Mag-log in~ William's POV ~I'm going to betray the man I've grown to love. Life back in the Giordano mansion felt like walking through a house made of glass. Since my discharge from the hospital, Dante hadn't just moved me into his room so he could monitor me 24/7, he had effectively claimed me. It was in the way his hand lingered on the small of my back, the way he watched me from across the table during dinner, and the way the entire household shifted their behavior around me. And the rest of the gang, they all saw it. That I was Dante’s man.But while the rest of the mansion had seemingly accepted this new side of Dante, the atmosphere around Marco was quite charged and felt stiff. I had always found Marco difficult to read and even with that, he was still the most polite to me in this household, but since the incident with Antonio, he had been keeping a deliberate distance from me. It was subtle, but it was there, the shift in his gaze, the tightening of his jaw whenever I was near. H
Eve rolled her eyes in annoyance, then she reached down, her grip firm and surprisingly gentle as she hauled me to my feet. "Stop groveling, Zayn. It’s pathetic to see,” she scoffed. “Your wrist is turning a nasty shade of purple, and you’re clearly not dancing another set tonight so go home.”“Eve…”“Don't Eve me,” she cut me off before I could say anything more. “Take three days off, and if I see you before then, I’ll dock your pay." She pointed a threatening finger at me. As she turned to leave, she passed Rocco, who was still standing there and looking hella pissed. She poked a manicured finger into his chest. "And you? Don’t be a shithead, Rocco. You keep hovering like this, and I’ll break your nose just for the aesthetic of it." She sneered. Rocco scoffed and rolled his eyes too as he watched her walk away with a look of disdain. Once she was gone, he turned his full attention to me. His eyes scanned me, stopping immediately at my wrist."You alright?" he asked, his voice rou
It was very noisy in the dressing room as the other boys laughed loudly and talked about their costumes and makeup. I sat at the vanity, the greasepaint and kohl blurring into a messy smear on my hands. I reached for my lipstick, my movements slow, but then I stopped.I caught my reflection in the mirror and my entire body froze. I stared at the boy in the glass, all the masks of paint, the hollow, haunted eyes and suddenly, I felt like I was in a whole different world. The hum of the club, the distant thumping of bass, the muffled chatter of the other dancers, it all vanished, replaced by a deafening silence that screamed in my eardrums. My thoughts seemed to slow down and I felt like I was staring at a stranger in the mirror, a puppet whose strings were being pulled."Zayn!"A voice called out as I felt a sharp jolt to my shoulder which snapped me back to reality. I gasped, nearly knocking my eyeliner over, and spun around. Eve stood there, the smoke from her pipe curling around he
The memory of that alleyway, of the cold blood pooling around my father’s open skull, was a permanent scar on my mind. It was the moment I stopped being a person and became an asset. A bloody debt, and I soon learned, that it was a hereditary disease. Others inherited assets, lands, connections…but what did I get? Piles and piles of debt that bloody sick incestuous pedophile owed. After Raymond acquired me as his, the other hungry sharks, the men my father had owed filthy gambling money came circling like they smelled blood. They tracked me down, demanding payment for what my father owed them, but Raymond had simply swept them aside, and made himself my sole creditor. I completely belonged to the red-haired devil now, and that was the only protection I had in this filthy world. He didn't put me on the street, though. Not exactly. He turned me into a spectacle that would make him money. “Your pretty face can at least pay your debt!” He grinned as he pinched my cheek. I was scared
Every ragged breath I took felt like inhaling glass, and the sound of the bat dragging against the pavement made me feel like I was going to pee myself. “Shit!” I cussed as I stared at the wall in front of me. I should have turned another corner, now we were trapped here with this monster that eats his own children. "You slimy bitch, you think you’re so clever, don't you?" he hissed, his voice bubbling with saliva and spite. "Just like your whore of a mother…that bitch just ran off with my money, left me with nothing,” he sneered, his eyes blazing. “I’d rather put you in the ground than let you walk away from me, Zayn." He spat as he inched closer towards us. Orion was trembling so violently in my arms that I felt his heart beating so fast. He was too young to understand, but he could clearly tell we were both in danger. "Please," I choked out, tears blurring my vision. "Please, just let him go….he’s just a child. You can kill me, but leave him alone!"My father let out a mocking
~~~ TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ~~~THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS CONTENT THAT MAY BE TRIGGERING FOR SOME READERS. PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION…..From that night on, the lock on my bedroom door was a memory. It didn’t matter if I screamed or if I fought until my fingernails were torn and bloody, my father was a man of relentless, drunken energy. Eventually, the beatings and abuse became so frequent and so senseless that I simply... stopped fighting. I learned the art of becoming a statue. I would just lay there, staring at a crack in the ceiling, detaching my soul from my body until the air stopped smelling like gin and the weight finally lifted. He would moan on his own, grunt, choke me and do everything he pleased and when he was satisfied he would leave. He would say, “it's not my fault you are so beautiful. I can't help myself dear.”I hated my skin. I hated the way it felt under his hands, and I hated the way it looked in the mirror. I wanted to take a knife and peel it all off, just to s
~~~ TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ~~~THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS CONTENT THAT MAY BE TRIGGERING FOR SOME READERS. PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION…..The door to Orion’s bedroom clicked open, so I scrambled to my feet, my heart clawing at my ribs. I scrubbed my face hard with my sleeves, desperate to wipe away th
Raymond’s hands moved with a terrifying gentleness as he set Orion down from his lap. The sight of those long fingers brushing crumbs off my brother’s chin made the air in my lungs burn. I stood paralyzed, my ribcage aching, holding my breath as if the slightest exhale would shatter the fragile saf
~ Zayn's POV ~I'm not innocent! I never pretended that I was.Life has dealt with me in the most cruel ways and I would do anything to survive, even if it means wriggling through dirt. I had no choice. A man like me who was born with nothing and has to endure everything…I can only keep struggling.
The door to the penthouse suite barely had time to click shut before I had my hands on him again. We were stumbling through in total darkness, a clumsy, desperate tangle of limbs and tongue.I didn't care about the expensive vase I clipped with my shoulder or the way my boots scuffed against the ha







