MasukFIORELLA’S POV[TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains scenes of physical violence, mental health struggles, and psychological distress.]I hit the stairs stomach first, a sharp gasp escaping me as pain flooded through my entire body.I felt dizzy for a second. But I refused to stay down.Rhys dragged himself forward, his grip sliding from my ankle to my calf before his other hand caught my waist and yanked me back down.I turned to look at him. He had a crazy smile on his face. Ice spread through my veins. I used my free leg and drove my heel into his face over and over, dragging a pained groan from him. The moment his grip loosened, I scrambled to my feet before he could grab me again.Then I ran inside. Damon stood in the open kitchen with a glass of water in his hand. Gabby sat on one of the counter stools beside him.They both turned at the sound of the door.The smiles on their faces disappeared the second they saw me.I followed their gazes down to my stained clothes. Di
FIORELLA’S POV Trigger Warning: This chapter contains physical violence, intense emotional distress, and disturbing psychological content. Reader discretion is advised. I didn’t know how to respond. It was as though every thought inside my head had frozen. Rhys opened his mouth to speak again, but a loud crash echoed from upstairs, followed by a series of heavy thuds. My eyes snapped up. “Is someone breaking in? We should go check on them.” I got off the bed and started to walk past him. He blocked my path. “It’s been going on for over an hour. They’re fucking.” “Ew, don’t be perverse!” My face burned. “Do you have to be so crude?” As if mocking me, the crashing sounds came again followed by more thuds. I wanted to die of shame. With Damon it was no surprise, but Gabby? Innocent, doe-eyed Gabby? Rhys stepped closer. “Give it to me.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rhys,” I answered. “And can we not have this conversation while they’re… doing what
FIORELLA’S POVHow ironic that the person who had once saved me from drowning was now the one pushing me into it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Did that fucker really leave me out here to die?Rage burned hotter than the panic clawing at my chest. If I survived this without him, I was going to kill him with my bare hands.I swore it right then.I was sinking, and every time I tried to swim back to the surface, I only made it worse.My breath was gone, and it was only a matter of time before I blacked out.So this was how I died.Falling off a jet ski and drowning to death. After all the creative threats Rhys had made over the past few weeks, my death felt a little anticlimactic.Oh, well.I’d fought every step that had brought me here, but I’d ended up here anyway. I might as well stop fighting.Just as darkness began creeping into the edges of my vision, the wave of the jet ski returned.A frown settled across Rhys’s face as he dove into the water and reached for me.He caught me wi
FIORELLA’S POVWhen I opened my eyes, I was lying on a blanket with another draped over me, and I was close enough to the fire that I could feel its warmth against my skin.My hair was still damp, my body still cold, but at least the shivering had stopped.The boy who’d saved my life—Rhys—was sitting on a log across from me, concern written on his face.He didn’t look like he was from around here. I winced as I sat up, pain spreading through my entire body. “I ran back to my place and brought them.” He nodded toward the blankets before giving me a small smile. “Are you hungry? I didn’t know what you liked, so I got everything.”He stood up and reached for the backpack leaning against one of the trees. Then he stepped closer to me. I flinched on instinct and shuffled backward, pulling the blanket over the lower half of my face.He was so tall and he looked strong.He could hurt me. I didn’t like boys. Men weren’t any better. They always hurt me. The only people I ever felt safe ar
FIORELLA’S POVMy eyes widened in surprise as the warm liquid filled my mouth, and a low, unwanted ache settled deep inside at the way he degraded me.He leaned back, still holding my jaw. “Swallow.”I swallowed with my mouth still open, unable to shake off his grip. He let go of my jaw and tapped my cheek with his index and middle finger twice. “I forgot to be gentle.”I rolled my jaw, feeling a slight ache. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You just spat your drink into my mouth.”“Relax, doll,” he murmured. “I gave you a choice to take it yourself, but you refused.”“Are—”He cupped my face and pulled me closer, cutting the rest of my words, his fingers stroking my cheek with unsettling tenderness.“This is what you like, isn’t it?” he murmured. I didn’t get the chance to respond when he pushed me back against the seat, pressing his upper body against mine. I darted a glance around the room.Couples laughed over drinks. Others were too busy dancing or talking among themselves to
FIORELLA’S POV I had expected that Rhys and I would be in each other’s orbit during the trip, but the possibility of sharing a bed never crossed my mind. We stood there staring at it for several seconds, the room silent enough to hear a pin drop. Until Rhys broke it. “Why didn’t you tell me you agreed to this rubbish?” he asked, his tone snappy. I held back the insult bubbling inside me for the sake of peace and said, “I was only keeping up our act, sweetie.” “Don’t fucking call me that,” he snapped. “You can take the room. I’ll come up with a reason to leave.” I laughed. “Good luck getting past Gabby.” He turned to me, a deep scowl settling across his face. “This is your way of punishing me, isn’t it?” “I wish it was,” I answered. “I agreed to this because the only time you’ll treat me with kindness is when we’re around your brother.” “Why the fuck do you think you deserve kindness?” I didn’t have a response for that. As a matter of fact, I didn’t think I d
FIORELLA’S POVMy mother used to say the man you meet at nineteen will hurt you most. Unfortunately for me, I met two.One was dead.And the other was sitting beside me. The drive was quiet except for the sound of my harsh breathing. Rhys stared out the window, not bothering to spare me a glance
FIORELLA’S POV Nothing—absolutely nothing—could have prepared me for the sudden turn my life had just taken. First, I was ambushed and named as Papa’s successor in front of people who wanted nothing more than to gut me open. And the next second, I was told I had to marry someone I had promi
FIORELLA’S POV PRESENT With a sigh, I locked the restaurant and stood back to stare at the CLOSED sign. It had taken almost four years of planning, sleepless nights, and more tears than I would ever admit, but I had finally fulfilled my dream of opening my own restaurant. And just in time
RHYS’S POV FOURTEEN YEARS AGO I had come to Naples to find my half-brother after the news of our father’s death reached me. But instead, I found love. I lifted the bouquet to my nose and took a soft breath in, then pulled away. “Perfect.” Marigolds, gold chrysanthemums, ranunculus, and







