Rafael’s POV
Adriana knelt in the middle of the room shivering. her once vibrant eyes were now hollow and distant. Her cheeks were streaked with dried tears but there was no emotion left in them. Nothing. She just stared unblinking as the strippers’ hands roamed over me with their touch meant to entice, to seduce and yet none of it mattered. Not to me. Not to her. She was empty. A shell of the girl I once knew. The Adriana I remembered was always full of life and was always wearing that radiant smile., always laughing and always promising me things that never meant a damn thing. But now? Now, she was lifeless and cold, a ghost of the woman she used to be. And it wasn’t hard to guess why. Being married to Marco Marcini did that to a person. I almost pitied her. And the key word here is fucking almost. Then I remembered everything like a scene that wouldn’t leave my head. It keeps replaying time and again. I remembered how she had walked away from me without a second glance. How she had shattered me into pieces and left me to rot in the ruins of my own miseyr. I remembered waking up one morning to a text and the last words she would ever send me. She was telling me that she was marrying Marco and that she had chosen him and that I had never been part of her plan. That she had never loved me at all. It all felt like a joke at that time. Maybe she was pranking me to see how I would react. The scholarship student she likes getting beneath the skin of. We were both scholarship students after all. We were in a world we didn’t really fit into. The pain that followed was indescribable though. A blade twisting inside me, cutting deeper and deeper with every second that passed. I had wanted her to the point of insanity, had held onto her like she was the last sliver of light in my dark and miserable world. She was my last hope and the only person who had ever made me feel like I wasn’t alone. And then she left so abruptly. For wealth. For luxury. For a life filled with designer dresses and diamond rings and expensive vacations. She had it all until now. Everything she had ever wanted. And I had been nothing more than a stepping stone. A joke. It wasn’t just that she left, it was how she did it. The cowardice of it. No final conversation, no closure and not even a goddamn phone call. Just a text as if that was all I had ever been worth to her. And then when I tried to make sense of it all, the truth came crawling out of the shadows all ugly and cruel. She had been cheating on me with Marco. From the beginning. All those late nights, all those little white lies and all those times she swore she was busy, she was with Marco. And I had been too blind and too desperate to believe that she was different. That she wasn’t like the rest of them. But she was. And that was why I didn’t feel a single ounce of guilt watching her now. She deserved this. She deserved to kneel there, broken, humiliated and stripped of the very thing she once valued most., control. Because for six years I had suffered. I had clawed my way up from nothing, pushing through every obstacle while fighting tooth and nail to build a life she would regret walking away from. And she did regret it because I could see it in the way her fingers curled into the fabric of her dress, in the way her lips trembled ever so slightl and in the way she refused to look at me directly. She was drowning in it. Good. Because I had drowned in it too. I had spent nights staring at my leaking ceiling wondering how I had been so fucking stupid. I had spent years forcing myself to forget the way she used to touch me, the way she used to whisper my name like it was something sacred and the way she had once sworn that she would stand by my side no matter what. They were all Lies. All of it. And now, here she was kneeling before me in the same position I had once been in all powerless and afraid knowing that the person in front of her held her fate in their hands. I exhaled slowly, watching the way her chest rose and fell in shallow uneven breaths. Did she realize yet? Did she realize that I wasn’t the same man she had left behind? That the poor and broken boy she had abandoned had long since died, replaced by something colder, crueler and far more dangerous? Did she realize that I had spent every waking second of the last six years planning for this moment? That I had built my entire empire just to bring her to her knees? I leaned back in my seat, the leather cool against my skin with my fingers tapping against the armrest in slow motions. I had waited so long for this. And now that it was finally here, I was going to make sure she felt every ounce of the pain she had caused me. No mercy. No forgiveness. Just revenge. Adriana remained motionless on the floor with her body trembling and gaze vacant. But I wanted more. I wanted to see something break through that empty stare. Anything to prove that the woman I once knew was still in there buried beneath years of her carefully crafted and cold-blooded survival. I leaned forward slightly, my elbows resting on my knees, my voice calm. “Tell me, Adriana. What was it