{CARA'S POV}**I can barely breathe. Every gasp feels stolen, smothered by something that shouldn’t feel good, shouldn’t feel right; but does. It suffocates me, but not in the way that makes me want to fight for air. It’s a suffocation that leaves me spinning, untethered, unsure.Pleasure? No. I won’t call it that. Ecstasy? No, that doesn’t fit either. Excitement? Not quite.It’s something else entirely.My body feels alive, electric. It's buzzing as if a current is coursing through me. Butterflies in the stomach? No, this is nothing so delicate or charming. It’s bigger, messier… Like bubbles. Bubbles are racing through my veins, refusing to burst, refusing to stop no matter how much I will them to.I try to focus on his words, on the sharp, biting things he’s saying about Papà. But they feel distant. Like they’re being spoken from another room while my body remains trapped here, responding to him despite everything in me screaming to resist.“Your father is a spineless fool,” E
{EDMONDO'S POV}**The knock on the door is like salvation… for her, from me, and maybe even from myself. From my fingers. From the storm brewing inside me. Or was it?Perhaps, just perhaps, it was an escape for both of us. I wasn’t ready to tell her everything she needed to know. Not yet. The act of unraveling her in more ways than one had become my excuse. If there was no distraction, if she were just sitting there, raw and exposed, with only the weight of my words… she’d break.And, truthfully, I might too.The knock saved me from seeing her crumble.. and saved me from my own damn urges. I was getting hard from the way she responded, the way her body betrayed her anger, her questions, her doubts.I let go of her like she burned me. The shirt I’d discarded earlier was back in my hand, pulled over my torso with a speed born from years of training. My back turned to her, I faced the door as it swung open
{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
{LUIGI’S POV}**You don’t crawl back to Edmondo D’ Avi. Not after you’ve fucked up like I did. And definitely not unless you’ve got a death wish.I lurk in the shadows now, watching him from a distance like some pathetic ghost. I don’t deserve to stand in his light anymore, not after the shitstorm I brought down on him with Massimo. But I still love him. I’d still kill for him. Maybe one day I’ll even die for him. That’s all I’ve got left to offer; a loyalty he doesn’t even fucking know is still here.The tunnel’s 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.I’ve 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. He’s sharp as a switchblade and
{EDMONDO'S POV} * * The bastard’s trying to rile me up. And it’s 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. “You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that,” I say, my voice is low and cutting. “But balls won’t save you when you’re six feet under.” “Ah, but I’ve no intention of being buried tonight,” he replies, his smile fading as his eyes harden. “I came here to talk.” Talk? “Talk?” I spit the word out like it tastes bad. “The Irish don’t talk. You threaten, you scheme, and you stab people in the back. So, cut the bullshit and tell me why you’re really here.” Donnelly shrugs. His movements are quite slow. Slow like a poison but delib
{EDMONDO’S 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 immediately… with a bullet. Fast, simple, no bullshit. But here I am, trudging through this piss-soaked tunnel, hunting him down because my men couldn’t catch him outright. The underground reeks of rot, mildew, and something worse. Darkness. They all cling to my suit like a second skin. This isn’t 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 don’t respect empires. They sneak in, lurk and poke around, and see how much they can steal before they vanish. And this ghost? I’ll make sure he vanis
{GIOVANNI’S POV}**So, I left her.It wasn’t like I didn’t have a choice. I could’ve stayed back with her. Hell, a part of me wanted to. But I just... I just walked away.She knew my name, but I didn’t bother learning hers. Why would I? She was just a kid. Well, legal, barely 18, so no problem there, right? That’s how it goes. First time, one time. No strings, no complications.She wasn’t special. To me, she was just another warm body in a long, forgettable list of bitches. Names? Faces? They didn’t 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; let’s 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
{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. Oh…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 towards… here. I crawl into the corner of the room and pull up Mr. Giovanni's leather coat. He must have left it here after we…, probabl
{INGRID'S POV}**“Put your hands above your head,” 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}**His touch sends fire racing through my skin. Sparks burn through me in a high blaze.Every touch of his fingers, every flick of his tongue, and I’m burning up and I can’t find it in me to care.I never knew that anything could be as intense as the pleasure racing through me now. One moment I’m unthinking, lost in it completely. The next I’m so overwhelmed, I feel the need to run away.How much can I possibly take?No one’s ever touched me the way Mr. Giovanni is now. No one has ever looked at me with the fire presently burning through his brown eyes. I feel ready to collapse under that gaze.This man is more than I ever thought a person capable of being. With every movement, with every touch, he’s showing me that I am not alone.Loneliness has always been my phobia, my hate.. but Mr. Giovanni.. no, Uncle is telling me, showing me that I'm not alone now.I scream ‘Un
{GIOVANNI'S POV}**“That was a stupid move, bambina (little girl). A bloody stupid move,” I say, not knowing what else to say or how to just get her in there and pull away and end this cat and mouse rubbish.Though, I want to be with her. That's why I left Edmondo and came here.I want to finish what we’ve just started too.She looks at me with rage and fear all over her face and demeanor. “Just let me go. I owe you nothing and all you want to do is take advantage of me.”She looks at me, daring me to say the truth. She knows it, and I know it. We’re walking the faint line between lust and abomination. I knew from the moment I set eyes on her, loosing her cool and yelling for someone to save her sister, that she was going to be different and nice to own.This is lust. Compared to love… this… lust… It’s a lot more complicated than I ever would’ve thought. I pull
{INGRID'S POV}**The tension in the air is really palpable. The atmosphere is electric. I want him to touch me. I want him to do bad things to me. And I know it's so damn wrong, but I just can't resist. He's done something to me, definitely. He has messed with my head and played with my heart. All on the first day.It's like I'm the puppet and he's pulling on every one of my strings.He's breathing heavily, and he gently pushes down my panties until my hip bones poke out. I hiss as the air hits my skin. Mr. Giovanni groans when his fingers connect with my feverish body. "God," he says. "So fucking delicious. So damn wrong. I can't resist. I'm sorry, bambina, but I'm not even going to try to resist."With that, his fingers push off my white lacy panties and I arch my back, helping him along. What the hell am I doing? I don't even know him!Alarm bells are going off in my