Kat POV“It’s done,” I announced as I shut the door to Enzo’s hotel room behind me with a bang. Enzo and Eli jumped, looking up from a piece of paper they were inspecting on the desk. Eli looked a bit uncomfortable and picked up the paper, folding it and slipping it into his pocket before he made a rather smooth yet hasty retreat out of the room. “I’ve delivered the blasted envelope, now give me the next one and I will leave,” I said coldly, still furious at Castello for the whole Fabio fiasco. He sighed, running his hand through his hair as he watched me. His face seemed to be marred by the signs of a sleepless night, and I wondered if I looked as bad as he did. I had crept into the house in the early hours of the morning to change my clothes, and left as quickly as I could without being seen by anyone. From there, I snuck into the house of Milano's most terrifying enforcer to deliver the blasted envelope. The man was built like a tank, fueled by steroids and the blood of innocen
Kat POV“Sofia is too soft on you girls,” he roared as he pulled his belt from his pants, cracking it like a whip. “I’m going to teach you your place, once and for all. No one betrays me!” I felt the buckle of the belt hit my cheek, causing me to cry out as my vision blurred from the pain. He raised the belt again and I shielded my face with my hands, only to have the buckle slam into my forearm. “I am your master, you worthless bitch,” he screamed, pulling me away from the wall to kiss me hard, his lips bruising mine as he grabbed my breast painfully. His hands grabbed at my shirt, tearing it down the front as his eyes devoured my chest hungrily. Milano licked his lips pushing me back against the wall, my head slamming back against the bare bricks as he undid the button of his pants. He was going to rape me. That was almost certain, and then he was probably going to kill me for my betrayal. My scream was cut off by his fist as it connected with my cheek, and the tears pricked at
Enzo POVKat fell asleep within fifteen minutes after we left the city, her head pressed against the window of my car. She looked so peaceful that I didn’t have the heart to wake her up, even though she would probably wake up with a sore neck if I left her like that. “She probably didn’t sleep either,” Amarok grumbled, obviously feeling sorry for the woman. The moment I had seen her standing in the hallway, blood splattered across her pale face, I knew that something bad had happened. I initially wondered if it had something to do with the envelope I had given her - the threat inside meant for the consigliere of Milano. Milano wouldn’t have taken the threat on his advisor well, the older man being his number one support in the family of cut throats. I hadn’t suspected that Kat would take the fall for Guilia’s disappearance, nor that she would be expected to take the older woman’s place. But my thought returned to what Eli had told me about Milano preferring younger women, and I imm
Enzo POV“I hope you eat pasta a la disaster,” Kat laughed, placing some of the pasta I had made onto a chipped plate and passing it to me. My brow shot up as I surveyed the dish. “This is a disaster?” It looked appetising enough, even if it was served on a broken plate. The pasta was slightly clumped together, but the pieces of salami and sundried tomatoes seemed to salvage the appearance from being particularly bland. Kat shrugged, “Elijah seriously needs to update his cookware. Half the pasta is still glued to the bottom of the pot.” I could feel her eyes glued on me as she watched as I took a big mouthful of the food and forced a slight smile. It tasted as if I had licked a rock on the beachfront. Salty, dry and slightly gritty. “Mmm, delicious,” I tried to say with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. Her eyes lit up and she beamed with pride, as if she had somehow achieved something she was desperate for. I may be the big, bad Mafia man, but I couldn’t crush her spirit, so
Kat POVI had heard the stories of men who turned into beasts on nights where the full moon is high in the sky. Stupid stories filled with tales of curses and blood oaths with the devil, no doubt embellished by the old gypsy fortunetellers who told the tales from the darkness of the alleys in Rome. I had never once thought to believe any of them, filing them away securely as one of the many myths old ladies tell to keep the young girls wary of men. And yet, there before me, was one of those beasts that I had been warned against. A beast who looked like a man, but in seconds could change into a raging monster which could kill without a second glance. “Kat?” Enzo’s voice was uncertain, as if he expected me to be afraid of him. Is it weird that I wasn’t? I felt as if I had known that he had been different all along, and I knew for a fact that I was in no danger of him attacking me like he had just attacked the man who lay lifeless on the floor. “Are you ok?” I heard myself whisper,
Kat POVBirds chirped happily in the branches of the old Bergamot tree outside the bedroom window, warm sunlight streaming in through the windows and falling onto the bed. I was gently woken up as its warmth caressed my face. Enzo was long gone, his side of the bed cold as if he had left hours ago. “Enzo?” I called out, but there was no response and I decided to linger in bed for just a little bit longer. There was a sound of a car pulling up outside and I climbed out of bed, dragging the duvet with me as I made my way to the kitchen. Enzo burst through the door, carrying large paper bags which he dumped on the kitchen counter unceremoniously. “The villagers here are absolute criminals,” he grumbled as he pulled out a baguette from the bag. “I swear, they saw me as a tourist and forced me to pay double the price! It's a pity that I left my gun behind, or else I'd have done a different form of bargaining.” I leaned against the counter and bit back a smile as I teased him, “maybe t