like?” Her eyes flickered but she didn’t answer me. I didn’t expect her to. I tilted my head, watching her closely, savoring the way her fingers clenched against the fabric of her skimpy dress. “Did it feel good walking away from me? Did you ever miss me while you were fucking him?” My voice dropped. A sharp inhale came from her and if I wasn’t watching carefully, I wouldn’t have seen it.That first crack in her armor. Adriana’s lips parted slightly her breath hitching but she didn’t speak. “Answer me.” For a second I thought she was going to fight me and that she was going to throw something sharp and venomous back in my face just to prove that I still couldn’t break her. But instead, her lashes fluttered and she let out a shaky exhale. “Yes.” The word was barely audible but I heard it. Loud and clear. Yes. Yes she missed me. Yes she thought about me while she was with him. Yes she knew she had made a mistake. “Too late for regrets now, sweetheart.” A cruel smirk curled on my lips as I leaned back again. I gestured lazily toward the strippers beside me. One of them the tall, blonde with a body carved to perfection leaned in, pressing her lips against my throat her hands sliding down my chest. The other traced a finger along my jaw her breath warm against my skin. I could feel Adriana’s stare burning into me. Could feel the way her breathing grew heavier and more erratc as if she was trying to keep herself together trying not to break. But she was breaking. And I wanted her to know it. I tilted my head slightly, locking eyes with her again and my voice almost teasing. “Do you want to watch Adriana?” My fingers slipped beneath the blonde’s chin pulling her in for a lingering kiss my gaze never leaving Adriana’s. She flinched. I let the blonde moan into my mouth, let my hands roam her body just enough to drive the knife deeper before finally pulling away. Then, without breaking eye contact with Adriana I exhaled a long and satisfied breath and murmured. “Maybe you should take notes.” Silence. And then crash. Adriana moved so fast I barely had time to register it. The glass vase from the coffee table (expensive, antiqeu worth more than most people’s lives) was now shattered on the floor with shards glinting under the dim light. And there she fucking is. My Adriana. Not the broken and obedient woman kneeling on the ground. But the woman who still had fire in her veins. I stood up slowly the strippers scrambling away as the tension in the room thickened. Adriana was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling with her fists clenched so tight her knuckles had turned white. She was glaring at me now. “You are still a fucking poor bastard. You think you can break me?” She spat out her voice shaking with rage. “Oh, Adriana…” I murmured mockingly while stepping closr and watching as she instinctively backed away only to hit the edge of the couch. “You have no idea what I can do to you.” And then I was on her. I grabbed her chin forcing her to look up at me my grip just shy of painful. Her pulse was erratic beneath my fingers and her lips trembling slightly. I could kiss her. Right now. I could take her and ruin her and make her mine again in the most brutal unforgiving way possible. But not yet. Because revenge tasted better when savored. So instead I smirked and loosened my grip just enough for my thumb to trace over her lower lip, and whispered. “You’ll regret meeting me again Luce Mia” Then I released her and walked away. She’s mine again. But this time around, she was mine to ruin.Adriana’s POV The room felt eerily silent after the strippers left leaving the lingering scent of cheap perfume and sweat clinging to the air like an unwanted memory. My eyes followed them as they strutted out with their hips swaying in exaggerated movements all traces of their earlier hostility (of course towards me) disappearing the moment the guard slipped them their payment. They giggled whilst whispering to each other as they disappeared through the door not sparing me another glance. Just another job for them, another night of easy money. Something I wanted to try but didn’t have the confidence to go through. I, however, couldn’t move from the floor. My body refused to cooperate. I remained kneeling in the middle of the cold floor with my hands clenched so tightly in my lap that my knuckles had turned ghostly white. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there staring down at my trembling fingers but the weight in my chest grew heavier with every passing second. I guess The shock
Adriana’s POVThe guard's grip on my wrist was unforgiving with his fingers digging into my skin as he dragged me forward without a word. He didn’t spare me a glance or acknowledge the way my legs stumbled to keep up with his brutal pace. There was no hesitation and no care just relentless force like I was nothing more than cargo being transported. The hallway blurred past me, my mind racing as I struggled to make sense of why they wouldn’t even let me see where I was being taken. What the hell is Rafael playing at? What kind of game is this? I wasn’t told about any of this. The muffled pulse of the club’s music faded and then we wree swallowed by eerie silence. The further we walked, the more the world I knew disappeared and is replaced by something darker and shadier than I’d expected. Was this not just about revenge? Was I not just an old wound he wanted to reopen for the sake of making me suffer? Because this felt like something else entirely. Then suddenly the dragging stopped
