Luca gave a firm nod, understanding his orders without the need for repetition. Emilio trusted him to handle things, but there was still a weight pressing against his ribs, a tension that even whiskey couldn’t smooth out. Aurora. He still didn’t know what to do with her.She had landed in his world by accident, or at least, that’s what it looked like. Emilio didn’t take things at face value. He didn’t believe in coincidences. Not in this life. Now there had been a seed of doubt planted, one that he had to seriously consider. He had questions that only she could answer.Stepping out of the office, his sharp gaze swept the lounge, locking onto the slim figure curled up on the couch. She was asleep, her breaths slow and steady, her body sinking into the soft leather like she belonged there. For a moment, she didn’t look like a woman running for her life. She didn’t look like a woman with dangerous ties, ties that now led directly back to Vescovi. She looked innocent, trapped in a dangero
Emilio's body betrayed him the longer he held her. Aurora was soft against him, her warmth sinking into his skin, her delicate frame fitting almost too perfectly in his arms. The faint scent of vanilla and something floral clung to her hair, stirring something he hadn’t felt in longer than he could remember. A dull ache curled low in his stomach, tightening with every shaky breath she exhaled against his chest. He shifted, trying to ease the sudden tension hardening beneath his expensive slacks. He swore under his breath, annoyed with himself.Get it together. You’re acting like a teenage boy. This wasn’t him. Women were a fleeting distraction, not something he comforted through nightmares. Not something he held like they belonged tucked into his arms, but there was something about the way she trembled, the way she had whimpered that unsettled him.Was she innocent? Or was she part of some twisted plot to lure him in? The timing couldn’t be ignored. Vescovi’s men showing up at Monica
Aurora drifted awake slowly, her mind still hazy with sleep. The air smelled unfamiliar, a faint mix of leather, whiskey, and something warm and distinctly male. She felt cocooned, wrapped in a comforting heat that made her want to burrow deeper, so she did. The warmth shifted slightly, and a low groan rumbled very close to her ear.Her eyes snapped open.Panic surged through her as the realization struck, she wasn’t alone. The warmth she’d been nestled into wasn’t a blanket or a pillow, it was a person. Shawn didn't feel like this though. Her breath hitched, heart racing as she froze, suddenly hyperaware of the arm draped securely across her waist and the steady thrum of a heartbeat beneath her cheek.Oh God...Her gaze darted upward, and her stomach twisted when she recognized the man from the diner, the powerful stranger who’d swept her away after the chaos. Emilio, she finally recalled his name. He was still asleep, his features softened from their usual hardened intensity. Dark l
Emilio stormed into his office, his pulse thudding violently in his temples. The moment the door shut behind him, his patience snapped.With a growl, he hurled the half-full mug of coffee from his hand across the room. The ceramic shattered against the wall, dark liquid splattering in chaotic streaks down the pristine surface. The sharp sound echoed, but the burst of violence did little to dull his anger.He braced his hands against the edge of his desk, fingers curling tightly as he tried to breathe through the frustration twisting inside him. His muscles ached from tension, his mind racing in circles. He would love to be hitting the gym right now, the need to pummel something, anything raged within him.What the hell is she thinking?Aurora seemed oblivious, no, worse than that, stubborn. Blind to the danger that was closing in around her. Vescovi’s men had opened fire in a public diner, and yet she sat there acting like she could just walk away, like her world hadn’t been turned up
Emilio paused outside the lounge, inhaling deeply through his nose. His fingers flexed at his sides as he forced the tension from his shoulders. Control. He’d built his empire on discipline — on being calculated, ruthless, when necessary, but never reckless. Losing his temper earlier had been reckless. He needed answers from Aurora, and that meant keeping his head straight. With one more breath, he opened the door and stepped inside.Aurora was curled on the couch, her knees tucked beneath the blanket Luca had left her. The tray on the table held a plate with sausage and biscuits, most of it untouched, but the small bowl of fruit beside it was nearly empty. Not much, but enough to make him feel a flicker of relief.Good. She's eating. After the shock she’d been in last night, he’d worried she wouldn’t.Aurora’s head lifted as he entered. Her eyes were still red-rimmed but sharper now ,met his. He saw the flic
Emilio stood behind the bar in his office, fingers clenched around a half-empty glass of whiskey. His nerves were raw, his temper wound so tight it felt like it could snap at any second. The past week had been nothing but waiting, waiting for answers, waiting for something to make sense and in the meantime, he’d been stuck here, sleeping in his office and pacing the club like a restless animal. He hated waiting most of all. Hated the unknown.The door creaked open behind him, and without turning, Emilio barked, “Tell me you’ve got something.”“I’ve got something,” Luca’s voice replied dryly.Emilio turned, glass still in hand. “Finally.”Luca stepped in; his face was grim. “It’s not good.”“Didn’t figure it would be.” Emilio tossed back the last of his drink and set the glass down hard enough to rattle the bottle beside it. “Start talking.”“Shawn’s in deep with Vescovi,” Luca began. “Deeper than we thought. He’s been running small errands for a while, moving products, driving guys ar
