{EDMONDO'S POV}
**As the thought of Kara's flushed face burned into my mind, I glanced down at my boots. They sat in a neat row at the foot of the cupboard, polished and gleaming, waiting for me to choose.I wasn’t a goddamn girl, standing there debating over which pair to wear, so I grabbed the first ones my eyes landed on. A pair of snow boots.Not fluffy like some dainty princess shit, but a rugged kind of soft.The material was scaled, sturdy, and masculine, with an edge of tread sharp enough to leave marks if you stepped the wrong way.They weren’t my usual heavy-soled, leather boots, the ones that announced my presence with a rhythmic thud wherever I walked. These were quieter. Subtle. And tonight, subtlety was exactly what I needed.Sliding my feet into them, I felt the softness against my skin. But the weight of unfinished business still pressed against my thoughts.. and my pants.I adjust{CARA'S POV}**“I hate how this place smells,” I mutter.My fingers trace the edge of the vanity and I feel the rough wood beneath my touch. The scent of blueberries clings to the air, mingling with the sharp tang of my own skin. Everything here is foreign, nothing but a reminder of how I don’t belong. Nothing is mine, not the bed I collapsed on, or the items scattered like careless whispers across the room. This is Edmondo’s world. And I’m just caught in its chaos.I draw the towel tighter around my body, suddenly conscious of the thinness of it, the way it clings to me with every shiver. I step into the bathroom, letting the steam from the shower wrap around me. I needed the steam to hide me from my own thoughts. The water roars, a force trying to drown out the memories of Edmondo’s voice, the way it cut through the space between us with a promise I’m not ready to admit. His eyes, those cold iceberg like eyes that were both cruel and beautiful, are now burned into my mind. He
{Edmondo’s POV}**I don’t like what I’m becoming.A devil.Mother had said this once, that I carried inside me a devilment that I shouldn't let rule me. Yet it seems like the devilment isn't what I carried inside but who I am.The silence in this estate used to ground me, used to remind me of what it meant to control. But now? Now it’s her voice. Her face. Her goddamn presence haunting me like a curse. Like a constant reminder of what I can’t have without completely destroying it.Fuck. Even my lowly soldato dare see her beauty in her face and dare speak of it. Now, they're topping up the list of reminders.I play with the knife in my pocket with my fingers as I step into the main hallway leading to my chamber. The sharp edge of the knife bit at my fingertips. Then, I feel the sensation of a drip of liquid. Damnit. The pain of hurting myself doesn’t soothe me like it used to. It’s just a foolish distraction now, a weak one at that. Cara.I grit my teeth.Her name circles in my mi
{Edmondo’s POV}**The corridor leading to the blue room was as silent as a graveyard, just as I like it. I swipe Cara and the thoughts of her away from my head. I need to focus now. I take a turn to the next wing. Everything about this wing was deliberate. Cold. Unforgiving. Blue.The doors are reinforced steel painted in shades of icy cerulean and as I approach, they loom ahead. They stood like sentinels, warning anyone without a purpose to turn back. But I wasn’t just anyone.I was the Don. Don Edmondo D’ Avi.I stepped through the door, and the temperature plummeted instantly. It was the kind of cold that crept under your skin and dug into your bones.The blue room.This place was my invention. Torture disguised as order. Every inch of it was drenched in varying shades of blue: the walls, the floor, the furniture, even the faint, buzzing glow from the overhead lights. The glass windows reflected an endless sea of muted azure, and the table in the center was translucent sapphi
{EDMONDO'S POV}**My blood’s running too hot and I can't even feel the cold and sharp air in the Blue Room biting at my skin. I stop just short of Massimo, dangling like the pathetic piece of shit he is. Sweat drips down his face, mixing with streaks of blood, and yet the bastard still has the nerve to smirk at me when Luigi says the words he said.“You look like shit, Massimo,” I say, tilting my head. My voice is calm, too calm. That’s how I know I’m about to snap.Massimo lets out this wheezy laugh, the kind that makes me want to cave his face in. “Still standing,” he rasps, his grin widening. “You didn’t expect that, did you? The good news of your shipment and brother.”I take a step closer. If the heel of my boot weren't so soft they'd be scraping against the floor. I can feel Luigi behind me, stiff as a board, waiting for my command. “You think this is standing?” I lean in, my voice dropping.
