LOGINSTEFANO’S POVRenzo’s threat still burned under my skin long after the words left his mouth. “Wipe out my entire family.” The same phrase Lorenzo De Luca had already made real years ago when he ordered the hit that left me with nothing but graves and a name I buried under layers of new identity. Hearing the son throw that particular promise at me nearly dragged the devil straight out of my chest. My fists had locked so tight the knuckles ached and for one blinding second I pictured putting Renzo on the floor until the arrogance bled out of him. Serena had noticed. I caught the flicker of awareness in her eyes when the mask slipped, yet she stepped between us and diffused the moment without calling attention to the crack. She said nothing about the way my control frayed and I was almost grateful for the silence. Almost. Now I waited near the front entrance while she packed her bags upstairs with Elena. Lorenzo planted himself in front of me and launched into a full blown lecture I k
SERENA’S POVThe word “no” still echoed in the security room when the last of my patience snapped. I stepped away from my mother's steadying hand and walked straight toward my father as the others watched in silence. His refusal sat in the air like a final judgment and every wire in my head shorted out at once.“Why?” The question came out sharper than I intended. “If moving to his place keeps me safer than staying here then why can you not let me go with him?” Lorenzo’s jaw tightened. “I cannot trust him with that level of access, Serena. I’m only looking out for you.”Heat flooded my face. “What do you mean by that? You trusted him enough to put him in charge of my safety. For hours at a time, he’s the only person standing between me and whatever waits outside these walls. So why is he suddenly untrustworthy?” Renzo spoke before Lorenzo could answer. “Papa, he is right. Keeping her here is not going to do any of us any good. She came back so she would be safe and the bastard still
STEFANO’S POVI stood in the hallway just beyond the dining room and listened to every word that spilled from Lorenzo De Luca’s mouth. “…I think we can go ahead with the introduction of families since you two will be getting married soon.” “That wasn’t the agreement,” Serena argued. “I never told you that I would be getting married to Marko. It was supposed to be one date. I don’t even love him, how can I marry a man I don’t?” “Feelings can be developed, Serena,” he answered as if the matter were already settled. “You will meet him and his family.” How dare he? How dare he speak of developing feelings the way a man speaks of training a dog? “I’m not meeting him,” Serena’s voice rose higher. “I’m not meeting his family. And I’m certainly not getting married to him. I don’t care what your intentions are. I’m done.”“You must do as I say,” he yelled at her. My hands curled into fists at my sides. The urge to step through the doorway and punch Lorenzo so hard that he will fall to th
SERENA’S POV “AHHHGGGGGGHH…” I groaned and pressed both palms against my temples as if pressure alone could hold the pieces together. The room tilted when I forced myself upright. My stomach rolled and my mouth tasted like ash mixed with last night’s whiskey. Soft morning light filtered through the curtains yet even that gentle brightness made my eyes water. I sat on the edge of the bed and tried to piece the evening back together. The last clear memory was the question I threw at Stefano in the car. ‘Do you actually feel anything for me, or am I just something you pick up and put down when it suits you?’After that everything blurred. But I could remember that somewhere in that haze I saw him standing outside the open door, tall and still, his mouth moving as if the words mattered more than anything else in the world. But what was he saying? Was he confessing his feelings for me? “Damn you, Serena,” I groaned in frustration. “Why the fuck did you get yourself so drunk like that?”
STEFANO’S POV“Stef— do you… actually feel anything for me, or am I just something you pick up and put down when it suits you?” That question hung in the air as I wondered what my answer would be. I kept my hands on the wheel and stared at the dark stretch of road ahead as I repeated the question in my head over and over again. “I—I knew it… you will never love me—” she slurred. I felt my heart break into a thousand pieces. She thinks I will never love her. She believes that I hate her and that I would never fall in love with her. What the fuck? How could she even think that? Isn’t it obvious enough for her to know that I was going crazy because of the feelings I have for her? “Serena,” I called softly. There was no answer. I turned in my seat and looked at her. Her head had tilted against the window, her lips were slightly parted, one hand resting loosely on her lap. The streetlights washed over her face in brief flashes of gold and shadow. She looked peaceful, vulnerable and
SERENA’S POV The car stopped so suddenly that my body shifted hard against the seatbelt and the world tilted for a second before settling again. My head felt heavy and warm from the alcohol I had poured into myself on purpose, yet the edges of everything stayed sharp enough that I understood exactly where I was and who was speaking. Stefano’s voice cut through the quiet interior with a roughness I had not heard from him before.“How could you go on a date with another man and look that happy about it?” I forced my eyelids higher and found his face turned toward me from the front seat. The question made so little sense that a short confused sound left my throat before any real words formed. He had spent the entire day watching me with Marko and had done nothing to stop it. He had driven me there. He had sat twenty feet away while another man made me smile. Now he sounded angry that I had looked happy.My tongue felt thick and the words came out slower than I wanted, each one sliding







