Eliana POV I opened my eyes and the first thing that popped into my mind was, “not again!” It seemed like people thought I was just the perfect person to kidnap and keep captive in a tiny room with no windows - scratch that, there was a window, it had just been boarded up from the outside. Luca was going to be pissed.It wasn't as if I'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. No, these guys came out of nowhere while I was working in my room, the two of them managing to overpower me and hit me over the head. I had a faint memory of being put onto a boat and then being hauled into a car, so where I was being held was anyone's guess. I pressed on the sore spot on my head, quickly removing my hand when pain jolted through my body. “Fuck, Elle. What did you do now?” Ayla grumbled and I sighed with relief knowing that she was still with me, and that I clearly hadn't been given wolfsbane. I shrugged off her comment and struggled to my feet, heading to the window. A small sliv
Eliana POV “Eliana?” The man who looked so strangely familiar looked at Lorenzo, his purple eyes burning with unbridled anger. “What is she doing here, Lorenzo?” The older man barked. Lorenzo looked startled, his face turning pale as he took a step backward. “I… I…” he stammered, looking from me to the older man. “Don Carnera, I had no idea. I'm sorry, this was a mistake.” The two men who remained at the fireplace stared at me as if they were dissecting every inch of me with their critical eyes. “What is the meaning of this, Luigi?” The man with a Scottish burr asked, scratching his chin through his messy beard. Luigi Carnera? My mind mulled over the name, feeling as if it were important for some reason. Luigi Carnera… Car-ne-ra… Butcher? “Oh my…” even Ayla was at a loss for words as I slowly pieced together the information. “Out!” Luigi shouted, the two men at the fireplace jumping in fright at the anger in his single word. Like scared sheep, the men filed out of the room,
Eliana POVI wouldn't have imagined that it was possible for the temperature in a room to drop so suddenly- but it happened. The moment the words “sister” were out of Luigi’s mouth, I felt Lorenzo turn to ice. “Wh…wh… what are you saying?” I stammered, my hands gripping the armrests on the chairs until my knuckles turned white. Lorenzo’s hands slipped from around my neck and he walked to the other side of the room as if he were trying to get a bit of space between us. I couldn't see what he was doing, but the frigidity of his attitude couldn't be missed.“I'm saying that you're my daughter,” Luigi responded in a far too blasé manner. It was almost as if he hadn't just up and disappeared on my mom before she even gave birth to us! He didn't have a single iota of remorse for not being part of our lives. Apparently the look on my face was enough to warrant him giving an explanation. “Your mother was young and innocent. I couldn't understand why the fates assigned her to be my mate, bu
Eliana POV“Ah, you're awake,” Luigi’s gravelly voice startled me as my eyes fluttered open and I bolted upright in bed, clutching the covers to my chest. “What are you doing here?” The words shot out of my mouth before my brain could process the situation. The man sat on the foot of the bed, his observant eyes taking in every move I made. “Well, I was waiting for you downstairs but I'm not a very patient man. Your mother always used to chastise me about my impatience,” there was a hint of a smile on his lips but it vanished as quickly as it came. “When you did not appear when the rest of the men came for breakfast, I presumed you were still hiding out and I came to check on you.” “I was sleeping,” I said, stating the obvious. He chuckled, his purple eyes lighting up with his laughter and he instantly became handsome - somewhat like a younger version of Elijah. In fact, if I removed the moustache, he'd be the splitting image of an older Elijah. I'm not sure why I didn't notice it
Eliana POVLuca's voice seemed to carry through the entire house, apparently causing alarm if the sound of doors opening and slamming shut were anything to go by. My heart beat a bit faster at the sound of his voice and I wished I had a mirror to check my appearance in. There was a knock at the door and someone tried to open it before realising it was locked. “I'm coming,” I called out and rushed to the door to open it. Lorenzo leaned against the wall and snorted, “don't say that too loudly. Prince Charming might think you're having a wonderful time up here and leave you.” It took a few seconds before I linked his comment to my “I'm coming”. I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arms. “What do you want?” “I'm here to fetch you. Boss is in negotiations with Loverboy, he wants you in the next room in case things get… rowdy,” Lorenzo said with a smirk. I nodded and followed him meekly toward the stairs. Knowing that he was my half brother was rather unsettling and I didn't really
Eliana POV“Here is my deal - mate and marry my daughter, or you die.”I don't know who was more shocked by the deal - Luca, myself or Lorenzo. We all shouted together “what?”, “are you crazy?”, and “excuse me?”“You heard me,” Luigi responded with a smirk. “Either I gain a son-in-law or I gain another notch on my sword.”Lorenzo shook his head, muttering under his breath as he moved to lean against the wall. I couldn't understand a word he said but the general tone was that he was rather surprised by his father's suggestion. “You didn't even know me twenty-four hours ago, and now you're planning on using me for your own goals?” I asked Luigi, astonished.“Eliana, you're intimate with this man, no?” Luigi asked, not bothering to wait for a reply judging - the faint blush on my cheeks was answer enough. “I do not want this idiot you have for a mate to make the same mistake I did. So he will either mate you and do this whole relationship thing properly, or he will die for ruining the h
Luca POVI watched her father's face as my teeth sunk into his daughter's flesh, her blood mixing with my saliva. Carnera's face was stoic, unemotional even, yet his eyes gave away the triumph he felt. He'd just caught his biggest rival's son as a son-in-law and ally, and he clearly felt as if he were on top of the world. On the other side of the family spectrum, Lorenzo was seething beside me. I wondered if I'd made a new enemy, or if he would turn his hatred to his father instead. Either way, he was one I would be watching from afar. It's not as if he had any brotherly feelings toward Eliana, so nothing would stop him if he decided to kill her in retribution for his deceased mother. I remembered that day clearly - the day my father had come into the house and bragged loudly that he'd found a way to cripple Carnera. It was only in the following days that he'd discovered that the woman he held in a cage in the warehouse in Portoscuso wasn't his enemy's mate, but instead his mistress
Eliana POVI was sitting on the loveseat, staring out the window at the moonlight reflecting off of the ocean when I heard a knock on the interleading door to Luca’s room. It opened without me saying a word, Luca slipping quietly into the room. “You didn’t come down for dinner,” he said, his voice was harsh and I was a bit taken aback by it. “I wasn’t hungry,” I replied, equally coldly. He said nothing, just stared at me as I looked through the window. When he finally moved, he went to the fireplace and lit it, the warmth of the fire casting a golden glow throughout the room. The light caught Luca’s muscular chest and I had to turn away quickly as the memories of running my hands over those hard contours threatened to replay in my mind. That was a dangerous avenue to go down. “There is an interesting discovery I have made in the few hours since I marked you,” he said slowly, coming to stand behind me. “I can feel when your emotions are in turmoil.” His fingers ran up my shoulder