{INGRID'S POV}**āPut your hands above your head,ā he tells me.I do, looking into his eyes as I obey.My mind turns to the first time I saw him when I awoke in here. I can practically feel his hands on me as he holds me down, the intense powerlessness I felt at their touch.I breathe deeply, calming the emotions that race through me at the thought.I feel his hands on my wrists, pushing them together. The tie slides around them, the same fabric as before caressing my sensitive skin. I feel as it begins to tighten and look up to watch.He binds my wrists tightly, securing them with practiced hands.I give them a tug, experimenting with the length. The constraint leaves me feeling utterly powerless, and I wonder at the spark that spreads through me at the thought of it.I turn to find his eyes. They pierce me in question.I answer with my own, my chest heaving in anticipation. I
{INGRID'S POV} * * Sharp, threatening voices wake me up the next morning. I stir from my sleep, waking up in a heap on the floor. I must have rolled over from the mat. My bones are aching from the position I slept in still, and I realize I must have fallen asleep sometime during the night. Wait. Hold up. I feel somewhere else too. Ohā¦yeah. Uncle. Uncle and I had sex. What's that pain? I look up to my wrists. The bind. The bind have rubbed my skin raw and my sleeping arrangement made my whole body sore and tense the more. Why didn't he take off the bind? But the most important thing right now are the voices. I hear them out in the hallway, deep and unfamiliar. And I think they're coming towardsā¦ here. I crawl into the corner of the room and pull up Mr. Giovanni's leather coat. He must have left it here after weā¦, probabl
{GIOVANNIāS POV}**So, I left her.It wasnāt like I didnāt have a choice. I couldāve stayed back with her. Hell, a part of me wanted to. But I just... I just walked away.She knew my name, but I didnāt bother learning hers. Why would I? She was just a kid. Well, legal, barely 18, so no problem there, right? Thatās how it goes. First time, one time. No strings, no complications.She wasnāt special. To me, she was just another warm body in a long, forgettable list of bitches. Names? Faces? They didnāt matter when you lived a shitty life as mine. So, in summary, thanks to my shitty life, I took what I wanted. When I wanted. And moved on.But damn. There was something about her.Not love or anything stupid like that; letās not get carried away. But there was this way she looked at me, like she saw past the bullshit. Like she could strip me down to nothing with just her eyes.It pissed me of
{EDMONDOāS POV} * * If there's anything I hate about myself, it's the lack of patience towards bastards. I hate chasing ghosts. The Irish Consigliere; a slippery bastard, is the kind of problem I like to solve immediatelyā¦ with a bullet. Fast, simple, no bullshit. But here I am, trudging through this piss-soaked tunnel, hunting him down because my men couldnāt catch him outright. The underground reeks of rot, mildew, and something worse. Darkness. They all cling to my suit like a second skin. This isnāt where a man like me: The Don belongs, no, I should be sitting in the estate, drinking my scotch and celebrating the little blocks I've set for the empire I'm building. But ghosts donāt respect empires. They sneak in, lurk and poke around, and see how much they can steal before they vanish. And this ghost? Iāll make sure he vanis
{EDMONDO'S POV} * * The bastardās trying to rile me up. And itās working. My hand itches to reach for my knife. But I hold back. Not yet. Not here. He surely didn't come here to hug but to attack. āYouāve got balls, Iāll give you that,ā I say, my voice is low and cutting. āBut balls wonāt save you when youāre six feet under.ā āAh, but Iāve no intention of being buried tonight,ā he replies, his smile fading as his eyes harden. āI came here to talk.ā Talk? āTalk?ā I spit the word out like it tastes bad. āThe Irish donāt talk. You threaten, you scheme, and you stab people in the back. So, cut the bullshit and tell me why youāre really here.ā Donnelly shrugs. His movements are quite slow. Slow like a poison but delib
{LUIGIāS POV}**You donāt crawl back to Edmondo Dā Avi. Not after youāve fucked up like I did. And definitely not unless youāve got a death wish.I lurk in the shadows now, watching him from a distance like some pathetic ghost. I donāt deserve to stand in his light anymore, not after the shitstorm I brought down on him with Massimo. But I still love him. Iād still kill for him. Maybe one day Iāll even die for him. Thatās all Iāve got left to offer; a loyalty he doesnāt even fucking know is still here.The tunnelās cold and damp. This is the kind of place where rats thrive and bodies disappear. I blend into the dark like a goddamn phantom, watching Edmondo square off with the Irish Consigliere.Donnelly.Iāve heard his name whispered in back rooms and barrooms. The Irish Consigliere is a legend. A man with a silver tongue and an iron fist. Heās sharp as a switchblade and
{GIOVANNI'S POV}**The courtyard is alive, alive with noise. There's steel ringing on steel, boots pounding against dirt, grunts and curses cutting through the cold morning air. Thisā¦ this is Edmondoās pet project. āThe Girls Guard.āHe swears by it, calls it the future. Says women are more dangerous than men when theyāve got something to prove. Heās not wrong. Iāve seen what they can do. And here they are, Edmondoās handpicked female assassins in training, twisting chaos into precision. Itās almost impressive. Almost.I lean against the stone pillar, arms crossed, watching as they work through their drills. Most of them move like theyāve been doing this all their whole lives. They are calculated. Efficient. Deadly. But one of them catches my eye.Sheās a disaster.Clumsy footwork. Weak grip. She fumbles with her blade like itās a goddamn kitchen utensil.