Adriana’s POVThe grip on my wrist was merciless as if the guard was dragging along something less than human. He didn’t look at me and didn’t acknowledge the way my feet stumbled against the polished marble floors. He simply moved forward knowing I had no choice but to follow. His silence was unsettling. No threats, no taunts just a firm hand that refused to let me go while guiding me deeper into a world I had no business being in. As we stepped inside the grand estate I felt the shift immediately. This wasn’t just a house. It was a darn fucking fortress. A kingdom where Rafael ruled with an iron fist from the looks of thinsg. The air itself seemed heavier and thick with something unseen but deeply felt. The guards stationed around the entryway barely flicked their eyes toward the one leading me but they acknowledged him in small ways by straightening their backs or nodding in respect or stepping aside with silent obedience. They didn’t just respect him but they knew him. He was
Adriana’s POVI clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I forced myself to stand my ground. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was rattling my ribs but I refused to let Rafael see an ounce of fear. He would suck me in like the cruel man he has become. “You need to let me go. I have somewhere important I need to be reight now.” I demanded my voice steady even with the chaos in my chest. I need to do this for my daughter. His lips twisted into something cruel and mocking and before I could react, his hand shot out. A gasp slipped past my lips as his fingers curled around my jaw, not squeezing but firm enough to remind me that he could. That he was stronger, that he was in control. He tilted my face up toward him, his grip was forceful as he studied me with those cold, merciless eyes. "Let you go? You think I would do that?" He echoed with wicked amusement laced with venom. “Why? What’s waiting for you out there?” “I have…” I started but he didn’t even allow
Adriana’s POVSix years ago…I left the house as soon as the sun crept over the horizon with the weight of last night’s revelation pressing heavily on my chest. I barely slept, tossing and turning as my hands unconsciously drifted to my stomach as if trying to feel for something or some kind of proof that my world had truly changed. Marco had already been up when I slipped out of bed, working on his laptop in the dim light of our shared bedroom. His brow furrowed in deep concentration, jaw locked and fingers moving quickly over the keyboard. He had barely looked up when I murmured that I had errands to run, only nodding absently. He was too preoccupied with proving himself to his father. I knew how much pressure he was under. His father was a cold and ruthless businessman and never saw him as capable enough to take over the company. The only reason Marco was even in consideration was because of me. Because I had convinced his father that he was competent enough to be the next CEO.
Rafael’s POVThe heavy thud of my footsteps echoed down the grand hallway as I made my way to my home office. The entire mansion was silent but the air was so fucking thick. It was thick with the kind of tension that came when something big was about to go down. And something was about to go down. I could feel it in my bones. It isn’t just one thing. One has to do with having my highschool sweetheart under my fucking roof after years of watching her from afar and the other has to do with the shipment we are about to conduct. Nathan and two of my senior guards were already waiting for me when I pushed open the doors. They stood stiffly in front of my mahogany desk, their expressions unreadable and their backs straight as steel rods. They were disciplined and trained to be alert at all times. It’s been rumored that I’ve got the best trained men and there is not an ounce of doubt in that. These are men I gathered from the streets. Men that were doubted by their own loved ones and they
Adriana’s POV It was a pounding headache that welcomed me back to consciousness. the dull throb settling deep behind my temples as I groaned and forced my eyes open. Sunlight filtered through the open curtains, its rays slicing through the room. It should have been warm and comforting. Instead, it felt intrusive while stabbing into my skull like tiny needles. I blinked rapidly, my vision adjusting and that was when I saw her. Why would someone be standing there looking at a sleeping person? Who the hell is this woman and where the hell did she come from? Why is she staring like she wants to stab my eyes out? The woman hovered over me, arms folded tightly over her chest and her sharp gaze practically dissecting me. She was older, maybe early fifties, with graying hair pulled back into a severe bun that fits her face really. Her face was lined with age, her mouth pressed into a thin, unimpressed line and the plumpness of her body didn’t soften the steell in her posture. She loo
