LOGINAlessia’s POVI could not sleep.The penthouse was too quiet, the kind of quiet that amplified every thought until it screamed. Lorenzo had gone to bed hours ago in the guest suite. I lay in the dark of the master bedroom, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything on an endless loop.The way Salvatore had seized that man by the throat today. The raw fury in his grip. The way his eyes had flicked to me afterward, checking, always checking, that I was unharmed.It was more than duty. It had to be.Guila had told me he refused every other woman. That he had asked to guard me personally. That he had carried a backup dress like he had foreseen sabotage. But she had never said the word love. She had danced around it, she wanted me to fill in the terrifying blanks myself.What if it wasn’t love at all?What if it was something darker? Obsession. A game he was playing with my head because he could. Because a former Don might enjoy the quieter thrill of making a married woman unravel withou
~Alessia's POVThe morning light was too bright. I stood at the counter, dipping a spoon into my espresso, watching the dark liquid swirl. My body still carried echoes of last night: faint bruises on my hips, a tenderness between my thighs, the ghost of Lorenzo’s mouth on my skin. I had showered twice, scrubbed until my skin was pink, but I couldn’t wash away the hollow feeling that had settled in my chest.Footsteps approached behind me. I didn’t turn. I knew the rhythm of Lorenzo’s walk.His hands settled on my waist first, warm through the thin silk of my robe. Then he turned me gently to face him. I kept my gaze on the hollow of his throat, afraid of what my eyes might betray.He cupped my cheeks with both palms, thumbs brushing just below my cheekbones. His touch was tender, almost careful, nothing like the bruising grip of hours ago.“I know,” he said quietly.I froze.“I know you didn’t come because of me.”The words landed soft but precise. No anger or accusation in his voice,
Alessia’s POVHis words hung in the air like smoke, it was filthy and perfect. The command rolled through me, and my body obeyed before my mind could protest. My fingers moved again, faster now, circling my clit with shameless precision while Lorenzo watched. His pupils were dilated wide, his tie abandoned, his shirt collar open. He looked like a man who had walked into his own fantasy and found it already in progress.I should have been mortified. I should have closed my legs and begged forgiveness for defiling his desk. Instead I, spread wider, letting him see everything, I.let him see my swollen, glistening pussy. My hips rolled in slow, greedy circles, chasing the friction I had denied myself moments ago.Lorenzo stepped between my thighs, not touching yet, just close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him. He smelled like the city outside with a faint trace of alcohol. His hands braced on the desk on either side of my hips, caging me without contact.“That’s it,” he
Alessia’s POVI and Guila went to Lorenzo's office to pick up some documents that she had to check. While she was looking for the documents, I took a while to digest what Guila said earlier. My brain was still trying to process those words.Guila left with a quiet squeeze of my hand and a knowing look that said we would talk more later. The door clicked shut behind her, and the penthouse fell silent again. I rarely come here. It smelled of leather, cigar smoke, and his sharp and expensive cologne. The room was all dark wood and heavy furniture, bookshelves lined with first editions he never read, a massive desk that looked more like a throne than office furniture. I leaned against the door for a moment, breathing in the unfamiliar space.Then I crossed the room and, without thinking, boosted myself onto the edge of his desk. The polished mahogany was cool beneath my palms. My legs dangled and my toes brushed the floor. My eyes wandered slowly around the room. They were framed pictur
Alessia’s POVI spent the entire day trying not to think about him.After Salvatore left me at the door, I brewed coffee strong enough to strip paint, then carried the cup to the studio at the far end of the penthouse. I had the guards move my things outside. I told myself I would work. I wanted to create a new casual dress. But every line I drew curved like the sharp edge of his jaw. Every shadow I shaded reminded me of the way fear had shadowed those men’s eyes when he entered the room.I gave up on the dress by noon.Next came cleaning, something I never did. I wiped counters that were already spotless, reorganized the pantry by color, and folded throw blankets into perfect squares. Physical movement to keep my mind blank. It almost worked until I reached for a high shelf and caught my reflection in the dark glass of the oven door. My cheeks were flushed, eyes too bright. I looked like someone waiting for something. Or someone.By late afternoon I was pacing. From the living room
Alessia’s POVSunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, spilling across the white marble floors. I blinked awake slowly, disoriented by the brightness and the silence. For a moment I lay still, staring at the high ceiling, the events of last night rushing back in a dizzying wave. The trophy. The cake. Lorenzo’s kiss. Salvatore’s quiet acceptance. What a minute, I’m in the penthouse? But I slept in the hotel! My body felt heavy, as though the weight of everything had settled into my bones overnight. I pushed myself up, the silk sheets sliding cool against my skin, and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The apartment was too quiet. No clatter from the kitchen, no distant hum of the city muffled by staff movement. Just emptiness.I padded barefoot to the bathroom, the heated floors a small comfort under my soles. The shower was long and hot, steam filling the vast space until the mirrors fogged completely. I stood under the rainfall head for what felt l







