I clear my throat as I stand from the chair and step away from him.Distance. I need to keep my distance from him.“You need to stop doing that.” I breathe out emotionally. He sits on the edge of his desk, crossing his arms, and a ghostly smirk stains his annoyingly handsome face. “Why?” He asks with amusement. “You know why.” I deftly brush my fingers across my abdomen where my scar is. “This is wrong, and I am not my sister – I’m not Rose.”He snorts, “I can see that. When I look at you, I don't see or think of Rose. I see you, Ivy, and only you.” His brows knit together as he speaks, looking taken aback by his own admission.Licking my dry lips, “I can't give you what you want,” I whisper with embarrassment. "And what is it that you think I want from you, Farfalla?”“A good time?” I arch my brows, challenging him to correct me if I'm wrong.“And what's wrong with that?” “Everything. You know about my traumatic past. You are my sisters' ex-lover, and now you're…you're Savannahs
I laugh as my cheeks turn bright pink, and I shove him backwards. “I’m curious, Don Valentino… Does your ass ever get jealous of the amount of shit that comes out of your mouth?” I tease, shuffling my butt to the edge of the desk. Snorting, he plants both of his hands on the desktop, one hand on either side of my body, and he looks deeply into my eyes. “You do realise that everything from this moment forward has changed between us, don't you?” He states seriously. My eyes drink in every shade of blue swirling in his irises, and I scowl at him, coming to terms that his eyes are indeed cold and harsh.Even when he’s being corny as fuck.But I'd kill a bitch for his lashes. “How so?” “From now on, I want you in my bed.” He raises his hand and presses a finger against my lips as I open my mouth to protest. “I'm not going to lie to you, Farfalla. But, when you were recovering in my bed, I enjoyed having your face be the last thing I saw before falling asleep and the first thing I noti
“Mi dispiace, Farfalla. But I can't share that information with you.” He says in a protective tone. I sigh, “I didn't think you would.” Which I didn't, it's not like I was holding my breath or anything.I totally was. “It's safer this way.”“And what makes you believe that? Now I'm going to be a jittery mess, forever looking over my shoulder like some crazy, paranoid woman.” I groan. “At least you'll be more aware of your surroundings.” He rubs his hands up and down my arms, sending waves of tingles down my body.“Can I at least have a gun?” I ask him anxiously, hoping he will say yes. Instead, he chuckles, “Uh, no.” He replies as if I've just asked him to marry me. He didn't bother to give my request a moment's thought.“And why not? I can’t rely on you and your henchmen to watch over me all the time” I ask with irritation slowly seeping into my veins. “It's not about why you cannot have one, Ivy.” He becomes serious as his eyes penetrate mine with ferocious intensity. “It's a
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, knitting my brows together, and I pass the torn photograph to him. I feel like I've made an impulsive move where I should be spanked across my ass and sent to my room. “I'm sorry,” I say as he snatches the two halves from my grasp. “An impromptu moment of insanity.” I exhale loudly and internally facepalm myself as I try to defend my actions. He doesn't utter a word as he holds the torn picture up, piecing them together, and he starts cursing under his breath. “Fucking scumbag! The bastardo is lucky he is already dead, or I would fucking strangle him with my bare hands!” He announces with anger and hostility bathing him. I'm just gonna take a wild guess and assume he now knows my captor was telling me the truth and not only is his brother a lying sack of shit, but Savannah is, indeed, his. The real question is: Why would Rose lie? Why would she allow Roman to manipulate her in such a way? I have so many questions and there is no one I can
“I am a breath away from ripping your arm off, Mrs DeLuca.” Alessandro snarls in a murderous tone. I cup my stinging cheek, glaring at Mrs DeLuca with shock written all over my face, mirroring her eyes.“What the cazzo is going on?” Alessandro asks harshly, dropping her hand as he comes and stands in front of me.Mrs DeLuca gulps, her eyes darting between Alessandro and me as she remains standing in front of us in silence. “She… I… We…" “I bumped into her as I was exiting the office, and she nutted off at me.” I simply state the truth as I remove my hand from my face. “And why did you slap Miss Bishop across the face?” He growls. “She was rude, and she was telling me about-”“I accused her of eavesdropping.” I cut her off mid-sentence. Sidling up to his side, he ensnares her upper arm with a firm grip, causing her to gaze up at him with eyes brimming with sheer terror. She knows damn well what she did, and she isn't going to be able to spin her lies this time.We got eyes on he
ALESSANDRO, AKA DON VALENTINO.I lean back in my office chair, trying to piece the puzzle I had absolutely no idea I was attempting to solve. Maverick, Roman and Gio. I knew there was something odd about Gio. When he first came to me, asking me to join the famiglia, I was hesitant at first because he wasn’t able to give me a back story of his famiglia.He spoke little Italian, and he told me it was because he was adopted.After learning that he formerly worked for a large security corporation that offered highly trained bodyguards for mega stars staying in the country for work.I turned to Riccardo for a second opinion, and he advised me that it wouldn’t hurt to have someone with his credentials join our famiglia.Maybe I should have overlooked Gios’ sob story and done a deep dive into his background – into his famiglia lineage.I toss the feathered ink pen across the room and tear the fucking photograph into tiny pieces. That's going to be an image that will mentally stick to me l
The double doors to my father's room burst open, and I jump to my feet to see who the hell has disturbed our peace, ready to bite their head off. I cautiously advance three steps, my heart pounding in my chest, only to retreat five steps in sheer terror as Alessandro, bursts into the room with his entourage of four loyal henchmen hot on his heels.He's got a fire in his eyes, a burning rage that could melt steel. And for once, I feel the weight of his gaze bearing down on me, like a vice tightening around my soul. He steps forward, his presence looming over me, his jaw clenching with a ticking time bomb of fury.Our eyes meet, and he ensnares my wrists with a swift, calculated move, firmly clasping them between our bodies. He doesn't utter a single word, nothing—zilch. He fixes his steely gaze upon me, and a shiver runs down my spine. In that instant, I feel the weight of every ill-fated choice I've ever made, each one leading us inevitably to this crossroad.As his vice-like gr
I open my mouth to scream, only to find myself being dragged to the ground. My shoulder hits the cold hospital floor with a thud and my head bounces off a large warm hand.Alessandros’ hand. He's thrown his body in front of me, protecting me from the hail of bullets ripping through the room. Tiny shattered glass fragments rained down from above, dancing through the air like deadly confetti.Gasping for air, “my father!” I struggle under his weight, trying to push him off me, but he is too heavy and doesn't budge. “He's okay, Renzo is shielding him,” he hisses in a hushed tone, his cheek pressed against mine. He slightly rolls onto his side, examining me with his eyes, and his hand cups the side of my jaw. “Are you okay, Farfalla?” He asks through ragged breaths. I nod my head with glassy eyes as I stare into his blue irises. “Are you?” I try to suppress the sob that's slowly erupting from the pit of my stomach, making me feel sick. He lets out a low grunt as he peers down at