Adriana’s POVEverything inside me froze when his words settled. My breath stalled and my stomach clenched at oncs. "She’s here?" I screamed out the question as My eyes widened. My voice was raw and so fucking desperate but I didn’t care. The guard gave a single nod and I shot to my feet so fast I nearly stumbled. "She’s here?" I repeated, practically begging. "Yes. But you need to be dressed to see her." he said simply and his eyes didn’t even drift down my body. I didn’t need to hear anything else because I bolted from the floor. Rushing past him, I ran straight to the bathroom, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. The second I saw myself in the mirror though, I flinched. Mascara streaked down my cheeks in jagged lines and my green eyes red and puffy and my lips cracked from crying. My red hair was tangled, wild and that dress. God the dress clung to me like a second skin. Heat crawled up my face as the memory of everyone seeing me like this came crashing back. No wonder t
Rafael’s POVI stood at the edge of the bed watching the slow rise and fall of Adriana’s chest and making sure she was still breathing. The bandages on her shoulder were clean, the color returning to her face little by little but she still looked so fucking fragile and too pale against the dark sheets. A part of me hated seeing her like this all weak and vulnerable. Another part of me hated that I cared enough to stay here and that I did what I did. It’s just that the thought f someone hurting her that wasn’t me didn’t seat well with me. Nathan hovered by the doorway with arms crossed and his jaw clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grinding. He hadn’t spoken much since I brought Adriana back but his eyes had said enough. “She’s stable. There is nothing more you can do for her now.” I said in a firm but low voice knowing I had to keep it down. “She almost died.” His fingers curled into fists at his sides. I think he has repeated that for the billionth time now. “I fucking kn
Adriana’s POVThe first thing I felt was pain. A deep throbbing ache that pulsed through my entire body but especially in my shoulder, where fire seemed to have lodged itself beneath my skin. I tried to mov but even the smallest shift sent sharp, biting agony through my limbs. A groan slipped past my lips before I could stop it. Where the hell was I? I forced my heavy eyelids open blinking against the dim lighting. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, all dark wood and old-fashioned molding. The bed beneath me was softer than I expected witg the sheets cool against my overheated skin. The faint scent of antiseptic lingered in the air mixing with something darker and something unmistakably metallic. My blood. Memories crashed over me in waves. Starting from the party. The Brotherhood. The secret meeting. The gunshot. And nathan. I had thrown myself in front of him. Why? That question lodged itself in my mind, refusing to leave. Why the hell had I moved? Why had I risked my own life
Rafael’s POVThe moment the first shot rang out everything shifted. Chaos erupted in the club AND people scrambling for cover along with the bodies pressing against each other in a frenzied panic while drinks are spilling and tables overturning. The scent of sweat and alcohol and gunpowder thickened the air clashing with the heavy bass that still thumped through the speakers, oblivious to the mayhem breaking out. My instincts kicked in immediately, one hand reaching for my gun as I scanned the dimly lit space for the source of the attack, my mind already calculating the angles and the possible positions of the shoote followed by the exitsa nd the threats. And then I saw Adriana. She wasn’t running. Wasn’t ducking for cover like any sane person would. She was moving toward Nathan. A sharp slicing fury cut through me as cold and swift as a blade. What the hell was she thinking? The idiot wasn’t even trying to protect herself and wasn’t thinking about the consequences of throwing he
Adriana’s POVThe world was dark. Thick and suffocating like an endless void that stretched on with no sense of time witj no sound and no thought. Just emptiness. It felt like I was floating all weightless yet at the same time something anchored me down, something heavy pressing against my chest, pinning me to a reality I couldn’t quite grasp yet. My mind drifted in a sluggish and unfocused way that was trapped in a haze that refused to let me surface. Then, a voice that was sharp and furious reached me dragginv me up and yanking me out of the abyss with a force that sent a violent jolt through my entire body. “Adriana!” A white hot bolt of agony that tore through my shoulder ripping a strangled gasp from my lips. It wasn’t just my shoulder anymore but it was everywhere. A raw and pulsing fire radiating outward burning through my limbs and curling deep into my bones making every shallow breath feel like I was inhaling shards of glass. My body felt too heavy like lead had been po
