ROSALINE I shook my head at Dom. “I can explain.” His nostrils flared as he reached me. “Explain what?” he yelled, not caring about Mama’s presence in the room. I could not speak. Could not tell anything. “Just tell me it’s a fake article, Ros. Tell me these pictures are fake, looking into my eyes
“Why do you think I’m here? Why do you think I want to take you away?” “Why?” “Because I need you. I don’t think I can describe how much.” Desperation marred the vibrato of his words. “Just come to me, Rose. You can have everything you have ever dreamt of. A house near the beach where every day wo
LUCIANO Paulina led me into the parlour through the back door. I had heard about her from Rose a hundred times, but never had she mentioned that her best friend was the complete opposite of her, covered in tattoos and piercings. Her being a tattoo artist made sense, at least. I looked around the h
“Why?” “Maybe because I’m not the man who’d run after the sister of the woman I fancied,” I admitted, and she looked away. Vitale had an affair with both Belle and her elder sister, so I did not need to explain what I meant. A few hard knocks landed on the door, making us all stiffen. Paulina move
ROSALINE Adonis and his men stood before us, a few of them jamming the door of the tattoo parlour so that Paulina could not come out while Bella stood startled beside me. I could not focus on anything other than the anger in Adonis’s eyes and the glimpse of pain in Dom’s. Dom’s gaze fell on the ba
“You’re too late, Dom. I—” My words were cut off as a hand wrapped around my waist and tried to drag me toward the car parked behind Luciano’s. Everything inside me was alerted, but I could not do anything. The grip was too strong. Mama had told me to carry a gun, but I was sure I did not need one.
Phoebe meant a lot to Adonis, not only because she was his half-cousin, but also because she carried his mother’s name, which brought some sense of responsibility from Adonis’s side. “He won’t hurt her,” I urged, looking Luciano in the eyes, but he did not look like he would listen. “Just let us go
LUCIANO I was not ready for another drama, but there was no way around this. The more I dallied, the more trouble was bound to come my way. My heart palpitated as Pietro parked the car in front of Pa’s mansion, the very one I loathed coming to, unless necessary. I turned to Rose, sleeping peaceful
“Thank fuck, you’re here,” Pietro sounded. “She didn’t take an epidural or whatever the fuck that is.” “What?” Rose had told me about it, how it could reduce the pain. But if she had not taken it— A loud cry sounded from the other side of the door, and my breath hitched. “Luciano, you need to go
LUCIANO “Have our men withdrawn from New York?” I asked, scrolling through the articles on my laptop. “It’s been eight fucking months since the break.” The inactivity in the east and west, both Cosa Nostra and Outfit, had been very nerve-wracking. Since the dramatic outbreak between Belle and Adon
I smiled. “What do you plan?”“Do you have any plans?”“Nothing big, but I was hoping to buy a country house.” Her smile lit up. “I mean, we certainly can’t raise this kid and our future children in a penthouse. They need a proper environment, sizeable space to run around.”“Our future children? How
Luciano was at the altar, his hands behind his back, his curly, dirty-blond hair pushed back, and behind him was Pietro, dressed in a tuxedo, since he was the best man along with Rione, and Lys and Sabina were the bridesmaids.I met Luciano’s stare and every thought I had left my mind. Even with all
ROSALINEI was not sure why I was doing this. What I knew was my attempts would go in vain and I would be shattered yet again, but I had to try one last time. I had to call Dom.Standing in front of the long mirror—dressed in an off-shoulder sheath-wedding gown with netted sleeves and hair properly
“Even my extra weight?”“Yeah, even my child’s weight.” Smirking, he added, “I liked you with the pink hair. What else could you possibly want?”“Okay, my pink hair wasn’t that bad.”***“There’s a tradition we should talk about,” Luciano said, coming out of the washroom in nothing but a towel wrapp
My eyes widened. “Shit! That was you?”“Do I look that different now?” he asked with his head tilted to the side.“We were in the garden with very low-quality lighting. I did not see your face properly. You were alone, and I thought of keeping you company.”“By asking me to fetch you a drink?”I nar
ROSALINE[SIX MONTHS LATER]I doubted I would ever stay in the studio apartment, except for when I was working. The good thing about this place was it was right above my own office for wedding planning and coordination. After months of research, I was finally into it. Besides, I enjoyed planning the
“I hate it when you try to be one.”Soft laughter tore out of his throat and I licked his bottom lip. His mouth parted immediately but I had other plans. Drawing my face close to his cheeks, I kissed him and then traced my tongue down the stubble to his jawline.He closed his eyes and released a sha