Chapter 2: The Inspection

Amelia’s P.O.V

The journey from the auction house to the estate was a blur of terror and sensory overload. I was thrown into the back of a sleek, black armored vehicle, still naked and bound, though Luca had tossed a heavy cashmere coat over my shivering frame to cover me as best as he could.

The fabric was soft, smelling of him—expensive leather and something metallic, like ozone before a storm. I spent the entire ride curled into a ball, my wrists still raw from the ropes, staring at the tinted windows and wondering if I was being driven to a slaughterhouse or a gilded cage.

When the car finally stopped, the doors were opened by men in suits who looked more like soldiers than guards. I was led through towering wrought-iron gates and up a winding driveway that revealed a sprawling estate of limestone and glass, perched on a cliffside like a predatory bird. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but to me, it looked like a fortress designed to keep things in.

I expected to be dragged into a dungeon. I expected the chains to return, the cold concrete, and the bruising hands of the traffickers. Instead, I was led into a master suite that was larger than my entire first apartment. The floors were polished marble, the furniture was velvet and gold, and the air was thick with the scent of lilies and beeswax.

"Strip the coat," Luca commanded, his voice echoing in the vast room.

I trembled as a female attendant—a woman with a face as expressionless as a doll's—stepped forward. She gently slid the cashmere off my shoulders, leaving me exposed once again. I instinctively tried to cover my breasts with my arms, but the attendant ignored my modesty, guiding me toward a massive soaking tub filled with warm, scented water.

For the next few hours, I was treated with a clinical, unsettling kindness. I was bathed, my skin scrubbed raw by the attendant, and then a doctor was brought in. I shivered on the edge of a plush examination table, naked and vulnerable, as the physician checked my vitals, treated the rope burns on my wrists with a soothing salve, and ensured I was healthy.

Every touch felt like a violation, not because it was cruel, but because it was a reminder that my body was now a piece of equipment being maintained for its owner.

After the exam, I was given a dress—a slip of silk the color of midnight that clung to my curves and left very little to the imagination. It felt like a costume, a garment designed to make me appetizing.

Then came the meal. I was led to a private dining area where a feast awaited. I hadn't eaten properly in weeks, and the smell of roasted meats and fresh bread made my stomach cramp with hunger. I ate ravenously, almost like an animal, barely noticing the man watching me from the head of the table.

Luca sat there, his dark eyes tracking every movement of my throat as I swallowed, every tremor in my hands. He hadn't touched his own food. He just watched me, his expression unreadable, his presence filling the room until I felt like I was suffocating.

"Come here," he said softly.

I froze, a piece of bread halfway to my mouth. Slowly, I stood up and walked toward him, my bare feet silent on the rug. I stopped a few feet away, my head bowed, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

"Closer," he murmured.

I took another step, until I was standing directly beside his chair. Suddenly, his hand shot out, gripping my waist with a strength that nearly knocked the wind out of me. He didn't pull me into his lap, but he hauled me close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. He didn't look at my face. Instead, he leaned in, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

I gasped, my body stiffening. I expected a bite, a bruise, or a demand for sex. But he just... inhaled. He took a deep, shuddering breath, his nostrils flaring against my skin. He lingered there for a long time, his breath hot and damp against my collarbone.

"You smell... intoxicating," he whispered, his voice vibrating against my skin. "Like rain and wild honey. I can smell the fear, yes, but underneath it... something that calls to me."

The way he said it wasn't romantic. It was predatory. He wasn't admiring a perfume; he was scenting prey.

A cold shiver raced down my spine, and I realized that the "care" I had received today wasn't out of mercy. He was simply prepping his prize, ensuring the meat was fresh and the skin was soft. After all, he paid one hundred million to buy me…there had to be a catch.

He released me abruptly, as if fighting an impulse. "Go to your room. Stay there until I summon you."

I didn't need to be told twice. I practically bolted from the room, retreating to the opulent bedroom they had assigned to me. I locked the door, though I knew a lock meant nothing to a man like Luca.

I spent the evening pacing the perimeter of the room, the silk dress sliding against my thighs, my mind racing. I was in a house of monsters, and the most dangerous one was fascinated by the way I smelled.

