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7. Buried In Black

Penulis: Erika Lana Bell
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-04-29 17:32:36

I dress like I’m heading to a funeral.

Not his.

Mine.

Black slacks—tailored, high-waisted, tight at the hips. A lacy black top that clings to my skin in all the places Hale’s eyes linger too long. Sheer sleeves. A neckline I left unbuttoned out of spite. My heels are tall enough to snap a man’s confidence. Good. Let them echo. Let them draw blood.

I leave my hair down—long, dark waves tumbling past my shoulders, heavy and loose and untamed. I don’t touch makeup. Don’t conceal the faint purpling under my eyes or the rage carved into the set of my mouth.

He doesn’t deserve a mask. He doesn’t deserve anything.

By the time noon rolls around, I’ve already paced half a trench into the floor. No one’s come to collect me. No tray. No threats. Just silence and the slow, boiling simmer of my own thoughts.

Then—

Knock. Twist. Open.

She enters like a storm.

The maid. The sharp-tongued one from earlier, with zero patience for my bullshit.

“Well, thank God,” she mutters, eyeing me. “You’re dressed
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  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   132. Suspicious

    Cali’s pov.Something’s off.Hale hasn’t said anything. Hasn’t done anything, not really. But I know him now. I know the silence he wears like armor when he’s bracing for war. The way he avoids looking me dead in the eye when he’s lying by omission. The restless way his thumb taps against his thigh when he’s pretending he’s not itching to move, to act, to burn something down.He’s hiding something. I can feel it in my bones.It started days ago, subtly. A few curt responses. The occasional side-glance at his phone during dinner. A sudden uptick in hushed conversations over secure comm lines and men arriving at the mansion with stern expressions and files tucked under their arms. I caught him sending one of his lieutenants out with a burner phone and a set of unmarked plates for a car I’ve never seen before. And when I ask him directly, he just brushes me off.“I’m handling something,” he says. “It doesn’t concern you.”But that’s not how things have been between us. Not since we cross

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   131. Buried Under His Reach

    Hale’s pov. The hallway feels colder than usual. Quiet, too quiet. A type of silence I’ve learned not to trust.Belle’s door is shut. That’s a good sign. Means she’s resting. But I don’t go to check—because I already did, twice, and Cali caught me hovering like some overprotective warden. I let her have this time with her sister. God knows they’ve earned it.Still, the unease hasn’t left me.Something’s not sitting right. And it isn’t just Belle’s condition.It’s the way she’s been watching windows. Flinching at footsteps. Staying far from corners of the house with too many shadows. That’s fear, yes—but not the usual kind. It’s as if she knows something she hasn’t said. Or worse, brought something in she didn’t mean to.I head into my office and shut the door behind me. The faint scent of clove oil lingers from the diffuser near the bookshelf—Cali insisted on setting one up in here. “To stop you from smelling like gunpowder and death,” she said.The truth is, both are still baked int

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   130. Diagnosis

    I pace the hallway like a madwoman, one hand fisted in the hem of my shirt, the other curling into my palm so tightly my nails dig half-moons into the flesh.Belle’s collapsed.Just dropped—like her body gave up mid-step. No warning. No cry for help. One second she was standing beside me in the hallway, trying to laugh at something stupid I said about the scrambled eggs being suspiciously runny, and the next, she folded like a ragdoll into my arms.I screamed for Hale before I even knew what was happening.Now I wait.The doctor—one of Hale’s trusted contacts, a private physician who works off record and on retainer—has been in there for over an hour. Hale sent the staff away. Belle’s room is closed off. I can’t even hear her breathing through the door.I hate this.I hate this so goddamn much.My sister just got out of hell. And now it’s like her body is betraying her in the aftermath.I don’t even realize I’ve gone still until I hear the low murmur of voices behind the door. It crea

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   129. Sick

    Cali’s pov. Belle’s been pale all morning. Not the kind of pale that comes from too little sleep or too much anxiety—but ghost-white. Her lips are almost blue. She hasn’t eaten more than two bites of the fruit I plated for her, and when I ask if she’s cold, she just shrugs and huddles deeper into the fleece I draped around her shoulders.“She just needs time,” I murmur to myself.It’s what I keep telling Hale. What I keep telling myself. She’s been through hell. Anyone would be shaken. The bruises haven’t even fully faded from her skin.But this… this doesn’t feel like just trauma.I glance at her again. Her lashes flutter where she sits on the velvet couch, head propped against a pillow that looks too big for her frame. She’s barely registering the conversation happening around her.My throat tightens.I should ask.But I don’t.Not yet.Because the last thing she needs is me pushing her when she’s finally in a safe place.“Belle?” I try softly, brushing my hand against hers.Her fi

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   128. The Bracelet

    Cali’s pov.I haven’t stopped thinking about it since Hale told me.The box.The bracelet.The message.You stole from me.I sit curled in one of the chairs near the conservatory windows, nursing a second cup of lukewarm tea, watching the light change over the treetops as the sun dips lower in the sky. Late afternoon bleeds across the floor in soft amber waves, painting long shadows over the marble.Belle is upstairs, sleeping. Hale had one of the maids bring her tea, a stack of soft clothes, and noise-cancelling headphones. She didn’t ask questions. Just smiled faintly and accepted them.It’s the first time she’s looked like a teenager in weeks.But my thoughts are miles away.What could she have taken?She left so fast. No bag. No documents. Not even a jacket.I think back to when we found her. Limping. Covered in dirt and blood. Too dazed to even speak. She was barefoot.There was nothing on her.Unless…Unless it was something Burke gave her first.Maybe a gift. Something disguise

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   127. Mysterious Note

    Hale’s pov.The second Rook says “I’ve got something,” I know this won’t be about a plate number.His tone is too calm and clipped.He’s holding something back.I get up from the table without a word. Cali watches me go, fork halfway to her mouth, her brow knitting with concern.I don’t tell her to stay seated. I don’t need to. She knows when to follow and when to wait.This time, I want her to wait.The hallway outside the dining room is lined with tall windows and glass display cases, antique sculptures standing silent sentry. I take the call on the move, heading toward the inner corridor that leads to my office.“Tell me.”Rook exhales through the line, the sound scratchy over the encrypted channel. “One of the perimeter sweepers spotted something while resetting the gate grid. About fifty yards from the outer wall, east side.”I stop walking.“What kind of something?”“A box. Small. Black. Looked like trash until he saw the seal.”My stomach tightens.“What seal?”“Ford crest. Old

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