Sold to the highest bidder to pay off a blood feud, I never imagined I would be the pawn in my father's fatal game. Still, here I am before Enzo De Luca, the most vicious mafia leader in the city. Though appealing, he is cold, deliberate, and as lethal. Though my heart races just from his proximity, it is his touch that ignites me. My body betrays me and reacts to him in ways I am powerless over. And I melt as he softly, commandingly says my name. Enzo loves neither me nor another. In his deadly kingdom, I am only another bargain, another transaction. But every time we are alone, the conflict between us snaps—desire becomes a terrible addiction. Although I detest him for everything he stands for, I yearn for the way he consumes me, body and soul. He has made it quite evident—our marriage is more about power than love. Still, every angry gaze and every snatched moment in the shadow reveals something different. Benevolent underneath his icy façade lies something broken that appeals to the darkest sides of me. But depending on a man like Enzo may mean losing everything. Bound to him now, for better or worse, I am caught in a world where loyalty is brittle and treachery carries a bullet. Our friendship gets more perilous the more truths about his empire I find. And as the past calls for us, I have to question myself: will our passion be the thing that ruins us both or can I survive loving a guy like Enzo De Luca? Burning in his arms is me. But in his universe, I could roast alive.
View MoreIsabella’s POVUnspoken anxiety permeated the dense, heavy morning air. As I walked over the great hallways of the estate, it was abnormally silent; nevertheless, the quietness did not help me to relax. Already rushing, preparing, and reevaluating my next action in my head Though I knew deep down I couldn't stand back and let Enzo—or anyone else—make decisions for me, Matteo's warnings kept coming back to me.I have to see Moretti.Though it was the only way I could take control of my destiny, there was a part of me knowing it was irresponsible, maybe even deadly. Enzo was caught in a fatal game with Moretti, and just now I was in the heart of it. I could only negotiate this life by facing it squarely.Matteo was sitting against one of the stone pillars in the rear yard. His black eyes flickered to me as I got closer, a silent tension enveloping the distance between us. I could see he disagreed with my choice.His voice low, he asked, "Are you sure about this?" You are directly headin
Isabella’s POVEnzo's words weighed down on me, choking and frigid. Moretti, another ghost from the past, another man engaged in this lethal game. Enzo was standing there staring at me with those sharp blue eyes, and I could feel the strain emanating from him. His stillness exceeded all else in loudness.What then does that mean for me? Trying to keep my voice calm, I asked, but inwardly I was disintegrating. "Am I simply another piece on this chessboard?Leaning back in his chair, Enzo watched me with somewhat narrow eyes. "Isabella, I have mentioned this before. Right now, you occupy my universe. Though Moretti believes he may find me using you, I will not allow him."That's not an answer, Enzo," I fired back, irritation seething inside me. "You say you are shielding me from what? From a conflict I avoided asking to be involved in? From those I know nothing about?He showed no flinch. Whether or whether you requested it makes no difference. Being here now puts you at risk.I shook m
Isabella’s POVThe house made one feel like a prison. Every stride I made reflected back to me, a reminder that I was imprisoned and that I could not flee the storm building around me. After my meeting with my father and Enzo, I had left the warehouse, but the weight of their words still tormented me.It was all too much: Marco's cryptic warnings, Enzo's icy determination, and the sense that something far more was at work. I became aware for the first time of exactly how little I could influence my life. My father had sold me like a commodity, and Enzo still considered me as part of this complex game of power even if he had an unusual feeling of guardianship over me. I found myself in the midst with no obvious exit.Perched at my room's big window, I saw the city lights flutter far away. From here, the world seemed to be so calm, but I knew otherwise. Underneath the gleaming surface lurked darkness, peril hiding in every shadow.Though I didn't live on this planet, I was somehow being
Luca’s POVTension was high in the warehouse, an unsaid storm building between Isabella and her father. The location seems sinister with the lengthy shadows the low light creates over the concrete floor. But I knew places like this—cold, hostile, full of secrets. The look on Isabella's face was one I was not used to. Fury, treachery, and something more I cannot quite identify.I watched her; every muscle in my body coiled under stress. She stayed still, gazing her father down with a ferocity I had not seen before. This was another Isabella—the lady who had been my pawn, once terrified but now stood resolutely. And I struggled to determine if I respected her will or worried more about maybe killing her.Marco Russo, her father, stood sloppily, his hands still in his pockets, but he had a menacing shine in his eyes. This was not the dad who had just offered his daughter for sale. This man carried more cards than anyone could have imagined."I will ask you once more.," Isabella spoke wit
