from the Mancinis.I shoved aside a cracked snow globe, its tiny Eiffel Tower missing, and yanked out the next item. A silk tie, flamingo pink. Flamingo. Pink.“Nisca!” I hollered, holding up the offending accessory like it was a dead rat. “What the hell is this?”Her voice floated in from the small kitchen. “Vintage Versace. You’re welcome.”“Vintage or not, it’s hideous.” I dropped it back into the box like it might bite me and leaned back against the wall, staring at the disaster surrounding me. Nisca, my former chief maid and Elixir’s sister, who was two years older than me, strolled into the room, a mug of coffee in one hand and a big
Chapter 100 Vincenzo ⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼ She was gone. Gone. And I felt like the biggest fool alive. I’d woken up this morning, expecting to see her tangled in the sheets beside me, maybe still asleep, looking as sinful as she had the night before when she curled up on my chest. I’d told her—like an idiot—how much I cherished her. How much I couldn’t bear to lose her. She never said it back. But I hadn’t noticed. Not then. The bed was empty, but I hadn’t panicked. Why would I? Stacy liked her showers long, her coffee black, and her hair styled perfectly. I convinced myself she was probably in the bathroom or out on the balcony. I spent the first thirty minutes on the phone with Russel, going over Valente’s latest tantrum. Then I made calls to my men about the shipment in the Englewood warehouse. Approved it. Sent a text. And then decided to join her in the bathroom, maybe drag her back to bed for another round. The bathroom was empty. Still, I hadn’t panicked. Not yet. I’d checked th
Chapter 99Stacy⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼I couldn’t sleep a wink. It wasn’t just the sex—though that was seared into my brain like some sort of branding iron. It was the way he’d looked at me after. Vulnerable, almost human. Like maybe, I was no longer the daughter of the man who murdered his mother. And then, of course, he had to ruin it by saying something ridiculous like, “My demons have fallen in love with your darkness.”What was that even supposed to mean? I’d spent the last hour staring at the ceiling, blushing like some lovesick idiot. Me. Blushing. Because of Vincenzo Mancini, the man who once dragged me kicking and screaming into his hell and cuffed me like a prized animal. And he was sleeping so peacefully beside me, nose buried deep in my air like he was taking in oxygen, hand sprawled possessively across my waist. I needed air.Sliding quietly out of bed, I grabbed the bloodied shirt Vincenzo had tossed on the chair earlier—it still smelled like him, damn it—and crept out onto the te
Chapter 98 Stacy⟻⟼ ✦ ⟻⟼“We have to spend the night here,” Vincenzo announced as he entered the room, I took one glance at him and noticed how completely out of place he looked. His white shirt was untucked, and the sleeves were rolled up, his hair tousled. “I know,” I muttered, casually slipping off my heels and giving him a quick glance.I’d been waiting in here all evening, I wasn’t exactly thrilled, but I wasn’t about to show it. He’d been busy with the Valente guy and handling Cummiskey related issues before I decided I needed a break myself and opted to wait here. “You’re not mad?” His voice carried that slight uncertainty. And if I wasn’t so aware of the way his jaw tightened when he asked, I might’ve found it endearing.I shot him a look, barely suppressing my frown. “Mad? About what? The fact that I’m stuck in here with you once again? Or just the whole ‘we’re back in this damn room we started in’ situation?”His lips twitched like he was fighting a smile. But his eyes l