ANMELDENAXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.The moment the lights came on, Olivia froze. Her heels slipped from her fingers and hit the floor with a soft thud. She stood there, staring at me like she couldn’t decide if I was real or another effect of the alcohol clouding her head.I could smell the strong stench of alcohol on her, and noticed how hazy her eyes looked.Then my eyes finally dragged over her properly, seeing the bloodstain and bruises that made my stomach churn. I’d imagined finding Olivia a thousand different ways, but none of them ended with blood on her dress.Her mascara was smeared beneath red, exhausted eyes, and strands of her tangled hair clung messily against her damp skin. The short dress she wore exposed the angry marks around her arms. Her smooth thighs were smeared with mud and it left something violent twisting inside my chest.I’d spent the last few hours imagining where she was.Who she was with.Whether she was safe.But seeing her like this?It was worse than anything my
OLIVIAMy fear returned once again—they'd found me for the second time that day.I dared to glance over his shoulders and noticed the others standing behind him. Three men with the same neck tattoo, their eyes fixed on me like they were waiting to attack.They were scattered around the bar like they’d been watching me the entire time without me noticing.Watching the bartender quietly step away reminded me that nobody was going to help me.I was all alone.“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” I muttered, slowly stepping away from the counter.The broad-shouldered man only smiled, his fingers moving through my hair in a manner that irritated my stomach.Without thinking twice, I hurled the empty glass straight at his face. He cursed loudly, staggering backward as alcohol and blood splashed across his shirt.I ran as the music drowned out the chaos behind me. Shoving recklessly through the crowd, bodies crashed against mine. Someone yelled, another cursed, but I kept pushing
OLIVIAMy car was shattered beyond repair.Bloodstains covered my outfit. My skin burned where his nails had dug in, each movement sending sharp pain through my arm.I didn’t stay long enough to think.I staggered out of that house, left the body where it fell, and forced myself to keep moving until I found a taxi.I’d never been more frightened in my life. And I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I’d been attacked by Donatello’s men.I shot him almost three years ago. I’d pulled seven bullets into him and watched him fall to the ground—dead.Why was I still being targeted? Attacked? Followed? Realization sank into my mind… They had waited for me to get back to Willow Creek.Just to kill me.My head rested against the car seat as the driver drove to my new apartment. I needed protection—and Matteo was all I had.Staring at my fingers, they hadn’t stopped trembling. I kept replaying the moment I pulled the trigger.Cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and I just needed to get
AXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.Everybody in this fucking estate was lying to me.“I’m going to ask Matteo everything he knows,” I said quietly to Isabella. “And in the meantime, you’ll find everything you can about Celyn.”Isabella furrowed her eyebrows. “Why would I ever want to work with you?”“Because you’ve got no other choice,” I muttered, taking one step closer to her. “And you’re going to help me bring down your little boyfriend.”Her lips parted to speak, but no words slipped out. I stepped away without another word, just a cold glance, before turning around to find Matteo.Viper was waiting in the car, searching for all he could find about the ‘fake’ Celyn. I swept through the hallway, stopping right in front of the Morettis’ council room.Matteo stood a few feet away from the entrance, speaking with two other men. His eyes narrowed the moment he noticed me, and I gave him a subtle nod, motioning for his attention before walking in.“You shouldn’t be here,” he said without a muscle mo
OLIVIA“What’s Axel doing there?” I asked, my heart racing. “And who’s the other person?”Matteo muttered something under his breath, his footsteps echoing in the background. I tried to think of a reason why Axel would be in the estate. Isabella was back, yes, but they never got along.“Matteo?” I called, noticing the sound of the line breaking. “Matteo.”He’d already hung up. My grip tightened around my phone as I pulled it away from my ear. I remained standing, my thoughts spiraling as I dug my teeth into my nails.“I need to know what’s happening,” I whispered. “Something is definitely going on.”*Leaving my Mum was harder than I expected. I had to promise to visit her the next day. She noticed the cracks in my countenance but said nothing about it.I wasn’t even in the mood to start explaining how I’d gone back to reclaim my father's estate in New Orleans.She’d totally freak out.Driving back to my apartment, I made a quick stop at my house—the home I’d lived in since I was eig
AXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.“You think you know everything, huh?” Isabella smirked, feigning composure, but her eyes said otherwise. “Trust me when I say you don’t.”Ohh, I knew too well. She’d been faking everything from the start, trying to control Olivia, to get everything she’d secretly wanted from the very beginning.I clicked my tongue, my lips pressed into a thin line as I watched her struggle to hold my gaze.“I’m only here because of what you told me over the phone,” I said flatly, not wanting to press further on the past. “You either start talking, or I’ll do whatever I have in mind to you.”“I already told you—I need to find Olivia first.”Heat crawled beneath my skin. “Don’t fucking play with me, Rosetta.”“Matteo said she left a few days ago,” she murmured, changing her mind after viewing my countenance. “But he’s refused to say anything about her whereabouts. Claims he knows nothing about it.”“And what did you find?"She exhaled deeply, glancing over my shoulders as Viper’s
OLIVIA“I… I can’t do it.”I muttered, breathing heavily. I couldn’t take the gun—I’d never held one before.Yes, I wanted to take Axel’s life like he’d done to my father, but… pulling the trigger on him, locking gazes with him while I did it, was unbearable to even think of.Donatello chuckled, sl
OLIVIA“Why’d you shoot me, Kitty?”I swallowed hard at his question, eyes widening at the sight of him. His shoulder was still bleeding, and he grunted, reaching for me.I flinched away. “S-stay away from me.”His lips parted into a low chuckle. “Why? You’re the one who hurt me.”“You don’t get to
AXEL SALVATORE ROSSI.“What the fuck—”I didn’t finish the sentence. My fists were already moving before I could control myself.The man closest to me barely had time to turn before my knuckles collided with his throat. He went down choking, scrambling across the floor like an animal. I stepped ov
OLIVIAI lurched backward, staring at the two lifeless bodies on the ground—the people I’d shot without thinking twice.Axel’s body sprawled on the floor, not moving, covered in a pool of his blood. And Donatello fell on his back—eyes wide open, bleeding from his head.“What have you done?!” Nelly







