LOGINFIORELLA’S POV“Ouch.”Giulia had pushed a pin too far into my hair, and it poked my scalp.“I’m so sorry, Donna,” she said, her eyes wide with remorse as they held mine in the mirror. “It wasn’t intentional.”I forced a warm smile back, even though my stomach was turning in dreadful anticipation. “It’s okay.”She nodded and continued pinning my hair in a messy bun.The fresh tattoo on my arm burned beneath my robe sleeve, serving as a constant reminder of what had happened earlier.And of who was waiting for me downstairs.Mariah entered the room with a huge box in her hands. She placed it on the bed and lifted the lid. “The Don sent this for tonight.”It was a dress, but not just any dress.The black fabric looked expensive, and it was almost completely see-through.Delicate embroidery traced the sleeves and neckline, while diamonds glittered across parts of the bodice like scattered stars.Actual diamonds. It was beautiful.Which made me distrust it even more.“I hate it.”Giulia
FIORELLA’S POVRhys didn’t respond. Again. His eyes moved down my body, and I followed his gaze to see I was straddling him in nothing but my bra and my underwear. Warmth crept up my face. “You pervert.”“I’m not the one half-naked and trying to rape her ex-boyfriend,” he said defensively. His eyes were everywhere on my body except my face.“If you wanted to hump on me like you used to,” he said, “all you had to do was ask. Even though I’d say no.”My cheeks flushed as the memories came rushing back. Long before I was comfortable enough to sleep with him, I had been perfectly content curled up in his lap, stealing kisses and rubbing against him until neither of us could think straight.The memory hit me so unexpectedly that I almost forgot it was a different person lying beneath me. A monster with the face of the man I once loved. A monster with the face of the man I now hated. “Do you even realize I’m holding a knife to your throat?” I asked, incredulous. “Or are you too busy
FIORELLA’S POVA shiver ran down my spine when I heard the word that I had been dreading.I turned to hold his eyes. “No. I won’t let you do this to me again. I won’t let you play with me like a toy.”Rhys stared down at me. “Too bad. I’ll play with you again and again until I tire of it.”My words failed me. I could only stare back at him in disbelief.He caught me and spun me around in the blink of an eye. “I don’t know why I bother giving you the chance to cooperate.”Before I could respond, a loud rip tore through the room, and my dress—whatever was left of it—went flying across it.“Rhys!”I was standing there in my lace bra and underwear, my face burning from humiliation.Whatever dignity I had managed to salvage after the last few hours disappeared with that dress. Standing half-naked in front of him felt less like being a person and more like being something he had unwrapped.He bent me over the table easily despite my efforts to fight back. “Just relax,” he drawled, tracin
FIORELLA’S POVI blinked, the realization dawning on me. It was definitely expected for most wives to react in some ways to the presence of their husband’s mistress in their home.I wasn’t most wives. And I couldn’t care less where Rhys decided to get his dick wet as long as it wasn’t with me. In fact, she was doing me a very big favour and I should be thankful to her. But I also had to keep up my act. So instead I said, “It doesn’t matter who you are to him. I’m his wife and nothing can change that.”I wanted to wash my mouth with bleach right after for uttering such immature rivalry nonsense for a man I barely cared about. Celeste’s eyes glinted, as though I had given her what she wanted. “Don’t you know? If a man hates you enough, he’ll marry you.”A small part of me feared she was right.Hate was the reason Rhys married me. “Besides,” she continued. “Everyone knows the mistress is for loving and fucking, and the wife is just for babies and politics.”I exhaled deeply. “Where
FIORELLA’S POVIt was already dawn when we got back to the estate.I told Rhys everything that had happened, and he left afterward, leaving me alone with the maids.They immediately began bombarding me with wedding details I had missed over the last two days.I hated every second of it.I was freshly traumatized and still reeling from everything that had happened. I was too distracted to concentrate on anything.I couldn’t eat with the gory images still playing in my head.“You still haven’t made your choice for the wedding dress, Donna,” Giulia said, turning the pages for me. “Do you want lace or satin? Do you prefer a ball gown or something that hugs the curves?”I sighed and massaged my forehead. Not this bullshit again.A migraine had settled on top of my left eyebrow, refusing to budge no matter how much water I drank. I lifted my eyes to hers. “I’m sure anyone you pick will be fine. Skip to the next thing on the itinerary.”Giulia exchanged glances with Mariah, then turned bac
FIORELLA’S POVMy vision blurred with tears of joy as I stood up and rushed into the car. I had barely thrown myself into the passenger seat when he floored the accelerator.I caught myself against the dashboard and shut the door as the G-Wagon surged forward.The driver staggered from the wrecked vehicle and stood in the middle of the road. He began shooting at Rhys, but his bullets didn’t pass through the windshield. Rhys kept his eyes forward and hit him with his car. The driver kept screaming in agony as he went under. I screamed as well, my heart leaping to my stomach. Rhys stopped the car, shifted into reverse, then backed over the man again.His screams stopped immediately, and I was somewhat certain I heard a faint crack coming from under the car. Only then did Rhys drive off. My stomach twisted.I couldn’t decide what horrified me more—that he had done it, or that I was relieved he had. Rhys’s voice thundered through the car. “Why the fuck did you take my gun, Fiorell







