Hey, loves! Double update day! You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it. Don’t forget to drop a comment, hit that vote button, and scream in the replies, your reactions fuel my soul. XOXO
Madeleine 𓎢𓎠𑄻𑄾𓎠𓎡Was this a joke?No, not a joke, not funny, not even a little bit.Because he told me to wait for him. The mystery guy. The one who kept texting me with all those weird, awful messages. And then Adriano pulled up, out of nowhere. So what the hell was I supposed to think?I sat there, stiff in the car seat, and my brain started spiraling like it always does when something doesn’t make sense. Something wasn’t adding up. It still didn’t add up.My heart was pounding too loud. My hands were cold, even though the car was warm.Was it him?Was Adriano the one texting me?I didn’t wanna believe it. That would be insane. He’s been nothing but kind. A little intense, yeah, but polite. He gave me a job when no one else would. He picked me up from the hospital even when Carlos refused to come. He introduced me to his family and he had been so respectful. That’s not something a creepy stalker does.Right?I peeked at Adriano from the corner of my eye. He was leaned back
Adriano ⫘☠︎︎⫘Sweat dripped into my eye, but I didn’t blink. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the room. Just bare knuckles wrapped in old tape, no gloves, no mouth guards, just pain and a fucked-up kind of therapy. Vincenzo’s knuckles cracked against my jaw again, and I tasted copper, fuck, he always hit like a truck. I spat blood to the side and stepped back into him, shoulder-first, slamming into his chest to knock him off balance.He grinned, all teeth.“You’re fucking torturing her,” Vincenzo panted, cracking his neck as we circled each other. His bare feet shifted in the ring like a predator stalking prey, only we were both the same breed of monster. “Why don’t you grow a pair and say it to her face instead of playing Phantom of the Fucking Opera in her phone?”I growled low in my throat and threw a hook at his ribs. “She’d bolt,” I hissed, stepping back, chest heaving, “You didn’t see the look she gave me when she was talking about mob guys like we’re fucking mo
Madeleine 𓎢𓎠𑄻𑄾𓎠𓎡“Can I stay here tonight?” I asked, as I curled my arms around Carlos’s and rested my cheek on his shoulder. “I just... I don’t want to stay at my new boss’s place. He’s nice, his family is really nice and super generous, but I just don’t feel... comfortable. It’s weird, staying in someone’s house when you barely know them.”I didn’t mention that my new boss was the same man who’d bled all over my apartment floor.Carlos just stared at the TV, remote in hand, thumb flicking across the buttons. Then he let out a short breath, half laugh, half scoff and said, “Maddie, seriously? You do realize this is a once in a fucking lifetime opportunity, right?”I lifted my head a little.“I mean, fuck. Velluto Rosso. A Michelin star. That’s not some diner gig. That’s real money. Real benefits. Health insurance, dental—shit I can’t even get with my job. And you’re talking about being uncomfortable like that’s the main issue?” he looked at me then, “God, you’re so soft someti
Madeleine 𓎢𓎠𑄻𑄾𓎠𓎡“Come on, meet my family…” Adriano said, nodding toward the staircase like it was no big deal.I gave a small, nervous smile and followed him down, my hand brushing the banister. The second we hit the bottom step, every head in the room turned. No pressure, right? It's not like he's my boyfriend and I had come to meet his family. The woman I’d assumed was his mom stood up. She crossed the floor, but there was warmth in her eyes that made me stop fidgeting with the hem of my skirt. “So you’re Madeleine,” she said, stopping in front of me with a smile, “I’ve been waiting to meet you. Adriano told me what you did for him, how you looked after him. I’ve wanted to thank you ever since. If you hadn’t saved him that night, I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done. Losing him...” she shook her head gently, “it would’ve broken me.”I blinked, unsure what to say. I wasn’t used to being thanked for anything, let alone by a family like this.And somewhere behind me,
