DANTE'S PERSPECTIVE
She fucking owned me. And the worst part? I let her. I didn’t stop her when she lead me down on that narrow bed. Didn’t snarl. Didn’t flip her over and drive myself in the way I always did. I just watched her. Watched the way she unzipped her pants, also mine, and crawled on top of me, her thighs straddling my hips, warm and trembling. I felt the heat of her pussy press right against me. Through my restraint. She grinded once, slow, firm. And I twitched so hard I almost came undone like a fucking teenager. Her palms pressed on my chest underneath my shirt, soft fingers tracing the scars she never asked about. Her eyes never left mine, not even when she slid her hand between us, unfastened me, wrapped her fingers around me. I hissed. She smiled. And then she sank down on me, slow, deliberate, inch by inch until she took all of me inside her tight, aching pussy. God. She clenched around me like she was meant to keep me. My cock throbbed inside her, and I couldn’t breathe. Not from lust. From the way she moved. She rolled her hips in circles, slow at first, then deeper. Dragging me in, squeezing, pulsing with every grind that met the base. Her soft moan brushed against my throat when she leaned in to kiss me, open-mouthed, biting, claiming. Her breasts grazed my chest, nipples hard against me. I let her. Because every time she rocked her hips and her pussy swallowed me whole, she erased everything else. Her rhythm was maddening, measured, intimate, like she was memorizing how I felt inside her. Every time she lifted, I felt her drag along every inch of me. And every time she dropped back down, she gasped like it was the first time again. She whispered my name, breathy, reverent. Not begging. Declaring. Like I belonged to her. And fuck me, I did. Helpless, panting, grinding up into her like a man lost in a fever. Spilling everything into her warmth, buried deep, marking her from the inside out. Her inner thighs clamped tighter as she started to tremble. I felt her fluttering around me, soaking me, clenching as she pushed herself over the edge. I was shaking. Not from rage. Not from power. From her. From whatever the hell she just did to me. She curled up beside me after, like nothing happened. Grabbed a book. Read. Like she didn’t just ride me into fucking submission. I should’ve dragged her back down. Bit her shoulder. Reminded her who I was. But I didn’t. Because I wanted it again. The feel of her wrapped around my cock, tight and slick and goddamn divine. The way her body trembled as she came undone, the way she didn’t hide it. I wanted more. I wanted her. Every soft inch. Every dark smile. Every unspoken thing in her eyes. And I’d let her. Again. And again. Until I forget who I was before her. Because I think she already knows, I’m not coming back from this. From her. From being hers. ~~~~~~~ CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVE I stayed. Used his chest like a pillow. Let my breath mark his skin. He didn’t push me away. That was new. No retreat. No command. No barked order to leave. Just silence. I took it. Laid there longer than I should. Let my fingers rest against his stomach. Not soft. Not comforting. Just there. I don’t get this part. Not in this house. No one holds me after. He never has. But he did now. And I took my time. Because I knew it wouldn’t happen again. Except - he didn’t shove me off. He said he’d take me home. Him. Not a driver. Not a guard. Dante. He opened the door himself. Told me to get in. Like we were something. Like he wasn’t pretending anymore. Three years. And this was the first time we sat side by side without cameras, without blood on his collar, without anyone to impress. His car. His silence. And me. I didn’t speak. Didn’t thank him. Just sat with my knees together and my hands in my lap like the good wife I’m supposed to be. But I watched him. From the corner of my eye. The way his jaw clenched. The way his fingers tapped the wheel like he wanted to break it. He didn’t look at me. Not once. But he didn’t stop me from being there either. That was enough. So I leaned my head against the glass. Not for sleep. Not for peace. For control. Because if I looked at him, if I let myself feel the way his warmth still lingered between my legs, I’d reach for him again. And I won’t. Not yet. Let him wonder. Let him burn. Because I already marked him. He just doesn’t know how deep. Yet.DANTE'S PERSPECTIVE She fucking owned me. And the worst part? I let her. I didn’t stop her when she lead me down on that narrow bed. Didn’t snarl. Didn’t flip her over and drive myself in the way I always did. I just watched her. Watched the way she unzipped her pants, also mine, and crawled on top of me, her thighs straddling my hips, warm and trembling. I felt the heat of her pussy press right against me. Through my restraint. She grinded once, slow, firm. And I twitched so hard I almost came undone like a fucking teenager. Her palms pressed on my chest underneath my shirt, soft fingers tracing the scars she never asked about. Her eyes never left mine, not even when she slid her hand between us, unfastened me, wrapped her fingers around me. I hissed. She smiled. And then sh
CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVE The door creaked behind me, a low groan of old wood that sliced through the quiet. I didn’t turn. Not yet.I sat cross-legged on the worn rug, an ancient poetry book splayed open in my lap, its pages yellowed and crisp. A breeze slipped through the half-open window, carrying the musk of rain-soaked streets and mingling with the bookstore’s scent, fresh paper, old ink, and the faint vanilla of aging bindings. I’d spent the morning sorting new arrivals, stacking them on the creaky shelves that lined my tiny upstairs haven. My heart was steady, full, like the stillness after a long day. For once, everything felt like mine.Then the air shifted. A hum, electric and heavy, buzzed under my skin. Footsteps thumped on the narrow wooden stairs, deliberate but not rushed. I knew who it was before I looked.Dante.He didn’t knock. The doorframe groaned as he filled it, his broad shoulde
CATALINA’S PERSPECTIVE By morning, I couldn’t move. The ache was deep. Bone-deep. I laid there in the sheets that smelled like him, my body still sticky with sweat and stained with his cum. Every muscle screamed when I shifted. My thighs trembled when I tried to close them. So I didn’t. I stayed still. Eyes open, breathing slow, like any sudden movement would shatter something inside me. The bruises, they were darker now. Fresh ones layered over old. A storm of purples and fading blues decorated the softest parts of me. My hips, my ribs, the inside of my thighs. My neck bore the worst of it. Angry prints where his hand had clutched me too tightly, like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hold me or destroy me. I pressed a finger gently to one of them and hissed. Still raw. Still his.
DANTE’S PERSPECTIVEThe basement stank of rust, sweat, and rot.The assassin was already bound to the post when I arrived. Enzo and the others had done their part, stripping him, tying him up like meat on a hook. He wasn’t old. Mid-thirties, maybe. Still had the balls to glare at me like he hadn’t just tried to slit my fucking throat two nights ago.Pity.I didn’t say a word.Didn’t ask who sent him.Didn’t care.My fists moved before I even knew what I was doing. His jaw cracked. Blood splattered. I heard one of his teeth hit the concrete. Something inside me broke with it, but I didn’t stop.I couldn’t.Because every punch… every swing of the whip… every kick into his ribs… wasn’t really for him.It was for Luca.For the way he looked at Catalina like she was some fucking sunrise.For the way she laughed with him.For the towel in her hand, wiping sweat from her bar
CATALINA'S PERSPECTIVEThe past few weeks blurred into paint samples, floor plans, and late-night Pinterest boards. I was constantly on my feet. Sweeping. Re-measuring. Adjusting the lighting to find the softest glow.This place, my place, was finally taking shape.Luca parked out front again today. He never complained, even though I dragged him from hardware stores to plant nurseries to antique shops where the air smelled like mothballs and forgotten dreams.“Be honest,” I said as we stepped inside the shop. “Is the ivy too much?”He followed my gaze up the wall where vines snuck up along the old brick like fingers. “It’s charming,” he said, brushing dust from a crate. “But it kinda looks like it’s alive. Like it’ll eat someone.”I laughed. “That’s the point. I want it to feel like a secret garden. Something you stumble into, not a polished chain store.”He gave a little smile, stepping over a roll of carpet I hadn’t la
CATALINA’S PERSPECTIVE Three days later I didn’t see Dante for the past three days. Not that I was waiting. Not that I ever asked where he went. Malcolm handed me the deed this morning. Two floors. Fully processed. Fully mine. It came with a blank stare and the usual polite distance. He never asked why I smiled when I took it. Luca drove me to the bookstore. He didn’t say much the entire ride, just glanced at me in the mirror every now and then like he was still trying to figure out if he should talk or stay quiet. The street was quieter than I imagined. Fewer people. Fewer cars. That was good. I didn’t want noise. The building looked… old. Simple. Red brick, faded and chipped. The left wall was half-covered in green vines. The windows were smudged, cracked in some corners. One had a missing pane altogether. A crooked hanging sign read Via