The king of Ashes
He claimed her for revenge. He kept her for the sin.
Isabella was stolen a beautiful, defiant prize taken as part of Alessandro De Luca's brutal revenge.
Alessandro De Luca is a king among shadows, a ruthless Capo whose empire is built on blood, lies, and the ashes of his enemies. He is a man who takes what he wants, and what he wants now is retribution.
His perfect pawn? Isabella the defiant, stunning daughter of the man who took everything from him. Dragged from her gilded cage and into his lavish, terrifying world, she is meant to be his trophy, his torment, and the ultimate symbol of his victory.
But a pawn with fire in her veins is impossible to control.
She is forbidden. Addictive. Dangerous. With every heated glance and accidental brush of skin, Isabella threatens to unravel the cold calculation in him, tearing down the walls of the devil he's become... or awakening something even darker.
Their deadly game of ownership and defiance is quickly complicated by a new, more venomous threat: Alessandro’s twin brother. Twisted, obsessive, and hellbent on tearing his world apart, the only thing his brother craves more than Alessandro’s throne is the woman Alessandro has claimed.
With enemies closing in on every side, the stakes are simple: Betrayal is certain.
Survival is not.
Desire is a trap that could kill them both.
Baca
Chapter: Chapter Sixteen : A Legacy of Betrayal (Isabella’s POV) The adrenaline had long since bled out of me, leaving behind a cold, heavy dread that settled deep in my bones. I sat curled on one of the large, grey sofas in the living room, a cashmere blanket wrapped tightly around my shoulders, but it did nothing to ward off the chill. The penthouse, once a symbol of intimidating luxury, now felt violated, its sanctity shattered. Men in dark suits moved through the space with the quiet, deadly efficiency of wolves. They were Alessandro’s personal security, a silent army sweeping every corner, their faces grim and focused. Technicians were analyzing the shattered window in the bedroom, their hushed voices a murmur against the backdrop of the city’s hum. I was watching the seamless, terrifying machine of his organization at work, a stark reminder of the world I now inhabited. This was not a nightmare from which I could wake. It was my life. I clutched a warm mug of tea Sofia had pressed into my hands, her stern face etched
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-04
Chapter: Chapter Fifteen : The King's Wrath (Alessandro’s POV) The ringing in my ears faded, replaced by the frantic, terrified beating of Isabella’s heart against my chest. I held her, my arms a steel cage, my body a shield against the chaos my brother had unleashed. The scent of ozone from the flash-bang mingled with the cool night air rushing through the shattered window, a gaping wound in the side of my sanctuary. He was gone. Vanished into the night as if he were truly a ghost. But the cold dread coiling in my gut was real. The threat was real. For a moment, I allowed myself to feel the pure, unadulterated terror of it. Not for me. For her. Cassian’s eyes when he looked at her… it was the look of a predator savoring his next meal. He didn't just want my empire; he wanted to defile everything I held sacred. He wanted to burn my world down all over again, and this time, Isabella was standing in the center of it. That thought was a shard of ice in my heart. It extinguished the terror and ignited a rage so cold and a
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-04
Chapter: Chapter Fourteen : The Shattered Sanctuary (Isabella’s POV) The silence in the room was a living entity, thick and suffocating. It pressed in on me, my heartbeat a frantic, terrified drum against the crushing weight of the impossible. Before me stood two Alessandros, two sides of a coin I never knew existed. One was the man I loved, his whiskey-colored eyes filled with a decade of pain and a fierce, protective love for me. The other was a stranger wearing his face, his eyes holding nothing but cold amusement and a terrifying, triumphant malice. My mind raced, trying to process the horrifying reality. A twin. A brother presumed dead, now resurrected as a monster. The headache, the collapse… it had been a plan. A coordinated intrusion into the most secure place in the city, into the most intimate moment of my life. Alessandro—my Alessandro—took a half-step, his body instinctively positioning himself to partially shield me. The movement was subtle, but it was a clear declaration. I was his to protect. The air crackled, ch
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-03
Chapter: Chapter Thirteen: Two Faces of the Same Coin (Alessandro’s POV) For a heartbeat, the world fractured. The grogginess from my collapse vanished, incinerated by a white-hot surge of adrenaline and disbelief. I stared at the man by the bar—a perfect, twisted reflection of myself—and a name I had buried ten years ago clawed its way out of a shallow grave in my memory. Cassian. My twin brother. The brother everyone, including myself, believed had perished in the fire that consumed our family. The brother whose volatile temper and cruel streak had been the secret shadow of my youth. His face was mine, but it was a mask worn by a different soul. The angles were the same, the hair just as dark, but his eyes held a cold, predatory arrogance I had never possessed. The subtle differences I’d noticed in his movements earlier, which my mind had dismissed as my own fatigue, now screamed with horrifying clarity. The way he held his glass, the cadence of his voice, the soulless smirk—it was all wrong. “Cassia
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-03
Chapter: Chapter Twelve: Echoes in the Mirror (Alessandro’s POV) Disbelief slammed into me like a physical blow, stealing the air from my lungs. The grogginess vanished, replaced by a cold, primal dread that clawed its way up my spine. I stared at the man by the bar, a mirror image twisted by malice, and a decade of suppressed memories crashed down upon me with brutal force. Cassian. The name, a ghost I had buried deeper than our parents, clawed its way from the recesses of my mind. My twin brother. The brother everyone believed had died in the fire that night. His face was mine, the same sharp angles, the same dark hair, but etched with a cruel arrogance I had never possessed. His eyes, the same shade of whiskey brown, held a cold, calculating gleam that sent a shiver of icy understanding through me. The subtle differences I had subconsciously registered in his movements now screamed with horrifying clarity. “Cassian,” I breathed, the name tasting like ash on my tongue. It had been so long since I had uttered it, so
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-03
Chapter: Chapter Eleven The King's Shadow (Isabella’s POV) The silence that followed his words was a living thing, a suffocating presence that crushed the air from my lungs. The beautiful, warm bliss of moments ago had curdled into a cold, sharp-edged horror. I stood, clutching the silk sheet to my chest like a useless shield, my gaze locked on the man by the window. It was Alessandro’s face, his body, his voice… but the soul looking out of his eyes was that of a stranger. “What did you say?” I whispered, my voice trembling so hard the words were barely recognizable. My mind was reeling, scrambling for a logical explanation. Was this a test? A cruel, twisted game to gauge my loyalty? He turned fully to face me, his arms crossed over his powerful chest. The faint, loving smile he’d given me was gone, replaced by a thin, cruel smirk that did not reach his eyes. Those whiskey-colored eyes, which had looked at me with such adoration, were now two chips of ice. “I said a queen is a pawn,” he repeated, his voice smooth an
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-03
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