Madeleine 𓎢𓎠𑄻𑄾𓎠𓎡I woke up to darkness.Not just like, the lights are off kind of dark, no. This was rich, velvety, swallow-you-whole kind of darkness. I blinked into it, trying to piece together where I was, why my head felt like cotton and static and bad decisions, and why—Oh god.These weren’t my sheets.They were soft. And slick against my skin. Black silk.I sucked in a sharp breath and sat up too fast.Instant regret.The room swayed. My head throbbed like someone had slammed a speaker into my brain and set it to static. I pressed my palm to my forehead, my fingers trembling, and tried to focus.The sheets slipped down my shoulder. I was still in my clothes, I think? My blouse felt twisted and crumpled, not how I left it, my skirt was hiked up, but I wasn’t... undressed. Okay. Okay, that was something.But the room—The room looked like a villain lair straight out of some overpriced movie. Everything was expensive and cold. Black marble floors that gleamed even in low li
Madeleine 𓎢𓎠𑄻𑄾𓎠𓎡I double-checked the address for the third time even though I’d been standing outside the building for five full minutes, pretending to scroll through my phone so I didn’t pass out.Velluto Rosso.Even the name sounded expensive. It was written in swoopy cursive on a plate-glass window that reflected the entire street behind me along with my way-too-nervous face.This place was famous. Michelin-starred, white tablecloths, gold trim on the menus kind of famous. The kind of restaurant that rich people got engaged in. The kind of place I had absolutely no business setting foot in, except, well... desperation was a hell of a motivator.I glanced down at myself, tugged at my skirt.Okay.So maybe it was a bit short.But it wasn’t obscenely short. It was dark green and high-waisted and I paired it with a tucked-in white blouse, modest neckline, and the only blazer I owned. My knees were bare but I shaved, so that was something. I looked... professional-ish. And mayb
Adriano ⫘☠︎︎⫘ I leaned against the hood of the matte black SUV, fingers tapping a lazily on the metal, but there was nothing lazy about the way I watched that building. Every creak of a window, every rustle of a curtain, every set of footsteps echoing down the block, I clocked it all. I wasn’t here to play games, not tonight. My men blended in, hoodies, worn jeans, delivery uniforms, cheap coffee cups in hand but I knew what was tucked under every jacket, what was strapped to every ankle. Glocks. Switchblades. Enough steel to turn this street into a warzone in less than sixty seconds if someone made the wrong move. I glanced up toward the third floor. Her window was opened just enough for me to see the soft flicker of warm light. I shouldn't have come. I had a hundred things that needed bleeding but instead, I was standing on a busted sidewalk in a neighborhood that smelled like piss and desperation, waiting on her. I glanced at the busted front door to her building, paint
Adriano ⫘☠︎︎⫘Someone was fucking with us.And not just poking around. No, this was a full-blown, dick-out, pissing-on-our-front-door kind of move. I’d bet my left ball it was the same pricks that jumped me in that alley last month.I remember their boots more than their faces because they wore mask like fucking cowards. Now this was something else.I slammed the steel door behind me so hard it rattled the bolts in the hinges. The warehouse office was filled with the stink of smoke and motor oil. Vincenzo looked up from the ledger, and my brother Raphael barely glanced away from the CCTV feed.“You two got five seconds before I start fucking screaming,” I barked.Vincenzo’s brow twitched, “Don’t—”“We lost the South Side shipment,” I snarled, my hand twitching for the Glock under my jacket, “Gone. All of it. You know how much that’s worth, Raph? Half a fuckin’ million. Fucking vanished. Just like that.”Vincenzo folded his arms, trying his best to stay calm. I paced around in tha
Madeleine𓎢𓎠𑄻𑄾𓎠𓎡His hands were all over me, and they were fast and impatient, like he was flipping through a magazine he’d already read too many times. There was no buildup, there never was, just lips on my neck, his breath hot and the creak of my old mattress under us.I stared at the ceiling, blinking slowly. The fan spun in lazy circles above, and I tried to focus on the sound instead of how disconnected I felt.His weight pressed into me, he was heavy and he was careless about it, like I was just... there. “God, Maddie,” Carlos groaned, burying his face in my shoulder like he was trying to disappear inside his own need.I made a soft noise, something that could pass for enthusiasm, but really, I was just trying to keep up. Trying to figure out what I was missing. Because everyone always talked about this stuff like it was fireworks and moans and clawing at walls, like it could change your life. But all I felt was his hand gripping my hip too tightly and the ache in my bac