001

Nathan’s POV

Harder, Nathan!”

A moan escaped Andrew's lips, his back arching, and his fingers sliding into the bedsheets of his bed while I drove my cock deep inside of him.

“Fuck,” I groaned as I started moving, sliding in and out of him with slow strokes that turned into fast, harder slamming and shook the bedstand.

“Oh God,” Andrew cried out, his breathing turning shallow as sweat dropped our body. “Yes! You are hitting the right spot! Fuck me harder! Christ, yes!”

My fingers tangled in his hair and pulled hard on it.

“Do you want more?” I pulled out like a tease, paused, then slammed back into him with force.

Andrew moaned in response, unable to get a word out of him as my rough hands slipped out of his hair and fell back up his ass. I pulled them apart as I slammed deeper into him.

“Fucccckkkk!” His whole body trembled as I thrust harder into him, climax hitting us both with hot, blinding tears that left us both gasping for air.

I slipped out my cock with radiating pleasure, my cum spilling onto his body as I groaned.

I collapsed on top of him, my chest heaving as I stayed there for a long moment, and then I kissed his shoulder.

“That was insane! I could stay like this forever,” he whispered, planting more kisses on my abs.

I closed my eyes, feeling an adrenaline rush of guilt bolt up in my stomach. Beside me, Andrew shifted closer, his lazy fingers tracing circles over my stomach.

He was beautiful like this. Dark curls messy from my rough hands grazing through them, lips swollen from kisses… I could go on and on for this lover of mine.

And for a second, I almost changed my mind and my plans.

“I'm leaving, Andrew.”

He went still immediately, pushing me off his body as he propped himself up on his elbows to look at me. “What do you mean, leaving? Like for the weekend?”

“No,” I said, sitting up and reaching for my boxers on the floor because I couldn't bring myself to look at him. “I'm leaving everything in Italy. I need to heal, Andrew. All this drama, the hits, the constant looking over my shoulders to see if Alessandro is near. I can't do this anymore.”

“You’re playing pranks on me.” He grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at his worried face. “Nathan, you can't be serious right now. How can you just think of walking away? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you out there right now? Outside these walls, outside your father's protection. You're a fucking target to Alessandro, and the only place you're safe in is Italy. With me and your father.”

“My father?” I scoff. “I'm not safe anywhere as long as I'm Marco's son.” I snapped, shaking him off.

“Do you still hate him because of what he did to Lisa?” Andrew asked innocently, like he didn't just drop a flash memory lane into my head.

I stood up, my legs feeling like jelly, and I started gathering the rest of my things, completely ignoring his question. “I've booked a flight, and it leaves in three hours. I need a breathing space from Italy, somewhere no one knows my name. I want to try to start afresh…perhaps find myself again.”

“Are you for real? You've made your decision?” He let out an unbelievable gasp. “You're making a big mistake, Nat.”

“Maybe,” I said, pulling my shirt over my head. “But it's my mistake to make.”

***

The drive to the airport was awfully suffocating, and anybody who was in his car would sense the tension.

He usually played music, nagged about traffic, and rested one of his hands on my thigh at every red light, but tonight?

It was fucking different. He just gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned so white.

However, I wasn't ready to give him the satisfaction that I felt guilty, so I stared out the window at the rolling hills of the Italian countryside, trying to take them in for the last time.

When the airport terminal finally came into view, I felt relieved. Just a few more minutes and I'd be through with that security shenanigans.

Andrew pulled the car to a stop near a side entrance, far away from the main crowds, without saying a word.

I gave him a shoulder pat before reaching for the door handle, but as I pushed it open—it didn't budge.I pulled it again and again until I finally realized something…

It was locked.

I turned to him with a mischievous smile. “This is no joke, man. I am leaving for real, and my flight is in a few minutes. Let's do this next time.” I said, smiling with my teeth, but he wouldn't look at my side.

What is he even doing?

“Unlock the door.” I repeated, a frown already settling on my face.

He still didn't look at me; instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the rearview mirror as though he was expecting someone to pop up any minute. “I'm sorry, Nathan.”

“Sorry for what? Just open the damn door, I'm going to miss my—”

My words trailed off when I saw a black van pulling up directly behind us in the mirror.

It blocked our path with another one right in front of us, and before I could even process what was happening, doors slammed open and half a dozen men in black clothes surrounded the car—our car.

“Andrew?” I yelled, fear clouding my voice as I tried to reach for my gun but couldn't find anything near. “What is this? Open the damn door!”