{EDMONDO'S POV}**What the fuck, Cara?Iām gone for two days, two fucking days and I come back to this circus. Iām killing myself holding this empire together; bleeding time, sweat, and sanity into it. And this is what I walk into?The whispers started before I even hit the gates. Cara and a man. Cara and my brother.At first, I ignored it. Couldnāt believe it. But then I saw her. Strutting into Giovanniās room like she owns the place.And when I followed?Giovanni, my goddamn brother, standing there. Shirtless. And her standing close. Too close.Fucking Christ.Iām seeing red when I storm into her room. I slam the door behind me with enough force to shake the frame.āCara!ā I shout.She spins to face me. Her eyes are wide, her mouth already opening to try and explain. Or perhaps, call my name.āDonāt you fucking say my name,ā I snarl, cutting her off. My voice comes out low and dangerous. It's literally vibrating with fury. āWhat the fuck do you think youāre doing?āāEdmondo, Iā¦.ā
{INGRID'S POV}**The air inside the guest house in the clubhouse feels as stale as a musty basement, it's like itās pressing in hard on me. The walls are too close. The furniture, too still.Iām curled into a ball, crying myself into nothingness in the same room. I felt bad, but everything feels different now. And it's because of him. Because of his words to me.āIām giving you five minutes,ā is all he says in the end. That was all he said before leaving me here, alone with the weight of it.Five minutes for what? To breathe? To collect myself? Or to decide what to do next? That time was never enough and couldn't be.I press my fingers against my temples. My mind is a mess. My pulse is erratic. I need to move. I need to get out of here.I grab a dress from the cupboard. It's good there's one there, even if it's bigger and longer. And so out of shape.I leave the room quietly and the place entirely.The moment my feet hit the ground outside, the cold air rushes against my skin, clear
{GIOVANNIāS POV}**I shut the door behind me seeing to it that the slam echoes in both my ears and hers. My hands flex at my sides, my fingers tingling from where they had just been wrapped around her throat.She wanted me to hurt her. She fucking wanted me to hurt her. Punishment, hard sex... anything that would hurt her she wanted it.And for a secondā¦. for one fucked up second, I almost did. I saw it in her eyes, that plea for something more than just words, something deeper, something that would cut through whatever storm was brewing inside her. And I could have given it to her.But I didnāt.I don't break little girls. Or maybe I do, but I don't want to break her. Also, I donāt indulge their self destruction. Not like that. Okay, maybe I do too but if and only if I should find interest in a little girl, which has never happened aside from Ingrid La Rosa. My jaw tightens, and I push the thought away. I move down the dimly lighted hallway. The weight in my chest is a familiar
{INGRID'S POV}**āMaybe itās because nobody will ever love me because of my past. Nobody will ever really touch me, no, not after someone else did. Nobody will ever let me know what itās like to have a man fall in love with me for all time when my heart beats for someone else who doesn't even care. They wouldnāt, now would they? There's nothing good or lovely about me or my life.āHis eyes widen on mine, and I see more than those emotions. Worse than hate or disgust. It's Pity. I see damn pity. It's directed towards me. And I hate that. āYou need to get some fucking therapy and work on your self and mind,ā he says, his hands still gripping tight on my wrists.ā....ā God I'm speechless. Really? Therapy?! What does he think of me? A lunatic? I have not lost my mind!He stares at my thighs, and I feel ashamed of them, so fierce in my pain. I have a low waistband on, which I made by myself because I feel bold wearing them, but he barely even notices. His attention is so fixed on my fla
{INGRID'S POV}**I feel him nudge me from behind so I move away from the space close to the door. He steps forward and keys into the lock, opening the door and stepping in ahead of me. I enter. I don't even attempt to shut the door behind me after I enter, only fold my arms like a spoilt kid who is being grounded.He finds the light switch as soon as I'm in after him. He peeks out the door, his eyes checking out the neat little hallway before shutting the door. This is definitely a hotel room. No, more like a condo. But it's... unusual. There's a handmade tapestry of a dolphin breaching beside a boat hangs above the bed, and a photo of pirate colleagues on the deck sits on the kitchen counter. It isn't exactly the kind of decor I'd expect to find in aā¦ sort of hotel condo room. But then again, life is full of surprises, and sometimes the most unexpected places can become the most memorable. So, the lady always in a yellow scarf who fed me on the street for a month before she die