Kat POVI sat on the threadbare sofa, painting my nails and trying to put an effort into being more feminine - partly for Enzo and partly because I had a new desire to find who I truly was outside of picking pockets and scaling walls. For once, I had the opportunity to stand out, and the bright red nail polish was just the statement I was looking to make. The door creaked as Enzo walked into the cottage carrying a pile of freshly cut firewood which he stacked next to the fireplace, the sweat making his torso gleam in the firelight.We had been at the cottage for a week, settling into a comfortable companionship which crackled with sexual tension that both of us seemed to dance around as if it would burn us. And it probably would. “Should I make dinner?” I asked, setting down the polish and blowing my wet nails as I stood up. He shook his head, “I'm going to take a shower quickly, then we can break out that cookbook I found in town and try something new.” “What? Don't trust my cook
Kat POVEnzo dropped the bag filled with weapons the moment we entered the cottage, grabbing me and lifting me into his arms with ease as his mouth claimed mine. His lips devoured me, as if he were starved and I were some sort of tasty morsel. I was barely aware as he carried me to the bedroom and lay me on the bed, supporting himself above me as his lips never left mine. My fingers tugged on his shirt as my passion fogged brain tried to figure out how to get closer to him. I could feel him smile against my lips before he pulled away and moved to lay beside me, supporting himself on one arm as he used his other hand to undo his shirt’s buttons. “You don’t know what you do to me,” he breathed, his shirt falling open to reveal his muscular chest. I bit my lower lip nervously, not truly knowing what to expect and yet desperate for whatever was to come. Enzo’s hands stripped my tshirt and jeans off, his eyes hungrily scanning over my body as I pulled his shirt off and my hands moved
Chapter 80Kat POVAfter a morning of lazing about and trying to recover from the impromptu house party, Enzo and I eventually pulled on some clothes and wandered down to Cassie’s house to help clean up, the three bodyguards in tow. I guess the one good thing about them tagging along was that they were extra hands, and considering how the party-goers had wrecked Cassie’s garden, I’d say they were needed. “When we find Damian, I swear he is going to be doing yard work until this place is back to how it was before last night,” Cassie grumbled, picking up a crushed tulip and sighing sadly. “It was worth it, Cassandra,” Vasilios consoled her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her temple. “And I am sure Damian will be highly appreciative of your sacrifice.” She sighed and put the tulip in his hand before slipping indoors, leaving the rest of us to finish clearing up outside while she fixed her kitchen with the help of Elijah’s new mate, Maria. “So,” Elle sidle
Enzo POVBy the time the clock ticked midnight, Darius was already on Luca’s private plane, heading to Luca’s island territory where he would be stuck in the dungeon and watched closely by Luca’s beta. Nico had already been filled in about the sensitivity of the situation, and there was no way Darius’s presence on the island would become known. I don’t even remember the drive back to the castle, or walking up the thousands of stairs to the room I shared with my adorable mate. Her soft yawns as she walked beside me echoed my own exhaustion, and we merely shrugged off our clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor before we climbed into bed. Seconds later, sleep claimed us both.The chirp of birds outside woke me up, the room filled with bright sunshine and the most delicious scent filled my nose. It took a moment for me to realise that the scent came from Kat. Her hair was splayed out across her pillow and shone golden in the morning sunlight, making her look like a mythical being –
Kat POV How the hell had I been so stupid? Truth was that I had been so wrapped up in my own self pity that I hadn’t even really noticed the change in the man I had believed was Damian. But now, watching the way he languidly leaned back in the high backed armchair, a smirk on his stupidly handsome face that I was quickly coming to hate, I realised that every interaction I’d had with Darius had some blatant clues. And now Damian was paying the price, locked in some cage somewhere, having believed his brother’s lie about thinking Aurora was a spy. He had been so desperate for a family - so desperate to be accepted that he trusted the man who sold him out as easily as if it were a game. I watched as he baited Jurgen, my bodyguard’s concern for my uncle becoming a game to the man I can only assume had a serious psychological problem. “I guess you will have to pray that King Mattias recovers to be able to answer that question,” Darius drawled - and if he were a teenaged girl, he probab
Kat POV“Alright, speak,” Enzo said in a voice which left no doubt that he was close to snapping. We had all gathered into the living room, the man we had all thought was Damian had been plonked down into the high backed armchair, and had to suffer through the off key “happy birthday” song as we all pretended that nothing was wrong. “Someone is watching from the top of the hill,” Vasilios had muttered under his breath as he had flung his arm across the stranger’s shoulders, laughing loudly as he guided the man indoors. Luckily he and his mate were in-tune with each other to a point where Cassie had declared loudly that we would be cutting the cake indoors, and that was that. “If you’d like to keep your life, you may start at the very beginning,” Luca drawled casually as he leaned against the fireplace, his one foot crossed behind the other. The stranger swallowed hard and glanced at Elijah before he gripped his hands together tightly and began his explanation. “My name is Darius.
