{EDMONDO'S POV}**The heavy door creaks open, and the weight of silence falls over the room like a guillotine. I step inside, my boots hitting the concrete with a deliberate rhythm. Each step echoes off the cold, unwelcoming walls.My arctic is supposed to be sacred; a fortress of solitude where silence reigns and whispers dare not tread. But now, it’s polluted. The air feels different, tainted by… these people.I don’t ask what’s going on. That would imply I care. Instead, I pause in the doorway, my gaze sweeping over the room. “Well,” I say, my tone light, almost amused. “I didn’t know we were hosting a circus tonight. Where’s the clown?” My lips curl into a thin smile, one that holds no warmth, only ice.Every eye turns to me, fear flickering in some, defiance in others. Good. I prefer a mix… it keeps things interesting.Behind me, my shadows file in. First is my consigliere (advisor), his face a perfect mask of neutrality. He’s clever, but I’ve never trusted him. Trust is a lu
{CARA'S POV}**The cold sends shivers down my skin. This is northern Italy and this room… it's not so different from the ‘north pole’ I was chained in. Secondly, I’m wearing white lingerie and not much else.Who cares? There’s no one to see me in this fortress that spells the word ‘Luxurious’ by looks. No one to see me looking this hot. If I were to be home in Sicily, father would frown at the idea of me wearing these. He preferred his daughters looking masculine.I’m virtually alone up here. I always am. Even at home I had my separate apartment from the main La Rosa mansion and I stayed alone compared to my now, late siblings who lived with dad. Agata was his favorite so she never stayed far from him.The vanity table before me brims with all sorts of hairs. Wigs. Makeup sets of various brands, hairpins, the finest of jewelries… but they don’t count. Not to me. They’re just the equipment brought in to make me look perfect .I should be happy, right? Doesn’t everyone want a set of
{CARA'S POV}**I haven’t fully recovered yet.I haven't even begun to process the mess of what's happening. Every bruise still throbs, every word still stings. The fact that I’m here, dressed up like some doll for Edmondo, the Don of the North, makes my stomach churn with disgust. Yet, here I am. I should be trembling with fear, maybe even begging for my life like the others would expect me to. But instead, I feel... numb.Grief. Pure grief. Grief for the life I had, grief for the person I used to be. But there's no time for that. There's no time for grieving anymore. Instead, this is time for dressing up like a fucking prize, a Donna, for some twisted circus of power.This is all about being owned. I’ve been dragged into their web, and I can’t get out.Edmondo. I should’ve known. I should’ve recognized him for what he is, for who he is. The Don. The man who holds all the power in this damn northern Italy, who controls everything and everyone, and here I am; nothing but a pawn.
{EDMONDO'S POV}**“Dio bono! LChësta fameja i à tütc i oci blö (Good God! Everyone in this damn family has blue eyes),” is what anyone would say walking into this room.It’s like some cursed family heirloom we’re all forced to carry. My mother, my sisters Lucia and Francesca, my brothers Giordano, Giorgio, and Enzo; all with those cold, unforgiving blue eyes.Sadly for me, faces blur together. Features slip away like smoke. Ever since the accident six years ago, my vision’s been a cruel trickster. Details disappear. Identities smear into nothing. It's a disability; I can't recognise faces.So I’ve learned to adapt. I don’t recognize people by their faces anymore; I recognize them by the way they move, the habits they don’t even realize they have.Lucia’s to my left, gripping her glass so tight it might shatter. She always holds onto things like that when she’s on the fucking edge. Like if she can choke the tension out of her life which is a foolish lie.Next to her, Francesca taps h
{EDMONDO'S POV}**Trust me, if I ever lie to the world, I wouldn’t to myself.All I want is to hear her say my name. After hearing her call her father’s name like she’s some fucking robot programmed to, I’m jealous.When I chose to capture her days ago, I thought she’d arrive, I’d fuck her, then torture her until she was close to death. After that, I’d slowly kill both her and her precious papá, who, in her eyes, can do no wrong. But now…Everything’s changed.Now, all I want is to delve into her mind. To learn how a woman so young and shrouded in the darkness of our world can be so…innocent. Yes, surviving in our world as syndicates hasn’t been kind to many of us. But in her short life, she’s far too fragile at heart compared to her rough, scarred body.I hope she finds the picture of her sister, Agata, in the glassy clothes cupboard. I wanted to tell her everything I know about her fucking dipshit of a father, bu
{Edmondo’s POV}**"Ensure nothing leaves that corridor," I say, my tone deliberate and sharp. "No rumors, no whispers, no shadows. If anyone so much as breathes differently—""I'll handle it," Giovanni interrupts, nodding once.For a moment, I let the silence stretch. I study him; faint lines etched around his mouth, the tension in his jaw. Loyalty is one thing; trust is another."Good," I finally say, leaning back in my chair. "Go. I expect updates by tomorrow on the La Rosas."He hesitates, fingers brushing the edge of the desk. "Are you sure about…" He trails off, leaving the question incomplete, dangling in the thick air.I narrow my eyes. "If you have doubts, Giovanni, fucking speak now."He clears his throat, straightening. "No doubts. Just confirming we're clear on the objectives.""Crystal clear," I reply, the coldness in my voice ending the conversation.With a final nod, he turns and leaves, the door clicking shut behind him. Silence follows.I lean back in my chair, my la
{CARA'S POV}**“Huh?” I raise my brow in utter disbelief of what I'm seeing in the fragile paper between my fingers. It is a prescription slip from a doctor. It's harmless at a glance, but at the bottom, scrawled in precise, deliberate letters, is the name: Edmondo D’ Avi.My stomach churns. This prescription slip feels like a key to a locked door. A secret door meant to be hidden from every eye, yet I don’t know if I want to open it. What's really going on with Edmondo? Is he sick? Sick, that he had to see an optician?The sharp creak of the door snapping open wrenches me out of my thoughts.And there he is.Edmondo.He strides in, his movements deliberate, his tailored suit framing the menace he exudes. His presence transforms the room into a cage. The air feels colder, sharper, as his icy gaze locks onto the paper in my hand. He doesn’t speak at first. He doesn’t need to.With two steps, he closes the distance between us. His hand darts out, snatching the paper from me before I
{Edmondo's POV}**I toss her chin away like she’s nothing more than a plague, refusing to let her see the conflict brewing inside me. Her defiance is amusing, even enticing, but it’s also dangerous. I have to keep her in line, keep her beneath me, or risk her discovering truths that could ruin everything.“Prepare yourself,” I say sharply. My voice is cold, calculated. “Wash yourself. If you need assistance, let Madame Margarita know. She’s just an intercom away.”I point to the sleek device on the wall, ensuring she sees it before I add, “I need you clean and sparkly before tonight. That’s why I haven’t shot you yet. Or,” I pause deliberately, letting my gaze linger on her trembling lips, “fucked your brains out, just yet.”The way her breath catches makes something inside me twist. Satisfaction or shame, I’m not sure. I don’t wait for her response. I can’t.I turn on my heel and leave, slamming the door behind me.The hallway stretches before me, dim and endless. My steps echo ag
{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