{EDMONDO'S POV}**I stand by the door, my hand resting on the frame as the voices behind me slice through the silence of the hallway. I don't leave fully as I wait to hear the remarks Massimo might make.Not like I don't trust Luigi to give me the full information of whatever Massimo blurts out.. I just waited, perhaps he'd tell Luigi which of my brothers killed my men.Massimo’s voice is low, venomous, dripping with malice when he says. “You still… you still have those affections for him, don’t you, Luigi? You’re shit.”I hear Luigi’s sharp intake of breath. There’s a taut pause, and then he answers with a rough and defensive voice. “It’s none of your business, you know.”The silence is broken by Massimo’s snort, a harsh, mocking sound. “None of my business? You don’t think it is? You’re still his little pet, his lapdog, his creature. He doesn’t even ask you. He just calls you his dog, Luigi. How does that feel? To be love
{CARA'S POV}**Sitting in his room is getting boring. It’s a constant reminder of the mark he just created on my face. I need to walk around.Blueberries.The faint scent of blueberries wafts through the air as I step into the grand sitting room. It’s everywhere in this estate, but here, it’s stronger.The smell is sweet yet overpowering—nothing like Edmondo, who smells exactly like it. It coats the space with a strange illusion that Edmondo is here. Here with me in this cold, towering estate.For a moment, I think I’m alone with just the illusion of Edmondo. Then I see her.She stands by the window, her back to me, gazing out at the dreary garden with a few bottles of… something in her hand.Her dark curls tumble down her back, catching the faint light seeping through the heavy curtains. Her posture is poised but casual. Every movement is deliberate, like she knows she’s being watched.My stomach tightens.There’s something about her—something disturbingly similar… similar to Agata
{CARA'S POV} * * Burn. I spoke savage to her and she didn't like it. She shoves the bottles into my hands with so much force that they clink together dangerously. Her face is a thundercloud, her eyes hard and cold. “Take them,” she snaps. Then she turns and storms out of the room. Thanks to her movements that are jerky and filled with barely restrained anger, I could tell my words pained her. I watch her go. My chest is still tightening with unease. Her energy was off compared to the white lotus energy she gave off the first time I saw her. This one was prickly, volatile and I could somehow tell this feels like more than just her usual irritation. She hates me. She hates every ‘fling’ she's ever caught with Edmondo. But, in my case, her hate for me is much worse now. The door swings open, letting in a sharp gust of wind that ruffles the blank papers on the desk. From my position by the window, I catch a glimpse of her standing outside. Talking to some men
{EDMONDO'S POV}**It hasn’t even been an hour since I left. Forty minutes; at most. Barely enough time for the world to shift. But here I am, standing in the doorway, watching the scene that makes my blood boil.Cara.She’s sitting there, laughing. Not just a polite laugh. Not the kind of chuckle she offers to smooth over awkward moments. This is different. Genuine. Carefree. Her shoulders are relaxed. Her face is glowing, her laughter spilling out into the room like it belongs there.And with who?A fucking foreigner.Not just any foreigner… fucking Oliver. A man I brought here. My hitman. My dog. One of mine.My grip tightens around the gun in my hand as I watch them. He’s sitting across from her, smiling like a fool, leaning in slightly as if whatever he said was the most interesting thing in the world. And Cara...She’s letting him.The scene is very clear. But to me it doesn’t make sense. It shouldn’t be happening.She’s mine.Not in the way people are possessions; but in
{INGRID'S POV}**The air inside the guest house in the clubhouse feels as stale as a musty basement, it's like it’s pressing in hard on me. The walls are too close. The furniture, too still.I’m 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.‘I’m giving you five minutes,’ 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
{GIOVANNI’S 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 second…. 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 didn’t.I don't break little girls. Or maybe I do, but I don't want to break her. Also, I don’t 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}**“Maybe it’s 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 it’s 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 wouldn’t, now would they? There's nothing good or lovely about me or my life.”His 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. “You need to get some fucking therapy and work on your self and mind,” he says, his hands still gripping tight on my wrists.“....” 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 a… 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 I’ve 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 she’s 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 doesn’t 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 won’t come.She still doesn't back away. So I move closer still.Her breath catches. She still doesn’t speak.She’s 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 she’s willing to push before I fucking break her to total obedience surrender to me.“Well, well, well,” I say. “I 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 idiots… 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 thinking….. until I pause.Nine.It’s 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}**“You don’t look like an Irish lady either,” he counters.I arch a brow. “What do I look like?”He tilts his head slightly, studying me. “Like someone who’s waiting for a reason to burn this whole place down.”The 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 don’t break eye contact. I don’t let Ronan think he’s 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.“Good thing I left my lighter at home.”Ronan 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. “Well,” he says, amused, “This is going exactly how I hoped.”I shoot him a