Emilio found her tucked away in one of the lower-level offices. She was crouched beside a bookshelf, scrubbing stubborn scuff marks off the baseboard. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and her faded T-shirt clung to her back in a way that had his thoughts veering somewhere they shouldn’t.Get a grip, he told himself, but the frustration boiling in his chest didn’t leave much room for rational thinking. The past week had been hell, too much waiting, too much tension, and the sight of her didn’t help. She was still too damn distracting. “Hey,” Emilio barked, sharper than intended.Aurora startled, dropping the rag. She spun around, eyes wide, and for a split second, she looked guilty, like she expected him to be pissed about her slacking off.“I’m almost done,” she said quickly, reaching for the rag again. “I’ll finish up in a minute.”“That’s not why I’m her
Aurora wiped down the bar for the third time, not because it needed cleaning, but because she needed something to keep her hands busy. It had been days since Emilio had spoken to her — days filled with long hours of scrubbing floors, wiping down tables, and cleaning the endless mirrors that lined the club's walls. She didn’t mind the work. In fact, she found the steady rhythm of cleaning oddly calming. It kept her mind from spiraling and from dwelling too long on the mess her life had become.The club’s food had been a surprising comfort. The chefs didn’t just sling together greasy bar snacks; they cooked real meals, warm, hearty dishes that left her feeling grounded, like something in her world was still solid. It was one of the few things that made her feel remotely normal again.The lounge where Emilio had originally put her had become something of a safe haven. It wasn’t luxurious and the couch wasn’t exactly designed for sleeping, but it was hers, for now.Eva, one of the club’s
Aurora hadn’t moved. The echo of the door clicking shut behind Emilio still rang in her ears, louder than the beating of her heart, louder than the chaos swirling inside her mind. She sat frozen on the edge of the lounge couch, her robe cinched tight again, fingers knotted in the fabric as though it were the only thing anchoring her to reality.You have a wedding to prepare for.The words played over and over again in her mind, looping with no clarity, no logic, no warning. It felt like whiplash, like the ground beneath her feet had given out once more, only this time she wasn’t falling. She was spinning. What wedding? Who was getting married? What did he mean, she had a wedding? Why the hell had he said it like a business deal, like it was some unspoken clause in a contract she hadn’t even seen? Her pulse thundered beneath her skin. She wanted to scream. To throw something. To march back into his office and demand answers, but no part of her body was cooperating, and he was already g
The silence in the lounge felt heavier than before, somehow. It wrapped around Aurora like a fog, sinking into her skin and settling in her chest. She hadn't moved.The robe lay open beneath her, the towel discarded, her body still bare against the couch cushions. Her skin had cooled, but the heat from Emilio’s touch still lingered in places she couldn’t ignore. The ache in her limbs, the tingling in her core, the memory of his mouth… it was all there. It was too much, and yet, it wasn’t the physical part that left her reeling. It was everything else.He had kissed her like he hated her. Touched her like he owned her. Spoken to her like she was both a burden and an obsession. She had never experienced anything like that. It was beyond raw, possessive, consuming. It terrified her how much she had wanted it. How much she still did.Aurora slowly sat up, pulling the robe tightly around herself, trying to shake the image of him walking away. That last look in his eyes, dark, unreadable, f
Emilio slammed the door behind him, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the silence of his office. He didn’t pace. He didn’t sit. He just stood there, one hand still on the doorknob, the other clenched tight at his side, breathing hard through his nose.What the hell had he just done?He’d meant to break the tension, to remind her who was in control. He hadn’t meant to lose himself in her skin. He hadn’t meant to taste her like she was the only thing keeping him alive. Yet, that’s exactly what he’d done, devoured her with a hunger that had nothing to do with punishment and everything to do with possession.Emilio dragged a hand through his hair and stepped away from the door, jaw tight. He should’ve pulled back the second she asked about Shawn. He should’ve walked away. Her voice hadn’t been full of longing, it had been unsure, hesitant. She hadn’t even said his name with affection, but all Emilio had heard was hesitation, and that had been enough to ignite the fury that had been brew
