BELLA The 21-year-old girl from North Carolina, missing for ten months, found dead. Suicide or murder?—the morning headline said. I was tired of hearing Mamma’s sob every time I entered this house. The more I wanted to forget what I had seen, the more I sank. The feeling of guilt seared within me, like a flame that never douted. “I don’t understand why the police are claiming it to be suicide when it isn’t,” Val said, sitting at the edge of the bed. “She goes missing for a year straight. Then, she’s found drowned in a lake.” “I’m more curious about the company she got involved with.” I pushed my tears back. If I had known what was going on, I would’ve done everything in my power to protect her. “Did she say anything else in the letter she left for you?” “Only that there were some bad people after her.” Rage filled Val’s eyes. She slammed her hands on her knees and growled, “This is the very reason I want to be a police, Bells. I’m tired of the strong being defended.” “Zia was a
ADONIS Dom was by the bar next to the living room. I knew with one look at his face he wasn’t in a great mood. He held a bottle of whiskey in his hands, which was a rare sight since he preferred remaining sober—well, most of the time. He poured some in a glass and offered, “Want some?” I frowned and took a seat beside him. “No, thanks. You’re not a day drinker. Is everything okay?” He exhaled, taking a sip from the glass. “There was a raid on one of our warehouses last night in Santorini. The police have two of our men. And I’m fucking tired.” “Just peachy,” I grunted. An immediate rage took over his self-controlled form as he spoke. “The rat we caught, Ty, I heard you gave Julian the order to break a few of his bones and a leg.” I shrugged. He needed to be dependent for my plan to work. “Julian is suppressing his urge to shove a knife down his fucking throat or boil him or skin the fuck out of him.” “He knows we need Ty alive.” I quirked my lips to the side. “I have a meeting w
ADONIS There was a light in her eyes, a light too bright for me, which was cowering in my presence. It should’ve been a delight to see someone’s spirit dim, but I preferred it more on my enemies, not the woman I found enticing. “You’re scared,” I breathed, my words pulling her gaze up to my eyes. “Isn’t that what you expect and demand? Women fear you.” “Men too,” I said, shrugging in an obvious manner. “But I haven’t given you a reason to fear me, Abigail.” “But you’re you.” “And?” I tilted my head. “You’re a Mafioso,” she whispered. “No, the Mafioso, and a Vitale on top of that. How do you expect me to be normal around you?” “You were last night.” She was much freer. “I do nothing without a reason. Neither do I hurt without a reason. Think of me as a normal man.” “Except you’re not a normal man.” “Whatever you heard about me is what I do for a living. It’s not who I am.” She took her lower lip between her teeth and my eyes followed. Even in a situation so frail, my mind won
ADONIS I pursed my lips and looked back at my men, who curiously watched us. “My men and I train here.” I pointed at the building. “The first two floors are for the gym, the top one’s a spa and the basement... you don’t want to know.” “I’m curious,” she admitted with a pressed smile. “But I feel like I can get into trouble if I ask.” “All I can say is that we don’t murder or torture people here. We have locations for such with magnificent views,” I joked. I fucking joked? I turned around and walked through the entrance. The wise-guys watched every single step that Abigail took, every little nervous exhale she made, and even though I wanted to gouge out everyone’s eyes, I had to keep it down. She was no one to me—not mine—and giving out the impression of that could put her life in danger, but it irked me all the same. I glanced at Abigail when we entered the gym on the second floor. Her jaw dropped at the polished white marble floors, grey carpets covering some of the area and mint
BELLA “...At what accord do I tell them not to eye-fuck you?” One simple question, accompanied by the possessiveness in his voice, sent shivers down my spine and waves of tingles down to the middle of my thighs. My knees trembled. I had not expected my body to have this kind of reaction to a man like him, toward a criminal, a monster, but it did. Gosh, it probably had to do with the fact that I hadn’t been in such proximity to a man or been touched by a man in over two years. My sexual life had become like my social one—non-existent. It took all my power to look away from his eyes, burning into my soul. This was more dangerous than I had fathomed. A fragile woman, who smiled more and who was innocent and knew little of his world and work, was who he thought I was, and I had to keep my cover as that for as long as the mission lasted. “How am I supposed to inform you?” The soft tone was so not me. I was loud, like Adele’s high-pitch loud, which Adonis would’ve killed me for. “Easy
ADONIS I hated parties. All the people spitting nonsense over my face. All those eyes zeroed on me. But according to David, attending parties, especially the ones thrown by the underbosses or captains, was a necessity, almost like dressing up. Dom sighed, following behind me. He wasn’t any different from me. He hated having to hold on to a fake smile just as much as I did. Standing by the entrance was the man of the house, the underboss Danilo Romano, the father of the woman—no, girl—I didn’t want to marry. He kept contact with my eyes as he took my hand in a firm hold. “Danilo,” I said in a low, crisp voice. He greeted me, then Dom, and led us inside the house. Danilo’s parties had always been fancy, with flowers and carpets, chandeliers and candles, frames and statues adorning the corridor and rooms. The room where the party was being held was filled with people, mainly the other underbosses and captains, and tables with arrays of beverages and drinks and snacks, all put on an
ADONIS I returned to the party with my mind all over the place. Dom was nowhere near, so I strode straight to David, who was now alone at his table, which I believed belonged to both of us, sipping red wine. He peered at me and a smile registered on his face, a smile I knew all too well—fake, as it had always been. “Please tell me you have told Danilo of my decision.” His face tightened. “Adonis—” “No.” My jaw clenched. “Have you seen that girl? She’s a fucking kid, and she looks like it, too. She could pass as my daughter if she stood beside me.” “That’s impractical, Adonis.” “What’s impractical is me marrying her.” David groaned. “A young and responsible wife, that’s all one needs. That’s all men like us can have.” “Men like us?” I closed the distance between us and spat, “Maybe I’m not a man like you.” “If you let your emotions and stubbornness cloud your judgement, you’ll be left with nothing,” he tried to remain as calm as possible for people to not look. “She can be a go
ADONIS “You should know, David has been pressuring him to get you to agree to the marriage proposal,” Eros said, stretching out on the couch. My eyes widened and steps halted near the fireplace. “He what?” “David said, quote, ‘You should for once make him do something for the sake of his future’,” Eros added, mimicking David’s heavy voice. I dreaded going into the same spiralling shit stirring between me and David with anyone else, especially him. “He’s pissed.” “You bet.” The gravelly voice came from the door and my gaze followed. Salvatore Castellanos entered the room in casual trousers and a loose shirt, the shades of white and grey hairs highlighting in his black hair and bushy beard. “And it’s not because of your reluctance to his proposal,” he told me. “I’m not worried about that,” I lied. David Vitale didn’t have the right to pressurise me into doing shit like marrying his favourite underboss’s daughter, but Salvatore Castellanos did. As my father. “He questioned my sense