Pustaka
Cari
Beranda / Romance / Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King / 53. No Choice

Share

53. No Choice

Penulis: Erika Lana Bell
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-05-23 00:17:01

Cali’s POV

The fury in Hale’s gaze doesn’t waver.

It hangs between us, taut and suffocating. His fingers tense around the handle of the knife. His breath is calm, but his eyes betray him. That kind of rage can’t be bottled in for too long. It seethes, plots and then—it explodes.

I could lie.

I can blame the machine and claim it may have malfunctioned, or that the spike was from nerves of Hale threatening me. But Hale won’t buy it. If that look alone isn’t declaration enough, everything stacked against me will be.

If I give him the truth, maybe I walk away with my body and sanity intact. Maybe.

But if I lie…

He won’t ask again. But he could do some searching—and I know without a doubt, he will find it.

I take a breath that doesn’t steady me. “I can show you.”

He presses the blade harder against my chest. “I said talk.”

I hold his stare. My voice comes quiet, flat. “It’s not something either of us wants to talk about, believe me. Just let me show you. So we can get it over with.”

His no
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi
Bab Terkunci
Bab sebelumnya Bab selanjutnya

Bab terbaru

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   143. The Other Faction

    Cali’s POV.I’ve never seen Hale freeze like that.Not even when he got shot in the shoulder and kept pushing forward with blood pouring down his side. Not when Vaughn told us that Burke had connections inside the EU judiciary. Not even when I showed up in Italy, uninvited, defiant, and full of secrets.But now?He’s still. Frozen. Staring at that wall like it just broke something loose in him that he wasn’t ready to name.The symbol painted there is simple. Crude. Almost lazy—just a black square with a jagged red line slashed diagonally through it, like a wound. But the way Hale’s looking at it? I know it means something more. Something bad.“Hale?” I whisper.His voice is low. Flat. “This isn’t Burke.”“You said that already. What does that mean?”He finally turns toward me. There’s something strange in his eyes—not panic, but something very close. Not fear. Strategy. Calculations racing ahead of words.“Burke doesn’t mark his shipments. He doesn’t brand what he hides. That’s not hi

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   142. Takeaway

    Cali’s POVThe smell hits me before I even step inside.Not blood.Not death.Something older.Worn-out mattresses soaked in sweat. Plastic bottles filled with murky water. Discarded rags balled in corners. It smells like fear left too long in the dark. Like survival turned sour. Like shame that was never theirs to carry.And then I see them.Seven girls. No older than twenty. One of them could be as young as thirteen. Huddled together on the cold cement floor like stray animals in a storm. Thin limbs. Haunted eyes. Clothes that stopped being clothes weeks ago and became armor. Or camouflage. Or just another lie to survive another day.I don’t speak right away.If I’ve learned anything from my own trauma, it’s that silence matters. Quiet can be a kindness when the world has been nothing but loud and cruel.They watch us like we’re a second danger.And maybe we are.Behind me, Hale steps into the room, his gun lowered, his body tense. He doesn’t say anything either—but he doesn’t have t

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   141. The Hunt

    Hale’s POV.The city is asleep when we move.Past midnight, the streets hum with low light and the occasional mutter of nightlife bleeding toward exhaustion. It’s the hour when everything starts to slip—minds, patrols, shadows. The perfect time to strike.We park the van three blocks from the warehouse—no lights, no chatter, no phones. Inside, Vaughn is already double-checking gear, voice a quiet command in the dark as he hands out suppressors and final comm checks. His face is taut, focused. Every man in this van knows what we’re walking into, and none of them flinch. They’re ready to die for this.I just hope I don’t make them.Cali sits at the tech bench behind me, eyes on the multiple screens rigged to the van’s portable surveillance board. Her knee bounces, lips pressed into a thin line as she watches the exterior feeds. The tunnel access camera flickers every few seconds—just enough lag to make her bite her bottom lip.I lean in beside her.“You good?”She nods. “I still think i

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   140. Fair Game

    Cali’s pov.I wake to the scent of coffee and burnt sugar.At first, I think it’s a dream. The pillow’s too soft, the sheets too smooth, my body too sore in all the right places. But then lips brush against my bare shoulder—soft, warm, unhurried—and I stir, eyes blinking open to early sunlight filtering through half-drawn curtains.Hale is perched on the edge of the bed beside me, still shirtless, hair damp from the shower, tray balanced in one hand. The other lifts a piece of flaky, powdered pastry to my mouth as he smirks down at me.“Open.”I do, mostly out of reflex.The pastry melts on my tongue—warm, buttery, sweet enough to make my eyes flutter shut again. But I don’t get long. Because then he’s pressing a cup of espresso into my hand and setting a tray across my lap like we’re not in the middle of a war, like the world didn’t try to swallow us whole last night.I eye the spread. Croissants. Sliced fruit. Prosciutto and soft cheese arranged too neatly for it to be anything but

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   139. Under Pressure

    Cali’s POV.The hallway falls silent again.No footsteps. No voices. Just the electric hum of danger pressed against our backs as Hale tightens his grip on my wrist and meets my eyes with a silent message that says everything I need to know.Now.He doesn’t give me time to breathe.One second, we’re crouched behind cold marble, lungs full of panic, and the next he’s moving—fast, calculated, deadly silent. He pulls me with him as he skirts the edge of the corridor, not toward the elevator, but the fire exit two doors down. It creaks as it opens, just slightly, but the sound is swallowed by the hum of hotel machinery and the low mutter of voices still lingering behind us.We take the stairs two at a time.By the third flight, my lungs burn.By the fifth, we’re both soaked in sweat, hearts pounding, his fingers still locked around mine like he’s terrified I’ll vanish if he lets go.When we finally reach the floor where his real suite is—through a back entrance guarded by a coded lock and

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   138. Caught Out

    Cali’s pov. The next day, when I finally track Hale—I lose him within minutes.One moment, he’s weaving through the narrow street—shoulders squared, coat rippling behind him, disappearing past a stack of crates and a pair of bickering vendors—and the next, he’s gone. Vanished into the thick veins of Rome’s ancient skeleton, the city folding around him like it’s swallowing its own sins. I glance down the alley again, then pivot, scanning rooftops, corners, window reflections. Nothing.Panic doesn’t rise yet—not fully. But it stirs. Scraping quietly at the edges of my ribs.I move. Quickly. Low profile. Head down, scarf tucked a little tighter around my hairline. I try to focus on the rhythm of my boots, the cadence of breath—four counts in, six counts out—but my lungs don’t cooperate. The air feels heavier here. Dustier. Like the cobblestones have collected secrets in the cracks for centuries, and tonight they’re whispering warnings meant just for me.Maybe I’ve gone too far this time

Bab Lainnya

Anda juga akan menyukai

Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status