He finally looked at me—it was supposed to be a joking glare; however, the coldness in his eyes said something I was now afraid to admit. “It's for the best.”

My eyes widened with panic, and before I could react, one of the men smashed the passenger window, the glass shattering into the side I was sitting on, stinging my skin.

A hand reached in, grabbed my hair, and dragged me through the broken frame while I screamed, kicking and punching, but they were too strong.

Too strong and too many for me to handle alone.

A cloth with the scent of chloroform was pressed over my nose and mouth.

‘Blackout.’

***

“Drip. Drip. Drip.”

The sound of water dripping was the first thing I heard, before I realized I was the one soaked with cold water.

I tried to move my hands to rub my face, but I couldn't. I tried to open my eyes, but everything was blurry.

All I could see was myself lying on a hard stone floor.

But as my vision cleared and memories slipped through my mind, my face started to turn into something horrific.

I was in a room made of rough-hewn stone…was this a dungeon?

There were no windows, only a single iron door with little lights around.

My eyes wandered down my body, and a gasp escaped from my lips.

I was stark naked against a freezing stone, with my hands cuffed in chains—and when I tried to sit up, the chains on my wrists made uncontrollable sounds, making it hard for me to sit or stand.

“Andrew!” I screamed, my voice echoing off the walls. “Stop this! It isn't funny to me! Let me out!”

I waited, my heart hammering loud against my ribs. I couldn't make myself believe it—to believe he would betray me and sell me off to some enemies.

This had to be some sick test.

“Andrew!” I sobbed, “Please!”

The door swung open with a loud screech, causing me to squint my eyes against the light that reflected from the hallway, expecting him to walk in with a wicked laugh and a key in his hand.

But the man who stepped into the cell wasn't Andrew.

He was older, with silver hair slicked back and a tailored suit that looked wildly out of place in this filth.

Alessandro Rossi—my late fiancé's brother and my father's sworn enemy.

Fuck!

“Alessandro,” I whispered, my voice trembling in horror.

“Nathaniel,” he called, with a terrifying purr. “Welcome to Greece. It's a bit more rustic than your father's villas, I admit, but it serves its purpose.”

My lips parted in stunned silence.

“Greece?” I gasped. I was thousands of miles away from home. What? “Why am I here? Where is Andrew? What did you do to him?”

Alessandro chuckled mockingly. “Andrew did exactly what he was paid to do," he said. "You should have been more careful with whom you called your homie, boy. Your father's enemies were much closer than you realized.”

Shit.

Andrew…was working for him?!

“You're a coward,” I spat, trying to cover myself as much as I could with my trembling hands. “Taking me like this? Treating me like a common criminal because you can't face my father? He will find you! Marco will burn this place to ashes and finish you off for good.”

Even though I hated my father for his atrocities and for taking Lisa from me, he was still the one I could use as a threat to Montero.

Alessandro stepped closer, his expensive shoes stepping hard on the stone. “Marco won't find anything, because he thinks you're halfway to wherever you were running to. By the time he realizes you're missing, there won't be enough of you left to recognize.”

“I haven't done anything to you!” I shouted. “I stay out of the fucking business, and I don't care about your stupid wars!”

“You did nothing?” His face suddenly contorted with rage, stepping into my personal space with his body towering over me.

He held up his left hand, and I saw the pinky finger that was missing. “Your father took this from me while you were watching behind his back! He humiliated me, and you stood by and did nothing to stop his hand! Even though you knew he was at fault!”

“Look, we had a talk. He was drugged, and he explained that–”

“That all persons he had to accidentally fuck and get pregnant, it had to be Lisa?”

“I loved Lisa, you know; I loved her so much. But it's been three years now; she's dead. She won't be coming back, so why don't we settle—”

“No!” He thundered. “She didn't just die; she was killed! Your father killed her, Nathan! If he hadn't slept with her and impregnated her, there would be no reason for her to have thought of abortion.”

“So what's going to happen now? Why am I being the one tied up here?”

“That's a perfect question, Nathaniel,” his tone was deadly as he beckoned to the guards standing there. “The sins of the father is visited upon the son. That is the way of our world.”

“No!” I yelled.

Two hulking men entered the cell.

“You can't do this to me, Alessandro. I'm innocent, I loved her!’

“Strip him of his dignity,” Alessandro commanded, though there was nothing left to take.

He looked down at me one last time, a cruel smile touching his lips. “For every ounce of pain your father caused me, you will pay ten-fold. We have a long time together, Nathan. I suggest you get used to screaming.”