Mag-log in[Elena's POV]My mom stepped into the stone courtyard. She wore a simple beige trench coat, carrying a single leather tote bag.The Viti perimeter guards parted, letting her through without a single weapon check.Don Viti stood up from the head of the table. His silver cane hit the stone floor. He looked like an old, exhausted man staring at a ghost."Jane," Don Viti breathed. His voice cracked.My mother dropped her bag. She walked forward and wrapped her arms around her father. The old don pulled her tight, burying his face in her shoulder. His broad shoulders shook."I've missed you for thirty years," Don Viti murmured into her hair. He pulled back, gripping her arms. He looked at her face, tracing her features."You ran away with that American nobody. Carl. You disgraced the Viti name. I refused to acknowledge you."Jane lowered her eyes. "I know, Papa.""Your mother hated me for it," Don Viti continued. Regret carved deep lines into his face."Mariah demanded a divorce. She left
[Noah's POV]Don Viti snatched a gold pen from his breast pocket. He grabbed a clean linen napkin from the table and began scribbling."I am Viti! I own the south!" Don Viti bellowed.He threw the napkin at Adrian's chest."The deeds to twelve luxury resorts along the Amalfi Coast," Don Viti declared. He pointed a shaking finger at the wrinkled linen. "And the monopoly on the southern legal vineyards. Put them in my granddaughter's name by sunset."Adrian picked up the napkin. He inspected the scrawl. He flicked the corner of the linen with his thumb, calculating the asset value in seconds."Resorts require maintenance. Vineyards require weather luck. But it passes the baseline," Adrian assessed. He gave a satisfied nod, folding the napkin into his pocket. "Acceptable."Elena stood near the courtyard fountain, speechless.I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I watched the European warlord and the Sicilian godfather engage in a bidding war over my woman and my unborn child. They traded mult
[Elena's POV]The mountain wind died.Suddenly, Noah snapped the barrel of the Beretta shotgun shut.The metallic clack cut through the silence. He spun on his heel, raised the wooden stock to his shoulder, and pulled the trigger.The explosion shattered the quiet reserve. The smell of sulfur and burning gunpowder flooded the air.The bearded boss shrieked. He dropped to his knees, throwing his hands over his head. The buckshot grazed the very top of his scalp, leaving a bloody trench in his hair before obliterating the marble statue standing ten feet behind him.Chunks of destroyed stone rained down on the grass.The other two local bosses scrambled backward into the dirt, coughing through the dust cloud.Noah cracked the shotgun open. The smoking shells ejected, hitting the cobblestone.After tossing the empty weapon back onto the rack, he walked forward, grabbed the bearded boss by the lapels of his hunting jacket, and threw him flat onto his back.Noah planted his heavy combat boo
[Elena's POV]I stepped around Noah and placed my body directly between the forty gun barrels and the father of my child.Then I took off my oversized sunglasses and dropped them onto the stone table. The plastic clattered against the marble.I leveled my gaze at the armed guards, then dug into the heavy, archaic Sicilian dialect my grandmother forced me to learn as a child."Abbassate le armi, o vi faccio mozzare le mani," I ordered. Put down your weapons, or I will have your hands chopped off.The words echoed off the vaulted ceiling.The guards froze. They glanced at the old man in the tiger-skin chair and lowered their weapons in unison. The metallic clicks of safeties engaging filled the hall.Don Viti stared at me. The anger vanished from his deeply wrinkled face. He threw his head back and released a booming, ecstatic roar of laughter."Ha il fuoco dei Viti!" my grandfather cheered. She has the Viti fire! He stood up and opened his arms.I walked forward and accepted his embra
[Elena's POV]Noah gripped his holstered Glock. The leather creaked under his fingers."I will slaughter your old guard," Noah promised. He stared at the encrypted phone on the desk. "They won't get within a hundred miles of my jet."A dark laugh echoed through the speaker."Save your bullets, Marlowe," Adrian drawled. "I don't let insubordination slide in my syndicate. They tried to usurp my authority. That is a error."My phone chimed. A text message from Adrian popped onto my screen.I swiped the notification. A high-resolution photograph loaded.Six older men in expensive suits lay in a neat row on a wooden shipping dock. Bullet holes marked their foreheads. Blood pooled on the planks."The old guard is retired," Adrian stated over the speaker. "I purged the rot. Consider it a peace offering. I am wiping the slate clean for my sister. You get a safe flight to Europe."I stared at the photo. The brutal reality of my brother's world hit my chest. He executed six men to guarantee my
[Elena's POV]"Signorina," he greeted. He turned to Noah. "Don Marlowe."Noah gave a short nod. "State your business."The gentleman reached into his breast pocket. He withdrew a thick cream envelope sealed with crimson wax. The Viti family crest stamped the center. He stepped forward and offered the envelope to Noah.Noah broke the wax seal. He unfolded the heavy parchment. A muscle jumped in his jaw."What does it say?" I asked.Noah handed the letter to me. The text was Italian.The Viti family requests the presence of Jane Viti and her daughter, Elena. The Don wishes to meet his blood.I stared at the words. They were from my grandfather who I had never seen since I was born.The silver-haired man stood straight. "The Don is eager to meet the women of his bloodline. Lady Jane had also received the invitation. We arranged a private jet. It departs tomorrow at your convenience."Noah stepped around the coffee table. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up to my feet.He wrapped his arm
[Elena's POV]The door slammed shut behind Noah, and the sudden silence felt like a vacuum sucking all the air out of the room.I sat there on the silk sheets, naked except for the thin fabric pooled around my waist, staring at the space where he'd been standing.Jake was kidnapped by Velgrave. Or.
[Elena's POV]"Focus, piccola (little thing)," he growled into my ear, his large hands overlapping mine on the handlebars. "Unless you want to end up as a permanent fixture on this asphalt.""So, are they mortal enemies? Blood feud type of thing?" I screamed to be heard over the engine's howl."Som
[Elena's POV]I felt hollow.I stared into his eyes like a soulless doll, a vessel emptied of everything that made me me. I decided right then to simply accept whatever humiliating act he had planned.He wanted sex? Fine. He wanted me to succumb to his sucks and thrusts? So be it. He wanted me to l
[Noah's POV]The phantom heat of her body pressed against mine on the bike still lingered on my skin, a ghost of the last few hours of torture disguised as a getaway.By the time we'd pulled into this shithole motel, every nerve in my body was already frayed, screaming for some kind of release. And







