ログインThe LoversThe rest of the night stayed quiet.No rushing. No desperate grabbing like the first time five years ago. Alessandro undressed her slowly, watching her face the whole time. Isabella let him. She helped him out of his shirt, her hands steady even though her heart was beating hard. When they were both bare he laid her back on the bed and simply looked at her for a long moment, as if he needed to make sure she was still choosing this.She reached up and pulled him down.Their mouths met again, slower this time, deeper. His hands moved over her skin without hurry, learning the shape of her waist, the curve of her hip, the soft weight of her breasts. She explored him the same way, palms sliding over the hard planes of his chest and the scars she had only seen in pieces before. When his fingers finally slipped between her legs she was already wet. He stroked her carefully, watching every small change in her breathing, until her hips lifted toward his hand and a quiet sound left h
No More PretendingIsabella waited until Ethan was fully asleep.She checked on him once more, smoothed the blanket, and left the door half-open the way he liked. Then she walked the short distance to Alessandro’s study. The house was quiet. The night patrols had settled into their usual rhythm. She didn’t knock.He was at the desk, a single lamp on, looking at something on the tablet in front of him. When she stepped inside he looked up immediately. He didn’t speak. He just waited.Isabella closed the door behind her and stood there for a second, heart steady but fast.“I want you.”The words came out quiet and clear. No long explanation. No careful lead-up.Alessandro set the tablet down. He looked at her for a long moment, the way he always did when something mattered.“Are you sure?”“Yes.”He didn’t move toward her yet. He stayed in the chair, giving her the last chance to take it back if she needed it.Isabella walked closer until she stood in front of the desk.“I’m scared,” sh
The Price of LoveThe threat against Richard changed the air inside the estate overnight.Alessandro did not waste time. By the time the sun was fully up, Richard had been moved to an internal secure room with no exterior windows and two rotating guards on the door at all times. His meals were brought by vetted staff only. Phone access stayed cut. Even the short supervised walks in the enclosed garden stopped. The message had been clear enough: the network was done with warnings aimed only at the edges. They were ready to hurt the people closest to Isabella if that was what it took to break the new ground she and Alessandro had started to stand on.Richard took the change without complaint. When Isabella was allowed a short visit later that morning, he looked older and more worn than she had ever seen him, but his voice stayed steady.“They’re trying to punish me through you,” he said. “Everything I did five years ago, the silence, the disownment, the lies, I did it to keep them from
The DoorAlessandro opened the door on the third knock.He had not expected anyone. The suite was quiet, the outer guards at their posts further down the corridor. When he saw Isabella standing there in her robe, barefoot, hair slightly loose from lying down, the surprise showed for half a second before he controlled it.“What happened?”“Nothing.”“Then why are you here?”She did not answer with words. The look in her eyes said everything, tired of the distance, tired of the careful walls, tired of pretending the pull between them was something she could keep ignoring. Alessandro read it clearly. He stepped back just enough to leave the choice open, the same way he had left every important choice open for her since the night she decided to stay.Isabella crossed the threshold. He closed the door behind her. The soft click of the lock sounded final in the quiet room.For a moment neither of them spoke. The lamp on the side table threw a low circle of light. The rest of the room stayed
The WarningIsabella did not let the woman walk away cleanly.She found Claudia near the end of the long hallway that led back toward the main reception rooms. The lights were lower there. Most of the guests had moved on to quieter conversations or private corners of the old estate. Music from the main hall reached them only as a low murmur. Claudia was alone, adjusting a bracelet as if the night still belonged to her.Isabella stopped a few feet away. Her hands were steady at her sides even though her pulse had already picked up.“What did you mean?”Claudia looked up. The polished smile she had worn earlier in the evening was gone. In its place was something cooler and more honest, the expression of a woman who had decided politeness was no longer useful.“I meant exactly what I said. Everyone who loves Alessandro becomes a target. It has always been that way. The people who hate him, the people who fear him, the ones who want what he has, they do not aim only at him. They aim at wh
The Family GatheringThe invitation could not be ignored.Alessandro made the decision the morning after it arrived. The gathering in Italy was not a social request. It was a summons wrapped in old blood and older expectations. Refusing would create more problems than attending. He informed Marco and Enzo first, then told Isabella in the private sitting room while Ethan drew at the low table nearby.“You’re coming with me,” he said. “The invitation includes anyone living under my protection. Leaving you here while I am out of the country is a risk I will not take.”Isabella looked up from the list she had been checking. The lockdown had already stretched longer than anyone liked. The idea of stepping outside the estate walls, even under heavy security, felt both necessary and dangerous.“Ethan?”“He stays here with Bianca, Enzo, and a doubled guard. The private wing will remain sealed. Dante will coordinate from this side. We go for three days. No longer.”She nodded once. The choice







