LOGINI knew Dante's routine like the back of my palms, so I knew for sure that he would be in his study. Since he said we went out to sort some stuff, then he must be looking through his files. So I decided to get him honey water from the kitchen to calm his nerves a bit. On my way up the stairs, I kept thinking about my conversation with Laurent. He was right to be worried, considering the kind of men Marco and Dante were, I myself I am very worried too. But if like what Laurent said, they are trying to turn legal, do I still need to take them down?“Get your head in the game.” I hissed. Even if they do turn legal businessmen and leave the dark world behind, that doesn't change the fact that they had gotten their hands dirty. What about the innocent lives they have destroyed? Even if I have these feelings for Dante, I shouldn't let it cloud my morals. “I shouldn't!” I shook my head then I took a deep breath as I stared at his office door. I pushed the door open and Dante was seated be
~ 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
I sat there, paralyzed on that rickety kitchen stool, while the world narrowed down to the space between my face and his. Zayn was so close I could see the golden flecks in his emerald eyes, the tiny dampness on his lower lip, and the absolute, terrifying lack of fear in his expression. He knew he
"You have a nice name," I’d said.The words hung in the cramped air, sounding like a confession I wasn’t ready to make. For a heartbeat, the silence was absolute. Then, Zayn’s chest hitched, and a muffled, snuffling sound escaped him. He was laughing.I felt the heat rush to my ears, a deep, burnin
Angel's house was like a tiny box. A cramped, suffocating box that smelled of lemon-scented floor cleaner and old building dust.As we stepped inside, my skin crawled. I was used to the cold elegance of the Giordano estate with rooms so large you could lose a body in them and not find it for a week
The screaming in this household every now and then was not the worst part of living here.Not the blood also, we were used to blood. It was the sound of our own voice that had slowly been silenced due to years of pain. On one of the days, as usual a kid was dragged into the house. He was a six-year







