ANMELDENSOFIA’S POV The thermometer beeped once, sharp, and accusing. I pulled it from Renzo’s armpit and stared at the red line. 40.2°C. Higher than an hour ago. His small chest rose and fell too fast, his cheeks flushed dark red, his curls plastered to his forehead with sweat. I pressed the cool cloth to his skin again, but the heat poured off him like steam from a kettle.“Hold on, mon cœur,” I whispered in Italian—the only language that still felt like mine. “Maman va t’emmener chez le docteur.” “Mom is going to take you to the doctor.”He didn’t answer. He just whimpered as his tiny fist clutched the edge of my dress.I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, it was 1:17 a.m. Riccardo had been gone since six am. Business, he’d said. Always business. Always the same excuse.I stood up and lifted Renzo against my shoulder. His head lolled, too heavy. Panic clawed up my throat. I carried him downstairs, my bare feet silent on marble, past the locked front door, past the security panel tha
ENZO’S POV The bass throbbed through the floorboards and up into my bones as I sat in the shadowed VIP booth overlooking the main floor. Lights sliced across sweating bodies, strippers twisting around poles with mechanical grace, hips rolling to the same relentless beat. I swirled the whiskey in my glass, ice clinking softly, and stared down at the chaos without really seeing it. Five years had carved lines into my face, dulled my eyes, but the ache in my chest stayed sharp as the day I watched that car go up in flames. Matteo sat beside me, nursing a single beer he hadn't touched in twenty minutes. He knew better than to drink when I was like this. Across the low table, three men in tailored suits that cost more than most people's cars leaned forward, voices raised to cut through the music. Vincenzo "Vinny" Russo led the pack, gesturing with a fat cigar as he talked about shipments, territories, and the usual blood money mathematics. I nodded when I had to, letting the words wash o
FIVE YEARS LATER The kitchen smelled of garlic simmering in olive oil, rosemary from the garden, and the faint metallic tang of veal stock reducing on the back burner. Sofia moved through the space with practiced economy; spoon stirring, oven mitt sliding the tray free, porcelain plates warmed just enough so the sauce wouldn’t seize. Her navy cotton dress clung lightly to her skin from the heat; the hem brushed mid-calf, sleeves rolled to the elbow. Her hair scraped into a low knot, no jewelry except the thin gold band on her left hand. Five years had rounded her cheeks slightly, softened the sharp line of her jaw, but the watchful stillness in her dark eyes remained unchanged. She lifted the tray with four heavy plates, crystal wine glasses already filled with Barolo, bread basket, small dish of sea salt flakes, and balanced it against her hip. The dining-room door stood half open. Male laughter rolled out, deep and careless, punctuated by the clink of glasses and the occasional c
ENZO’S POV The garage lights buzzed overhead while Matteo slid behind the wheel. I dropped into the passenger seat without a word. No army, no convoy, just the two of us. Revenge didn’t need witnesses, it needed silence, precision, and me. He started the engine. The low growl filled the concrete space. I stared out the side window at the city sliding past in streaks of neon and shadow. My phone rested heavily in my palm, my thumb hovering over Elena’s name. I knew what would happen if I pressed the call button. It would go straight to voicemail. Her bright, teasing and alive voice would greet me the way it always did. “Hey, it’s Elena. Leave a message and I’ll call you back when I’m done being fabulous.” I closed my eyes. The recording played in my head anyway, over and over. Her laugh at the end. The little kiss sound she added because she thought it was cute. I didn’t press the call button. Matteo kept his eyes on the road. “First stop is the club in Porta Venezia. Valentina’s
ENZO’S POV TWO WEEKS LATERThe drive home from the hospital passed in silence broken only by the low hum of the engine and the occasional soft sniffle from Mama Rosa in the back seat. Papa sat beside her, one of his hands resting on her knee, the other gripping the handle above the door like he needed something solid to hold onto. Matteo drove. I sat shotgun, staring out the window at a city that looked exactly the same as it had two months ago—same buildings, same traffic, same indifferent sky. Everything felt familiar. Everything felt wrong. The gates to the penthouse slid open as the Maserati rolled into the underground garage. Same concrete pillars, same row of cars, same echo of tires on polished floor. I waited until the engine cut before I moved. My body felt borrowed, it was stiff, heavy, not quite mine anymore. Mamma Rosa reached for my arm the second we stepped out. “Let me help you upstairs, tesoro. You need rest.” I shook my head once. “I’m fine.” Her eyes searched
ENZO’S POV TWO MONTHS LATER White light seared through the darkness first. It wasn’t gentle, it wasn’t peaceful, it was just a blinding and merciless white light that made my skull feel cracked open. I floated in it, my lungs felt heavy, my body felt weightless and wrong. I didn’t feel pain yet, only a vast, echoing nothing. Then voices. A woman praying in Italian, low and frantic, rosary beads clicking like tiny desperate heartbeats. “Signore… per favore… aiutaci… proteggi la nostra famiglia… proteggi Lorenzo…” “Lord... please... help us... protect our family... protect Lorenzo…”Mamma Rosa. Her voice trembled on every word, and cracked on my name. I wanted to answer. I wanted to tell her that I was here. I wanted to tell her to stop crying. My tongue felt thick and dead. My throat closed around ash. More voices layered in. Calling me, soft at first, then louder and panicked. “Lorenzo… Lorenzo, tesoro, apri gli occhi…” “Lorenzo... Lorenzo, honey, open your eyes…” I remembe
ENZO’S POV I stood in front of the mirror and hated how good I looked. Black tuxedo cut close to the body, midnight silk lapels catching the low light. The white shirt stretched across my chest, crisp enough to slice skin. Platinum cufflinks glinted like bullets. I dragged the bow tie into a perf
ELENA’S POVThe knock ripped me from a sleep so thick it felt like sinking into tar. My eyelids scraped open, gritty and swollen. Sunlight stabbed through the half-drawn blinds, painting gold stripes across the ceiling I’d stared at for hours. I hadn’t closed my eyes until the sky outside turned th
ELENA’S POV The elevator walls closed in like a coffin lined with gold. Enzo’s fingers were still on me—two calloused tips circling my clit with slow, merciless precision. The toy he’d forced inside me pulsed faintly, a silent threat, but it was his touch that set my blood on fire. My thighs trem
ENZO’S POV The iPad propped on the polished mahogany conference table captured every detail of Elena’s face—her eyes narrowing in that fiery mix of irritation and reluctant obedience I couldn’t get enough of. The feed streamed live from the penthouse camera, high-res and unblinking, letting me wat







