Chapter 21 Stacy°° °° °° °°“And what did you hope to accomplish?” The calm in his voice was just a front for the anger in his eyes. The glow from the moonlight cast a shadow on his jawline, which was set so firmly because he was biting too hard into the insides of his jaw.Yet the word slipped from my mouth, “Freedom.” He moved closer, his big body dominating the small space between us, stealing all the air from my combustible lungs. “You really thought you could escape me?”“I’ll have you know that I’ll never just accept to be your cuffed up, branded mouse for the rest of my life, Vincenzo.” I also moved closer so that our noses were inches apart, his demonic blue eyes boring into my dark ones, “I hate you with all that’s in me. Hate your fucking family, hate your eyes and that fucking arrogance you carry around with you.He lifted a perfectly lined dark brow, “Oh?”I took a breath for my own benefit, “As long as I have air in my lungs, I’ll always try to run from you. Even if
Chapter 22 Stacy >~~~~~“We don’t have all day, little mouse,” His voice was a low growl as he pulled me up from the floor, his grip tight around my wrist. My pulse quickened but I could barely keep up with his long strides as he started walking. I wasn’t looking to go back to being cuffed, so I tugged behind him, resisting the urge to test if the gun he’d tossed at me, which I was making my fingers itch so bad was loaded. “What is this place?” I asked. I was so annoyed to find that my voice was shaking. He didn’t answer right away, barely dragged me through a narrow passage until the stone walls opened up into something unexpected—a massive forest that stretched beyond what I could see. I knew we were still in Fog House, so there was no way a few stroll could lead into an outdoor forest. The air was too light, too cold for the outdoors, and there were walls—very high walls that sealed us inside the place, opening into a clear, beautiful sky. I must have slept through the r
Chapter 23Stacy°° °° °° °°Vincenzo’s five-minute head start wasn’t a gift—it was a curse. It gave me just enough time to think about the glaring fact that I was about to die.What is it they say about choosing between the man and the bear? Better a tiger than a psycho mob boss chasing me, although a combination of both would be the absolute worst.Yeah, well, that was before I heard it—a low, rumbling growl that screamed, “surprise, you’re dinner.” I froze. Suddenly, the mob boss seemed like the better option, no offense to my strong feminist ancestors, but at least he wouldn’t literally eat me… probably.Move, my brain screamed at me, but my body refused to listen, locked in place by sheer terror. I strained to hear the sound again, to pinpoint where it was coming from, but all I could hear was the hammering of my heart.Suddenly, a flash of movement to my left—a shadow darting between the trees.I ran. Faster than I thought possible, my lungs burned like they’d signed up for a
Chapter 24Vincenzo °° °° °° °°Why does the devil look good?I’m guessing the fourteen men I killed at that gay club would have asked God the same thing right before I fired those bullets into their kneecaps.I’m pretty sure every single person who’d had the misfortune of meeting their end at the my hand had the same questions too.Personally, I’d never had to ask that question myself. I mean, I know I look good; every one of my siblings does. It would’ve been pretty odd if I were the ugly one, even though I was the bastard.Take away Don Cosimo’s genes, my mama was an angel in a human body, so these looks came from God himself—or the devil—whoever was in charge of making psycho devils like me.But Eustacia Salvatore? Her father wasn’t exactly the best-looking man I’d seen. I wouldn’t know about her mother, but it had to be illegal for all these good genes to come from just one woman. It was sick, really, how a woman like her could look so… perfect.Even now as she glared at me wi
Chapter 25Stacy~~~~~I was still trembling from that damn tiger.The bastard thought it was funny—taunting me with his oversized pet like I was some helpless child. Was it even normal to keep a man-eating animal as pet? God knows how many humans he’d fed to that thing. The fact that he was currently dragging me through his hellish maze like a strict father about to go punish his privileged kid who stole a homeless kid’s toy wasn’t making me feel better.The door swung open and I stumbled in behind Vincenzo, his grip still tight on my arm, like he thought I might run. Once inside, we passed by people and more doors, the scent and sound of booze, and God knows what else, coming and going. I kept my head down, not wanting to meet anyone’s gaze.But I could feel their stares.Eyes followed us as we walked, whispers trailing in our wake like poison. I felt their judgment burning into my skin, their looks like knives carving into me.Well, hello motherfuckers, this isn’t the first time
Chapter 26 Vincenzo ~~~~~~ Fiorella loves mothering me, which is ironic because kids don’t fuck their mothers and she only had six years on me. Well, she also had that ability to make me want to put everything in place— just for her, on me. So I’d spent the entire night trying to put things in place In anticipation for her arrival among other things. You never really know how to host a mourning Fiorella, especially if the person she was mourning was her personal cuntsucker. “Keep your eyes on that new info,” I instructed Liam over the phone. “Did you talk to her about the kiss?” The curiosity in his voice was unmistaken. He’d fallen deeper in love with that Irish bastard after he breached the security and nearly stole my little mouse. The fact that Liam was still unable to trace him was beginning to grate on my nerves, even I was beginning to wonder whether he was not a real ghost. I paused at the door, “Not yet.” “Why? Surely they must know each other—“ “I
Chapter 27 Vincenzo ~~~~~ The soft light filtering through the curtains was what woke me—well, that and the fact that I had actually slept, for once. My body felt heavier than usual, reminding me how much I’d needed this. Stacy shifted beside me, her breathing steady but slightly strained. She was still out cold. I let out a breath as I slowly turned on my side, taking a moment to study her, I noted the slight furrow in her brow and realized with alarm that the fever from last night hadn’t passed. I shifted carefully and pulled back the blanket just enough to check her injury. It wasn’t bleeding, but the heat radiating from her skin told me enough—she was burning up even more now. I was about to slide out of bed, call someone to look at it, when her eyes blinked open, wide and startled. She looked around the room in a panic before her gaze landed on me… then the blanket… then us… Her face froze in horror. “What the hell?” she squeaked, pulling the blanket up to her
Chapter 28 Stacy ~~~~~ You know how a mentally ill patient in a psych ward tries so hard to convince everyone he’s not crazy, only to end up looking even crazier? Yeah, that’s exactly why I didn’t bother arguing with Vincenzo. Seriously, I couldn’t believe this guy. Whatever gave him the impression that I was the unhinged one in this situation? People break things when they get too pissed all the time. It’s called rage therapy, his fancy grey room just happened to serve as the rage room when I needed it. He might need lessons on that. I mean, not all of us are currently in the position to torture or kill someone to get a bad day off our chest like he is. Humph! The door swung open before I could finish that thought, and in walked a woman who looked like she could break bones without smudging her lipstick. She was breathtaking—hot, sexy with a sharp jawline, dark sleek hair, piercing eyes, and a toned body. Well, seeing her reminded me just how miserable
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