{INGRID'S POV}**I really am done with it. I am done with caring. Done with feeling. Done with living like some goddamn pushover. Maybe that punishment will really help in liberating me from this crappy stubbornness of mine and make me a better person that everyone will be satisfied with. Right?I mean, it isn't my fault I grew up to be like this, now is it?To the outside world I am a kid who should listen and be good, but my inside world is a pit of pain and memories of my lonely past. A pit of pain Iāve been breathing through in agonizing little gasps since I was a little girl trying to be good for people around to spear me some food, alms and some money. But now, I feel so fucked up, and used, and twisted with all these looks and words Mr. Giovanni especially throws at me. I've been hurt and is still being hurt by so much of the life I'm still holding dear.Yeah, I am done.And what is with all these? All these family shit, and more secrets. More secrets. The underworld, alcoho
{GIOVANNI'S POV}**I move. Silent. The door clicks shut behind me.In the mirror, I watch her freeze.Her shoulders tense first. Then her grip on the sink tightens, like sheās bracing for a hit.Slowly, so fucking slowly, she lifts her head. Our eyes meet in the mirror. Her pupils go wide, her throat tightens. What does she fucking know? What is she afraid of? Me? And yet, she doesnāt move.I step closer, watching the shift in her body. It's small movements, but still there. The way her breathing changes, the way her lips part like she wants to say something but the words wonāt come.She still doesn't back away. So I move closer still.Her breath catches. She still doesnāt speak.Sheās holding herself together, but I can see the tension in her arms, the weight of a thousand unspoken things pressing down on her. And I wonder, just for a second, how far sheās willing to push before I fucking break her to total obedience surrender to me.āWell, well, well,ā I say. āI never expected to
{GIOVANNI'S POV}**She asks for her father. She says she's here only and only to ask me of her father. Does she know that he is a monster? That he and his empire tore the happiness of Trento apart once. Edmondo's people who are also mine.. some bled to death, girls raped, a few murdered in the eyes of their own children and loved ones.I wonder how pretty little girl La Rosa will look when it is revealed to her just how tainted she and her now dead La Rosa empire is. I wonder how her eyes will glisten with tears as she stare up into the malice in mine when I break it to her what Edmondo and I did to them in return.I wonder how much I can make her pussy stretch for me before she screams when I force myself into her again.Shit. That was random. I'm crazy. I'm a crazy old man. Haha.It's funny, looking around me at all the people in this blue hue room. They don't even have the slightest idea of just how evil a monster I am amongst them. So many idiotsā¦ living their idiot lives, havi
{GIOVANNI'S POV}**The ring display is full of light; fucking bright diamond reflections sharp like cut glass, bands of gold and platinum polished to a perfect gleam. Elise is to my right, examining a row of engagement rings with the focused eye of a woman who already knows exactly what she wants.I should be doing the same. After all she's my wife-to-be, right?Instead, my gaze drifts, tracking over the cases until it lands on a section that's further down. There's a different style that seems simpler, yet shiny and clear. It's a pretty section. My eyes skim over the sizes without thinkingā¦.. until I pause.Nine.Itās becoming a habit; assessing things that might look good on bambina, measuring them without needing to be told. I better not let it stay till it becomes old and hard to die. My fingers twitch, recalling something unbidden: the weight of a hand gripping mine in the dark of the bunker as I pound into her pussy. So small hands but steady and firmly gripping my shoulders
{INGRID'S POV}**āYou donāt look like an Irish lady either,ā he counters.I arch a brow. āWhat do I look like?āHe tilts his head slightly, studying me. āLike someone whoās waiting for a reason to burn this whole place down.āThe air between us tightens. He has a good sense of humour. And he just called me a lady, not some bambina. Wow. It's weird.The white haired man makes a noise; something between a laugh and a knowing hum, but I donāt break eye contact. I donāt let Ronan think heās got me figured out just because he threw out some poetic bullshit that happened to land close to the truth.Instead, I set my drink down, lace my fingers together, and give him the smallest, sharpest smile I can muster.āGood thing I left my lighter at home.āRonan holds my gaze. His own mouth twitches like he wants to say something else. But before he can, the white haired man claps his hands together, breaking the tension. āWell,ā he says, amused, āThis is going exactly how I hoped.āI shoot him a