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97. The Act

Penulis: Erika Lana Bell
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-06-25 19:56:17

“I’m falling in love with you,” he says.

It lands softer than I expect. No grand reveal. No dramatic pause. Just six quiet words spoken like they cost him something. Like the truth behind them aches.

And I feel it like a punch to the chest.

Hale Holt doesn’t do vulnerability. He commands. He takes. He dominates. But this—this is something else entirely. This is raw. Human.

My breath catches.

Not because I’m shocked—some part of me has felt it creeping in for days. In the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention. In the way he touches me when there’s no one to perform for. In the way he kissed me after I screamed about Belle, like he was trying to hold me together.

He waits.

He doesn’t push.

And that’s what undoes me.

I don’t say it to appease him. I don’t say it because it’s expected.

I say it because it’s true.

“I think I’m falling for you too.”

The second the words leave me, something in his expression shifts—just slightly. His jaw unclenches. His shoulders ease. T
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  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   105. Sold To The Highest Bidder

    Belle’s pov.They close the curtain.And everything stops.The lights. The voices. The warmth.It all dies behind me as they pull me off stage like a broken puppet no one wants to look at anymore.The man gripping my arm doesn’t speak. He doesn’t need to. The silver cuff bites into my wrist when I resist, and that’s enough reminder to keep moving. I don’t look at him. I don’t look at anyone. I keep my eyes locked on the floor as I’m marched down a corridor that smells like bleach and expensive cologne. The click of my shoes echoes—too loud, too slow.I’m not shaking.I’m too cold for that now.They take me to a white room with no windows. Just walls. Smooth, soundproof, gleaming like everything’s been wiped clean one too many times.There’s a chair in the center.A camera in the corner.And nothing else.They leave me there. No words. No threats. No comfort.Just silence.I stand in the middle of the room long after the door closes.Then I sit.Slowly.My knees ache. My shoulders burn

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   104. Run

    Cali’s pov.At first, I don’t realize what I’m looking at.I’m walking toward Hale through the velvet-draped corridor, the sharp click of my heels muffled by carpet that costs more than I ever made on a contract. My hand is curled into a loose fist against my thigh, my shoulders back, head high. My skin itches beneath the glamour they painted onto me earlier—fake lashes, sculpted cheekbones, the dye in my hair still smells like chemicals under the perfume. I hate it.But I keep walking.I spot him near the far end of the corridor.I exhale, the breath shaky but relief-tinged. I just want to get to him. I need to feel his hand on my back, to know this nightmare is still under control.And then I see who he’s talking to.My feet halt mid-step.My heart stops.No.He’s standing face to face with someone I’d hoped was a ghost.But ghosts don’t smirk like that.Ghosts don’t wear Italian suits and sip scotch and tilt their heads like they’re already bored of whatever girl they’ll be buying

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   103. Ghost Follow

    There’s a hum in the air I’ve learned not to ignore. Not a sound, exactly—more like pressure. The kind that coils in the base of your spine, too subtle to name but too loud to mistake. It’s the warning before a predator enters the room. The low static before a bullet leaves a chamber.And I feel it now.It tightens the back of my neck. Pricks the edge of my nerves.I turn my head, already knowing what I’ll see.Killian Vale.The moment my eyes land on him, it feels like a blade against my ribs.He’s dressed like he wants to be envied—tailored navy suit, platinum watch, cuffs rolled just enough to show off a black ink tattoo curling under his sleeve. It’s for show. He always overcompensates, always performs for the audience. But the smile on his face—that grin carved from cruelty and unchecked indulgence—it’s real. That’s him. Down to the bone.I haven’t seen him in years.But there’s not a damn thing about him that’s changed.He’s leaning casually near a tall crystal sculpture at the

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   102. Unmasked

    The bid has barely settled before the consequences start crawling toward me.Seventeen million. For a girl that was never supposed to be for sale. For the daughter of the man who tried to carve his legacy into every drop of her blood. For the last shred of leverage Burke has over Cali. And now—she’s mine.And that puts a fucking target on my back.The second Belle disappears off the stage, two attendants approach, both dressed in black and grey, crisp suits that don’t wrinkle, faces scrubbed of expression. One of them leans in and murmurs something polite about “finalizing the acquisition.” His mouth may as well be coated in oil. He motions toward a long hallway to the right of the auction chamber. No one needs to tell me what’s down there.Paperwork. Payment. Signatures and scans. Processed like cattle. That’s how they move product in this place—transaction first, humanity never.I glance sideways at Cali.She hasn’t blinked.She’s still staring at the stage like Belle might somehow

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   101. The Ford Name

    Hale’s pov.I know she’s about to walk out before the curtain even moves. The shift in energy gives it away—the silence that tightens like a noose, the way some of the guests suddenly lean forward in their seats with new hunger in their eyes. Final lot. Something special. Something exclusive. I feel Cali tense beside me. Her hand’s still wrapped around mine, fingers tight, her pulse a frantic thrum under her skin. But I don’t look at her. Not yet. Not when every ounce of my attention has to be locked onto what comes next.The announcer clears his throat. “Our final lot this evening comes from a most prestigious lineage. An exclusive offering. Virgin. Seventeen. Untouched. An heir of the Ford name.”Cali’s nails dig into my hand.Then the curtain parts.And Belle walks out.The room doesn’t breathe.She’s dressed in a pale blue slip of silk that hangs off her like she’s a doll someone forgot to finish. Her hair is braided in that careful, glossy way girls wear when they’re being parade

  • Burn For Me : Bound By The Mafia King   100. Auctioned Off

    It starts with silence. Not the soft kind. The kind that thickens in the air, settling over the room like smoke before a fire. The kind that warns you something is about to begin, and nothing will ever be the same after it ends.The host rises from his seat at the head of the table. “If our esteemed guests will follow me,” he says lightly, as if inviting us to a wine tasting instead of a human auction. “The viewing suite is ready.”Chairs scrape quietly against the polished floors as guests rise in pairs, laughing softly, silk rustling like wind over knives. I don’t move at first. My limbs feel detached from my body, like they’ve already gone numb. Then Hale stands beside me and extends his hand. His eyes meet mine—controlled, steady—but there’s a weight in them now, a tension that’s been quietly coiled since the moment we arrived.I slide my fingers into his and rise.We walk as a unit.Mateo and Isadora Santiago.Untouchable.Unflinching.Inhuman.We pass through a corridor draped i

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