Enzo POV “Darius?” Eli asked again, stepping toward where the rest of the guys were standing. I frowned in confusion. Darius? Who the hell was Darius? “Too much hard liquor on the plane again, Eli?” Vasilios joked good humouredly as he patted Eli on the back. “That’s Damian.” Eli blinked hard and shook his head, as if to clear it, but even from where I stood in the doorway to Vasi’s house, I could see how pale he looked. And judging by the look on Eliana’s face, so could she. I darted forward, grabbing his arm as reached his side. “Looks like you’ve been working too hard since I abandoned you to bring Kat back here,” I forced a laugh. “Let’s get some coffee into you, and you can give me some feedback before we join the party.” Even though all eyes were on us, I knew that my friends and family would brush this aside like nothing happened. That’s what they were good at - the subtle art of pretending everything was okay when there was an inferno of shit happening behind closed
Kat POVTo say that I was starting to hate my life may be the understatement of the century. The three bodyguards trailed behind me like puppies and I could do nothing without them hovering. Even going to the bathroom had become a chore, and just a few short hours after they had been assigned, I found myself shouting, “can I please pee in peace?” So by the time Saturday came around, I was fully ready to be free of the trio for a few hours. “Are you almost ready to leave?” Jurgen asked as he closed my bedroom door behind him and leaned against it, looking a lot less formal than he usually did in his jeans and a Metallica t-shirt. Enzo raised an eyebrow at him, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the t-shirt or because Jurgen was still playing babysitter. Either way, my mate remained quiet as he helped me with the zip on the back of my dress. “I just need to fetch the cake from the kitchen, and then we can go,” I told the two men, checking my makeup one last time. I was incredi
Kat POVI sat next to my uncle’s bedside, holding his pale hand in my own as the doctor spoke with Jurgen outside the room. King Mattias, the great king of the werewolf nation, looked so fragile and weak in the gigantic bed, but not nearly as much as he had been when Jurgen and I had discovered him. A shudder coursed its way through my body as I remembered the image of my uncle lying beneath his desk, his eyes rolled back to show the bloodshot whites of his eyeballs as every breath he took resulted in foamy saliva bubbles forming at his mouth. I have never seen Jurgen move so fast as when I screamed. Within seconds, the tall man was by my side, his body poised and ready to protect me from whatever danger there was… only to quickly turn into my uncle’s rescuer as he launched into action. Within mere minutes, the doctor had been fetched and my uncle was stabilized in the middle of his office floor, curious eyes kept at bay by a rather fierce looking Vasilios. “Are you alright, Prince
Kat POVWaking up to Jurgen standing in the kitchen sipping a cup of coffee was certainly not what I had expected when I stepped out of the bedroom.“Jurgen!” I squeaked, pulling my dressing gown tighter around me to cover the fact that I was naked beneath it. He bowed his head slightly, but the faint blush on his cheeks told me that he had seen more than I had hoped he would. “Good morning, my Princess,” he said, turning to place his mug on the kitchen counter. “I hope you slept well.” “Very well, thank you,” I responded and glanced around the small home. “Where is Enzo?” Jurgen smiled slightly and nodded his head toward the door. “He’s out on the training fields. He has realised how unfit incarceration has made him, so he decided to put in a few extra hours into his training.” “Oh,” I replied, still trying to figure out what on earth Jurgen was doing in my kitchen at 7 o’clock in the morning. “I hope you’re already packed,” he said casually, and I blinked a few times as I tried
Enzo POVI bolted upright in bed, beads of sweat trickling down my forehead and my breathing harsh as my heart beat loudly against my chest. “It was a dream,” I whispered to myself, a vain attempt to convince myself that I hadn’t witnessed the secret meeting between Anka and the last person on earth I would have suspected to be in collaboration with the Council, and yet my eyes could not have deceived me. The warm hand which brushed against my back almost sent me bolting for the door, but Kat’s scent wafted toward me and I remembered where I was and who I was with. “Are you alright?” she asked sleepily as she sat up and wrapped her hand around my arm, kissing my shoulder gently. I nodded, stroking the back of my hand down her soft cheek. “It was just a bad dream,” I told her. “Go back to sleep.” She yawned as she grabbed her pillow and hugged it as she lay back down again, falling asleep almost as soon as her eyes closed. I watched her for a few moments, a strange sense that the