Adriana’s POVThe moment Nathan disappeared down the stairs the tension in my chest coiled so tight it was suffocating. My hands were clammy and my heartbeat slamming against my ribs like a warning drum. The corridor around me felt eerily quiet despite the distant murmur of voices downstairs. Every second that passed only made the unease in my stomach twist deepe and I knew— I couldn’t stay here and do nothing. Fuck what Nathan said. Ugh I’m not a martyr but I hate when I’m not in the show either. I edged away from the marble pillar pressing my back against the cold wall as I listened for any movement. Nothing. Not yet. But I wasn’t stupid enough to believe I had time. The men I overheard weren’t hesitating and if I stood here, waiting like some helpless fool I might as well have pulled the trigger on Rafael myself. I forced my legs to move with each step ligh and carefully controlled. My bare feet barely made a sound against the polished floors as I crept forward inching toward
Adriana’s POVThe first thing I noticed when I stirred was the smell of old paper and polished wood was thick in the air and mixed with something richer. Leather, aged whiskey and a faint trace of cigar smoke clung to the atmosphere like a second skin. My eyelids were heavy my my head pounding with a dull, relentless ache as if someone had cracked my skull open and stuffed it with cotton. Everything felt off and so freaking unfamiliar. My body was sluggish and my limbs weighed down by exhaustion and remnants of alcohol. Where the hell was I?Blinking against the dim glow of a single antique lamp, I forced myself to sit up groaning as a fresh wave of dizziness hit me. The room around me was large lined with towering bookshelves that stretched high toward the ceiling and each packed with thick, leather bound books that looked expensive. But never read. Aesthetic much. A heavy wooden desk stood near the window with papers stacked in neat piles and a crystal decanter of dark liquor sitt
Rafael’s POVThe room was thick with the scent of cigar smoke and the quiet simmering tension that always lingered when the Brotherhood gathered. The low amber glow of the chandelier casting eerie silhouettes over the faces of men who had built empires on blood and fear and unwavering loyalty. I sat at my usual spot at the long mahogany table with fingers drumming idly against the polished surface my gaze locked on Don Vittorio Romano. The man with a similar last name to mine but we still don’t share a single thing. The Capo dei Capi. The man who despite his failing health still had the audacity to challenge me. He leaned heavier in his chair than usual with the weight of his illness pressing into his bones but the bastard still had fire in his eyes. A lesser man would have taken his condition as a sign to keep his mouth shut and to pick his battles wisely but Vittorio had never been a lesser man. He was a relic of an older time and stubborn in his ways and perhaps that was why
Adriana’s POVThe weight of the room settled heavily on my shoulders thick with cigar smoke and the scent of expensive whiskey. The men around Rafael weren’t just powerful but they were dangerous in a way that made my skin crawl and their presence filling every inch of space with something coldu. Anthony had told me their names earlier but now, standing here I could put faces to them. I had expected them to be closer to Rafael’s age all young and ruthless but I quickly realized that most of them were older and seasoned in their brutality strike wickedness. These weren’t men who had stumbled into power but they they had built it, brick by bloody brick through years of survival, deception, manipulation and violence. The Capo dei Capi was still lounging in his seat like a king surveying his court as he had introduced them with a lazy flick of his fingers as if they were nothing more than pieces on a chessboard. First, there was Vincent Bianchi an older man with silver hair and sharp
Adriana’s POVThe air inside the place was thick with smoke and power and the kind of power that wasn’t flaunted with empty arrogance but carried with lethal assurances. These men didn’t need to boast about what they had done to get here and the way the world bent around them spoke loudly enough. The weight of their presence alone demanded submission. Not the same as the men around Marco.I could feel it pressing against my skin like an invisible forve reminding me that I didn’t belong here and that I was an outsider in a room full of men who thrived in shadows. The club itself was exclusive and far removed from the kind of places Marco used to take me to. This wasn’t a playground for wealthy businessmen or politicians pretending to be untouchable. This was something else entirely like a den of wolves. The music was a deep and pulsing thrum in the background but it did nothing to dull the tension crackling in the air. The lighting was dim, casting long shadows across the room amd m