Isabella’s POVThe home seemed to be under nearly intolerable stress, as though the walls were closing in on me. Since I heard Enzo and Sofia talking, hours had gone by and the anxiety that crept into my chest persisted. As I considered it, it became increasingly obvious—I was a liability.Breathing became difficult as Sofia's poisonous words kept playing back in my thoughts. An obligation. She saw me in this manner. Enzo had promised to guard me, but I couldn't help but question the longevity of that pledge.Making my way back to my room, the mansion felt cooler than normal. Every squeak of the floors felt magnified, the quiet stretched unnaturally. Enzo was out, probably managing whatever crisis Ren had produced, but he did not help to calm the anxiety crawling under my skin. I could not sit motionless any more. My next action had to be decided upon.I walked the room considering my alternatives. Though where would I run to? I could try running. I had no money, no allies, and if Sof
Luca’s POV Tension was high in the warehouse, an unsaid storm building between Isabella and her father. The location seems sinister with the lengthy shadows the low light creates over the concrete floor. But I knew places like this—cold, hostile, full of secrets. The look on Isabella's face was one I was not used to. Fury, treachery, and something more I cannot quite identify. I watched her; every muscle in my body coiled under stress. She stayed still, gazing her father down with a ferocity I had not seen before. This was another Isabella—the lady who had been my pawn, once terrified but now stood resolutely. And I struggled to determine if I respected her will or worried more about maybe killing her. Marco Russo, her father, stood sloppily, his hands still in his pockets, but he had a menacing shine in his eyes. This was not the dad who had just offered his daughter for sale. This man carried more cards than anyone could have imagined. "I will ask you once more.," Isabella spoke
Isabella’s POVFirst thing I saw when Enzo grabbed my waist and drew me in toward him was the warmth of his hands. We were standing in the shadow of his office, the low light sharply contrasting his face—those blue eyes, that sculpted jawline, the lips much too perfect to let me forget the reasons I disliked him.How my body responded to him disgusted me. My body resisted listening, no matter how many times I told myself that this was all a game to him—a game of power and control."Isabella...!" His voice sounded low, harsh around the margins, as if he were struggling to control something more fundamental. "You cannot keep fleeing this."His breath made me shudder on my neck, and as his hands went up to the small of my back, dragging me flush against him. Unquestionably, the heat radiating from him was the result of the chemistry smoldering between us since the day we met.I said, "I'm not running," but the way my pulse beat told me differently.His grasp tightened, and I felt a spark
Enzo’s POV At least, I told myself over the years that my shoulders never actually carried the weight of the world. Strength came easily; control seemed like an old friend I could depend on when all else failed. Still, it was unique in another respect. Something that crept under my notice and bothered me.Sitting on the brink of my king-sized apartment's bed, I watched the whiskey glass in my palm spin with the smallest of finger gestures. Though all I could see in the city below was Isabella's face, the jumble of lights and shadows. My man. My beautiful yet quiet, rebellious wife is shy.I reasoned she would behave like any other woman when I consented to this arrangement. Made sense. Terrorized. Bella showed none of this as a piece in the game of men. She was internally burning, and every time we shared a room, it flashed dangerously. And the flames were starting to make me alive.My phone vibrated on the nightstand, which took me off-target from hers. I looked at the TV. Sofia lef
Isabella's POV The automobile jolted me into the door with a strong swerve, and the tires screamed under us. As I grabbed the seatbelt across my torso and braced myself, my heart beat in my chest and adrenaline surged through me. The headlights behind us burned more brilliantly, following us over the little, dark alleyways like animals closing in on their prey."Enzo, what's going on?" Though I battled to keep the terror from seeping into my voice, it came out wobbly and terrified.Enzo responded slowly, his attention fixed on the road front. I feared his tightly closed mouth may break. He swirled fiercely around another turn, the vehicle straying under the weight of the speed. The weight of all that had been left unsaid between us was palpably filling the automobile."They have located us," he murmured at last, his voice low and tinged with controlled fury. Vitale's men.I pushed hard, my pulse pounding. From the phone, Luca's voice mocking and arrogant reverberated in my brain remi
Isabella's POV Twenty-two was the night I first met Enzo De Luca; hardly old enough to understand the actual weight of the planet I had been born into. He was only a figure murmured in dark corners, his name passed about like a secret, tinged with dread and longing; he was not meant to be in my life. But my life changed permanently when I saw him—that is, really saw him.And much of what scared me was not him. That was the side of me longing for him.I had come upon him in the most unusual manner. Though there were sections of the home I had been advised to avoid, my father's estate was constantly alive with murmurs of mafia business and violent dealings. I need to have paid attention.But that evening, my curiosity won out. Cigars and costly whiskey hung on the walls, and muted laughing floated over the vast hallways. It was late, far later than I ought to have been prowling about. But something had attracted me to the guest wing I never explored at the rear of the home.I heard it...
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