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CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR (ELI'S POV)

Penulis: Abby Gale
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-04-18 08:00:10

Sunlight streamed in through the parted curtains, warm and golden, casting soft streaks of light across the bedroom floor. It was the kind of soft light that made everything feel slower, more delicate—like the world had hit pause just for us.

I stirred before he did.

Ricci—Enzo—was still asleep, his breath steady, chest rising and falling in a rhythm that seemed almost too peaceful for someone who had slaughtered thirty men the night before. His arm was draped loosely around my waist, the other bent behind his head. His face, usually so hard and unreadable, was relaxed now. The lines of violence, command, and danger erased by sleep.

I studied him in silence.

The faint stubble on his jaw, the little injury on his lip that had started to scab, the faint bruises already forming on his ribs. Every inch of him told a story—and yet, here in this quiet morning I could almost forget what he was capable of.

Almost.

A part of me wanted to move. To slip out of bed, sta
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  • Bound by blood and lies   CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT

    Eli's povThe walls were suffocating.I knew every crack in the ceiling now. Every creak in the floorboards when someone passed by my door. Every tick of the clock on the far wall that hadn’t stopped counting down the time I spent avoiding the world outside.Avoiding them.Matteo had given me space. After that night—after he broke down the door and held me through my breakdown—he hadn’t tried to talk again. He left food. Sometimes stayed a few minutes. But mostly, he left me to myself.Luca… was different.He lingered.He talked even when I didn’t respond. He sat on the edge of the bed and told me about his dreams as if I were listening. He confessed to missing my voice. My touch. My presence.It would’ve been easier to hate him if he hadn’t looked so wrecked every time he walked out of this room.This morning was different.He didn’t come in with a tray or apology.He came in with an

  • Bound by blood and lies   CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN

    Luca's povThe house had never felt this cold.Not even in the dead of winter. Not even with all the windows shut and the heat on full blast. It was cold because Eli wasn’t talking. He wasn’t crying either at least not loud enough for anyone to hear anymore.That silence?It was killing me.I passed by his broken door again. Still ajar from when Matteo kicked it in three nights ago. The hinges groaned whenever someone brushed past it, like the house itself winced at what we’d done. I didn’t go in. Couldn’t.Matteo did. Every morning. Sometimes with food, sometimes just to sit on the edge of the bed and watch Eli pretend to sleep.He never stayed long. Couldn’t stomach it.Neither could I.****I sat in the office now, hands buried in my hair, papers scattered across the desk that I wasn’t even reading. Logistics. Intel on Silas. Weapons shipment reports. It was all noise. Background static to the ache in

  • Bound by blood and lies   CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIX

    Eli's povI didn’t leave the room.Not that day. Not the one after. Or the one after that.The cake ingredients would still be sitting untouched in a bag downstairs or maybe Ricardo must’ve unpacked them. I imagined the eggs had gone bad by now, the flour left forgotten in some cupboard. Like me. Forgotten. Pushed aside. An inconvenience. Again.Luca’s voice haunted the hallway on that first night. His words were soft and aching as it slipped through the wooden door. I sat with my back pressed to the other side of the door, knees pulled close to my chest, shaking.He said he loved me.I didn’t believe him.No, that wasn’t true. I believed he wanted to mean it. But words didn’t fix what was broken. They didn’t erase the venomous words Matteo spat. They didn’t erase the shame that burned inside me when I realized just how they saw me.A servant. A coward. A mistake.I didn’t cry that first night. I

  • Bound by blood and lies   CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE

    Luca's povThe guest room door stayed shut.I came back.I stood in front of it for almost an hour, hand hovering over the doorknob, willing it to open. Willing him to open it. But there was nothing but silence behind it, the kind that weighed heavy on your chest and whispered, you messed up again.I hated this kind of quiet. It reminded me too much of the nights after Matteo’s mother died, when I’d sneak into his room just to make sure he hadn’t stopped breathing from the suffocation of grief. This silence felt like that. Like something fragile had cracked and I didn’t know how to fix it.I leaned my forehead against the cool wood, swallowing the guilt burning up my throat.“I didn’t mean it,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean any of that.”But Eli wouldn’t hear me. Not now. Maybe not ever.And could I even blame him?****Ricardo had walked back into the estate with Eli at his side, and in that mom

  • Bound by blood and lies   CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FOUR

    Eli's pov The hummingbird cake was supposed to be a surprise. I’d Googled the recipe at midnight, unable to sleep, thinking maybe—just maybe—I could bring a little sweetness into a house that had grown so cold toward me. I needed some bananas that were soft enough to mash. The cinnamon in the cabinet still smelled like warmth. And for a moment, I’d thought… that could be something. I shouldn’t have gone alone. I knew that the second I stepped outside that damn gate. Ricardo offered to drive me. Said he needed to pick up smokes anyway. He didn’t ask questions, didn’t smirk or pry. Just opened the car door and let me sit in silence. I should’ve left a note. Should’ve said something. But after last nigh

  • Bound by blood and lies   CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE

    Luca's pov “Eli left with the car this morning. Said he was going to get some groceries with—” “You let him leave?” I barked, not hearing the rest. “I—he said Ricardo was taking him, I didn’t—” Matteo turned on me. “Ricardo? I find that hard to believe because they barely talk.God forbid he ever tells us a damn thing.” “Like you’d have listened?” I spat. “This whole thing wouldn’t be a fucking disaster if you hadn’t treated him like an outsider from the start!” “You’re blaming me?” “Yes.” “How's all this my fault when he left. Without telling anyone. Again.” “And where the fuck were you when he was walking out the goddamn door?” I snapped. “Too busy sulking to even

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