Emilio watched Aurora carefully, measuring the way her eyes stayed locked on his, steady despite the weight of everything he’d just told her. There was no panic in her expression, only a quiet determination that both impressed and unsettled him. She deserved the truth. All of it. So, he didn’t hold back.“I’m putting everything I have into this,” he said. “Every resource, every contact, every man I trust. I’ve already pulled back operations that don’t matter right now. This”—his hand gestured between them, to the weight in the room—“is the priority.” Aurora didn’t speak, but her posture shifted slightly, her arms curling around her middle as if trying to hold herself together from the inside out. “I’ll keep you safe,” Emilio continued, voice calm but unflinching. “No matter what comes of this, no matter who’s behind it, you don’t have to look over your shoulder while you’re under my roof.”He stood then, restless energy beginning to pulse beneath his skin again. His hands moved to his
Emilio moved fast the moment he shut the door behind him. He stripped off the soaked undershirt and tossed it into the corner, yanking open the wardrobe tucked into the far wall of his office. Clean black slacks. A dark, fitted T-shirt. No time for anything more formal, he wasn’t leaving her alone longer than he had to. He raked his hand through his wet hair, slicking it back, and rolled his neck to shake off the lingering tension, but it clung to him like smoke; thick, cloying, impossible to shake.She was too quiet. It wasn’t like her. Even in the worst of it, Aurora had fought. With her words, with her body, with that sharp fire in her eyes, but now she was just a shell of that person. Shock was a cruel thing. Subtle. Slow. Dangerous.He grabbed his phone off the desk and quickly thumbed out a message to Luca. Send tea and a snack tray down to the lounge. Hot. Sweet. Make sure it’s quick. And I don’t want to be disturbed.He didn’t wait for a response. The phone hit the desk as he
The cold water was still pouring down around them, plastering her hair to her face, soaking her clothes through to the skin. Aurora stood there frozen, not because of the temperature, but because of what Emilio had just said.Someone took a photo of me. Inside the club. Close enough to see her face. Close enough to know exactly who she was and sent it to Vescovi. Her body trembled, not just from the water, but from the flood of realization and dread crashing into her chest. It wasn’t paranoia. It wasn’t Emilio being controlling or suspicious. Someone really was watching her.Emilio’s arm shifted, his grip tightening slightly as he lowered her gently to her feet, though he didn’t let go entirely. His hand stayed at her waist, grounding her, steady. Then he reached past her and turned the shower knob, adjusting the temperature. The spray warmed almost immediately, chasing the ice from her limbs, replacing it with a rising heat that had very little to do with the water. Aurora was still
Emilio’s phone buzzed just as he stepped out of the warehouse, the stale air doing nothing to cool the burn in his blood. He pulled it from his jacket and answered without looking. Tomas’s voice came through, calm, but firm. “She’s about to walk out. I suggest you come down here. Now.”Emilio’s entire body was still. The breath he drew was slow, calculated. Deadly. “She said that?” he asked, voice low.“She’s pissed,” Tomas replied. “I tried to hold the line, but she’s on fire. You better get here before she blows.” Emilio didn’t need the added stress. Not after what he’d just learned. Vescovi had a woman, a new player in his crew. Someone polished, quiet and dangerous. Someone who claimed to have seen Aurora. That alone had rewired Emilio’s instincts into high alert. He wasn’t done questioning Shawn, not by a long shot, but right now?Right now, Aurora was threatening to walk out the front door like she wasn’t sitting dead center in a sniper’s crosshairs, and she didn’t even know it.
Aurora was already halfway through scrubbing down the marble-tiled hallway outside Emilio’s office when the door clicked open behind her. She didn’t look up right away, just kept working, shoulders tense, focused on the motion of her hands. It wasn’t until she saw the shadow stretch across the floor beside her that she finally paused, turning her head slightly.The man who stepped out wasn’t Emilio. He was taller, leaner, broad in the shoulders with a quiet, unshakable calm that made her skin prickle. His dark shirt stretched over a muscular frame; sleeves rolled just below the elbow. A jagged scar ran from his cheekbone down past his jaw, faded but unmistakable. His eyes were sharp—too sharp—and silent. Like he was constantly assessing threats, even when standing still. He didn’t smile.“Name’s Tomas,” he said simply.Aurora blinked up at him, still kneeling on the floor with the cleaning rag in one hand. “Okay…”“I work for Emilio,” he added.“I figured,” she murmured, rising slowly
The drive to the warehouse was quiet, almost too quiet. Emilio sat in the backseat of the black SUV, his elbows resting on his knees, fingers laced tightly together, eyes locked on the dark stretch of road ahead. Luca was behind the wheel, Rico riding shotgun. Neither of them spoke, and they didn’t need to. The silence between them wasn’t awkward.It was loaded. Heavy. Focused. The calm before a storm that had been brewing for far too long.Shawn Mercer.The low life shit bag who had crawled into Aurora’s life like a parasite. The man who bled her dry, broke her spirit, and then sold her like she was nothing more than a prized cow at auction. Now he was finally within reach. Emilio’s jaw flexed, muscles working beneath his skin. He’d waited for this moment longer than he’d ever admit aloud.The SUV turned off the main road, tires crunching over gravel as they pulled onto a narrow service path behind a forgotten stretch of industrial blocks. Ahead, an unmarked warehouse loomed, it had