Arabella's POVI had to get out of here. I had to escape at all costs. I thought about what Alpha Luciano did to me yesterday and I squeezed my eyes shut in mortification, shame, and disgust. Weeks ago I was a virgin, respected. I had a future to look forward to. But now, it felt like my life had come to a standstill. A pause. A full stop. Like I was living in a hellscape where I was running around in circles like a headless chicken. I had to leave this place or die trying rather than stay here and die a little more every day losing sight of who I was."Are you good?' I turned in my bed at the sound of Margaret's voice. "You knew." She avoided my gaze and put her hand on my forehead to check my temperature.I slapped her hand away. "You could have warned me. You are a woman yourself. How can you do that to another woman?"Tears fell down my cheeks. "Arabella–""Leave me. Now. I would like to be alone."I turned my back on her to face the other side of the bed. After a few second
Arabella's POVThe sound of the gunshot reverberated in the air. I fell to my knees, Alpha Luciano following me, his hands intertwined with mine. The gun fell out of my grasp.The moment I had taken the shot, I'd known he would take the gun from my hands in seconds so I pulled the trigger. Blood coated my hands and I strangely wanted to laugh. Alpha Luciano looked at me like I'd lost my marbles. I guess I had laughed out loud. Finally, it would all end.My vision swam and my body slumped almost hitting the ground but Alpha Luciano caught me, his hands were gentle or maybe the blood loss from a bullet in my thigh was already getting to me. It was a silver bullet after all. I wanted to take the gun and finish the job but my hands shook and my limbs felt like wet noodles. If I could not kill him, I would rather die than follow him back. "Crazy girl. I won't let you die so easily." His hand went to my wound and I thought he wanted to put pressure on it to reduce the bleeding. Only, h
Alpha Luciano's POV"No." I didn't have to think twice about it. The nerves on this girl. How dare she think to make demands of me? Me! She was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Arabella Bianchi was fearless now that she'd discovered she had nothing left to lose since she no longer cared if she lived or died. I would change that. The problem was that I had never expected Arabella would be hiding claws beneath that subservient exterior so I was ill-equipped to handle this situation. A gross oversight on my side that I would soon correct. "That will never happen." I repeated making sure she got the point. Give her the right to pick the times we would have sex? Yeah, that was never happening. Did she think we were courting or something? This was not a fucking democracy, it was a dictatorship. I gave the orders, she took them. That was all it could ever be. That was all I would allow. She rolled her eyes. Fucking rolled her eyes. I was going to kill Arabella Bianchi and damn the consequenc
Alpha Luciano's POVI stood up from my chair so suddenly it fell to the ground. "Vitalio is here?""Not here exactly, Alpha. He is at the meeting house. He is demanding to see his daughter, Arabella.""You may leave Mikah. I will see to him.""Yes, Alpha." Milah bowed and left hurriedly.After he left, I smiled viciously. Finally, I had Vitalio exactly where I wanted him."You look satisfied. Was this the plan all along?" Uncle Tommaso asked warily."Of course it was. I will have Vitalio grovel for his daughter but he won't still get her back. I want revenge, Uncle Tommaso. It would be so easy to kill Vitalio but I need to see him degraded, insulted and brought down. I want him to die in instalments not at once. Before doubting my commitment to this cause, Uncle, maybe have a little faith in me."I straightened the cuffs of my shirt eagerly. "Now if you would excuse me, I have a date with Vitalio I cannot be late for."*******I kept him waiting for an hour while Emery gave me the mos
Arabella's POVMy eyes widened in shock and I squeaked in fear as I saw Alpha Luciano at the door. I stumbled back in an effort to get away from him and my legs gave out beneath me. As I fell, he caught me. My hands went to his shoulders automatically as he gripped my waist. We stared at each other for a second. Me in a loose hospital gown, my leg bandaged. Him in an extremely form-fitting suit that seemed solely cut and designed to show off the superiority of the wearer with Margaret passed out on the floor behind us, her blood staining the tile.A nurse walked in with a notepad and saw Margaret. She shouted raising an alarm and the moment was gone. Alpha Luciano let go of my waist and I removed my hands from his shoulders balancing on my good leg. He looked at Margaret and whistled."You made quite a mess here, Arabella. Here I was thinking she was your friend but I guess one never knows for sure with you Bianchis." He regarded me with clear blue eyes filled with malice and dark a
Alpha Luciano's POVI snatched the envelope out of his hands and ripped it open. After reading the contents, I laughed. So Vitalio had made his move already. It was now my turn. I remembered something I had seen. Yes, that would do very nicely. I knew exactly how to respond to this. The war was just beginning.Arabella's POVA warm arm was around my waist when I woke up and I could feel his morning erection pressed against my backside. After Margaret had sewn me up, I'd managed to get into the bathroom. Then I had thrown on one of Alpha Luciano's shirts, thrown off the stained bed sheets to the ground then crawled back into bed feeling like an invalid. I must have slept off the rest of the afternoon because when I woke up again, food had been placed by my bedside and the night had fallen so I'd eaten and then fallen asleep again. I knew I should have gone to my room already but I couldn't move. I was feeling extremely tired, if Alpha Luciano wanted me out so badly, he could carry m
Arabella's POVWe arrived at the council meeting place. It was situated in the middle of acres of council-owned vineyard fields somewhere in Sicily. The place looked like a private mansion of some crazy rich don. It was large, sprawling and completely white with sculptures and columns that recalled anything I had ever seen before. Alpha Luciano and I dismounted from the car and Zaza the driver turned the car around to go drop it off at the parking lot. Wherever that was. I couldn't see any cars from where I stood. A staff dressed in a suit featured for us to follow him and we did. Alpha Luciano's arm went around my waist as though providing me support to walk in my heels but I knew what he meant it to be. A show of possession. I fought the urge to push his hand away and simply walked with him.We entered the house and were led through a hallway with numerous paintings and murals. Lights hung from designed placements lighting up the entire house as though the windows were open. We
Arabella's POV"Vitalio Bianchi, state your case." The masked person spoke. Dad stood up. Tears sprang to my eyes at the sight of him. He looked like he had lost a bit of weight but save from that, he looked the exact way I remembered him. Domineering and strong. He looked at me as he spoke, listing all of Alpha Luciano's many crimes. Kidnapping, Murder, Rape… the list went on and on...When he finally finished speaking, the hall was filled with indistinct murmurs from the witnesses that quietened down when the masked council member spoke again."Arabella Bianchi, step up."Inhaling sharply, I moved closer to the council table. My thoughts were in disarray and my mouth was dry. "Is what your father says true? Were you taken against your will?"I looked at my father. The man who I'd always wanted his love and attention even though he had been cold to me all my life. The man who'd forced me into an unwanted mating that had enabled Alpha Luciano to kidnap me. The man who was now trying