ROSALINE Doomsday comes unannounced—that was something I believed in. Well, in my case, doomsday had a face and a herald with whom I shared blood. My brother stood at the entrance of the banquet, talking to a tall man with dark hair and a tall stature. I knew who it was. Terenzio De Vitto. I had t
ROSALINE What I appreciated most was the view from atop the terrace. From the thirteenth floor of the building, everything below glimmered—the string of lights, lanterns and candles of the wedding venue. Everything was perfect, the silence, the chill in the air and the barely audible music... until
LUCIANO “Why aren’t you telling me your name?” I asked, looking at the half-empty bottle of whiskey. She looked at me, a sheepish grin stuck to her lips. From the little light we had, I could not make her features correct, but she was beautiful. I would be damned if I did not know her better. Her
LUCIANO She was embarrassed, yes, but equally aroused. It was clear from the way her panties were drenched. I wanted to taste her right on the terrace, but I could not. I wanted to see her in the light, see her perfect body, every curve and crevice after I undressed her. I held her hand, so soft a
LUCIANO Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stared at the bathroom door for minutes and then at the red tissues lying on the floor. Rose’s body had been rigid when I had cleaned her blood. The way I had dived into her, she had felt more pain than she had been letting on. How could I be so daft? I sh
ROSALINEI would burn in hell for this. No, not even the devil would take me for the way I had betrayed my people. If my brother learnt of my little crusade with the enemy, it would be worse than hell for me. If I had known I would wake up in De Luca’s bed, naked and smelling of him, I would have ne
LUCIANO“You look pissed,” Pietro said, pushing the few loose strands of his hair back. “It better not be because of Belle. Father would know.” I did not speak. He looked at me as I stepped out of the car. The journey from Chicago to Toronto had left me completely exhausted. “You’re getting married
LUCIANO“Don’t you think Cartel’s going out of hand lately?” Pietro asked, and I held the swaying punching bag. Creasing my brows, I turned to him and he added, “We’ve had three attacks this week. They’re taking our soldiers hostage, thinking it’d have us bowing to them.”I groaned. “What about our
“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