Unable to sleep, I crept out of my room late that night, driven by a desperate need to know more about my surroundings. The hallways were dim, lit by flickering sconces that cast long, dancing shadows. As I approached the library, I heard voices—harsh, masculine, and filled with a tension that made the air feel electric.

I pressed my back against the cold wall, leaning in to listen.

"She is mine, Marco. I bought her. The transaction is complete," Luca’s voice was a low growl, stripped of the velvet poise he had shown me earlier.

"You bought a toy, Luca. A pretty little thing to keep your bed warm," a new voice replied—rougher, more aggressive. This had to be Marco. "But look at her. The scent she carries... it's driving me mad. I can smell her from across the house. It’s been years since a human smelled that pure."

"She is not for you," Luca snapped. "Neither of you. She stays in my wing."

"We are brothers, Luca. We share everything," a third voice intervened. This one was smoother, almost melodic, but with an underlying edge of cruelty that made my skin crawl. It could only belong to the third brother, Dante Moretti. "And I find myself wondering how she would sound if she were screaming. Does she cry as beautifully as she smells?"

My heart leaped into my throat. They weren't talking about me as a person, or even as a captive. They were talking about me as if I were a rare delicacy, a drug they were all craving. The obsession in their voices was palpable, a collective hunger that felt physical, pressing against me through the walls.

I felt a surge of pure, unadulterated panic. I had thought Luca was the only monster I had to fear, but he was just the leader of a pack. I was trapped in a house with three predators, and they were all hunting me.

I stepped back, my breath coming in shallow, jagged gasps. I needed to get back to my room, to hide behind the door, to pretend I was invisible. I turned away sharply, my movements frantic and clumsy in my haste.

CRASH.

My hip collided with a tall, ornate porcelain vase resting on a pedestal. It shattered into a thousand jagged shards, the sound echoing through the silent corridor like a gunshot.

The silence that followed was absolute. For a heartbeat, I stopped breathing, praying that they hadn't heard. Then, I heard it—the sound of three sets of footsteps stopping instantly.

I looked toward the library door just as it swung open.

The three brothers stood there, framed by the golden light of the room. But they weren't the men I had seen earlier. Their postures were different—hunched, coiled, like springs ready to snap.

And their eyes... their eyes were no longer human. They were glowing, a brilliant, predatory gold that pierced through the darkness of the hallway.

The air shifted. The scent of the house changed from lilies to something wild, musky, and dangerous.

"Found you," Dante whispered, a dark smile curling his lips.

I didn't think. I turned and bolted. I ran down the hallway, my bare feet slapping against the marble, the silk dress fluttering behind me. I could hear them behind me—not running, but prowling. I could hear the clicking of claws on the stone, the heavy, rhythmic breathing of animals in pursuit.

Did they have guard dogs here? Did they unleash their dogs on me?

But before I could process that thought, I reached a dead end, a balcony overlooking the gardens, and spun around, my back hitting the railing. The three of them emerged from the shadows, their golden eyes locked on me with an intensity that felt like a physical weight.

"You shouldn't have come out of your room, little bird," Marco growled.

Before I could scream, Marco lunged. He didn't just jump; he launched himself with a terrifying, supernatural speed.

Mid-air, his body began to distort. I watched in horror as his clothes ripped, his bones cracking and reforming with sickening pops. His skin sprouted thick, charcoal-grey fur, and his face elongated into a snout filled with glistening, razor-sharp teeth.

In a split second, the man was gone. In his place was a monstrous wolf, the size of a small horse, with muscles rippling under its pelt and eyes that burned with a feral, starving hunger.

The beast slammed into me, its massive weight pinning me to the cold marble floor. I let out a piercing shriek, my hands clawing at the thick fur of its chest, but it was like trying to push a mountain. The wolf let out a low, rumbling growl that vibrated through my entire skeleton, its hot, carnivorous breath washing over my face.

As the other two brothers closed in, their eyes still glowing gold, I realized with a crushing certainty that I wasn't just the property of a mafia don. I was the plaything of monsters.