LOGINI wrote this chapter in a bit of a rush, but I hope you enjoy it! It’s going to be a long night ahead for them.
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ "Our setup," I whispered, my voice sounding small and breathless against his lips. "Just ours." "Just ours," he nodded. He was right. We didn't need labels, and we didn't need forever. We just needed the burning hunger that only we could give each other. I didn't give him time to talk anymore. I lifted my head and kissed him again, deep and hard, my tongue sliding back into his mouth. Raphael’s body went completely tight. His hands slid down my sides, his hot palms burning through the thin silk of my dress. He bunched the fabric of my skirt up in his fists, pulling it higher and higher until the cold air of the bedroom hit my bare thighs. He reached down, his fingers brushing the soft skin of my inner thigh, slowly moving upward toward the aching, wet heat between my legs. He wanted to touch me there. He wanted to slide his fingers into my slickness and feel how much I wanted him. The moment his fingers brushed against my most sensitive spot, a sharp gasp cut t
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ "Gianna," he groaned. I didn't let him speak. I came back to his mouth, capturing his lips in another deep, wet kiss This time, it was lazy and uncoordinated again, our lips sliding together in a messy rush. I used my lips to soothe his, then used my teeth to bite his top lip, pulling it into my mouth and sucking on it until he was completely breathless beneath me. I slid my hand down from his hair, my palm brushing over his cheek before my fingers found his mouth. I parted his lips with my thumb, and then, slowly, I forced my index finger past his teeth, pressing it onto his tongue. I wanted more of him. I wanted to feel the heat of his breath and the wetness of his mouth on my skin in every way possible. I added another finger and forced my index and middle fingers past his white teeth, sliding them deep into the hot, wet cave of his mouth. Raphael let out a low, muffled groan. His tongue immediately wrapped around my fingers, his hot saliva slicking my skin
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ I stood by the door for a long time, the cold wood pressing into my back. The only sound in the deep silence was the slow rise and fall of Raphael’s bare chest. Slowly, almost without realizing I was doing it, I let my shoes drop from my fingers. They hit the thick rug with two soft thuds. I took one step forward, then another, my bare feet sinking into the soft carpet. I walked toward him like I was approaching a sleeping predator, afraid that even the sound of my breathing might wake him. But he didn't move. I stopped right in front of the armchair. I had never been this close to him when he wasn't looking at me like he wanted to devour my soul. His long, dark eyelashes cast soft shadows against his cheekbones. The hard, angry line of his mouth had relaxed into something soft and almost peaceful. In the pale grey dawn, he didn't look like the scary, powerful Capone who ruled from behind the screen. He just looked real. My knees felt weak, heavy with the exhau
Raphael ━━ ⛓ ━━ I kept my focus on Vivianne, or at least I tried to. Across the table, she was explaining how she’d pivot into a sub-network if the primary authentication failed. Normally, this was the kind of talk that made my blood hum... pure, cold logic. "The trick isn't the lock, Raphael," Vivianne said, swirling her wine. "It's the guy who thinks he’s the only one with the key. You make him feel too safe, and he’ll leave it under the mat for you." "Yeah," I muttered, leaning in, "Safety is a lie. I learned that the hard way after what you pulled with Alessandro. That dude is a ghost. The fact that you tracked him down and got into his head is fucking impressive." Vivianne let out a soft, dry laugh. She looked down at her wine, a small, private smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "He is a ghost, alright," she mumbled under her breath. I tried to keep my eyes on her, but my gaze kept sliding to the right, down the long row of expensive plates and flickering candles.
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ I stayed in that corner for a while, my fingers digging so hard into my palms wall that my nails felt like they might snap. My heart wasn't just beating, it was thumping against my ribs like it was trapped and trying to kick its way out. I was shaking, not the good kind of shaking, not the sweet, soft drift after a climax. This was a electric tremor of pure, unboiled rage. Raphael had left me standing there, my body feeling like a wire pulled too tight, aching and soaking wet. I could still feel the ghost of his fingers, but the heat was gone, replaced by the cold air of the gallery that made my skin crawl. I watched his broad shoulders disappear into the crowd. I watched him walk away with that woman, his head tilted toward her as if I hadn't just been coming apart under his touch seconds ago. The way he had looked back at me, the way he had sucked his fingers while staring right into my soul, it was branded into the back of my head. It was stuck there forever. I
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ I slipped away from Dante's circle of friends for a moment, and wandered toward a quiet corner of the gallery and that’s when I saw it. I stopped dead. The painting was massive. It wasn't a portrait, it was a scream captured in oil. It showed a woman, or the ghost of one, trapped behind layers of thin lines that looked like iron bars. Her face was blurred, but her eyes, they were two dark pits of exhaustion. Around her neck, hands made of muddy shadows reached out, to keep her quiet. I felt a cold shiver crawl up my spine, settling in the marrow of my bones. I felt like I knew this woman. It reminded me of my father’s voice, that tone he used when he looked at my school reports. “Is a single, basic sentence really beyond your capacity?” “I've wasted years and a fortune trying to salvage what’s left of your mind, and I am finally finished.” “You aren't some puzzle to be solved, Gianna, you are fundamentally broken.” “You were a mistake from the start, a wort
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ The room was too big. It was too quiet, and it smelled too much like expensive flowers and floor wax. I lay in the middle of the massive bed, feeling like a speck of dust in this giant, cold mansion. I pulled the silk sheets up to my chin, but they didn't feel warm. They just felt
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ I stood in front of the full-length mirror, my hands shaking so much I had to tuck them under my arms. I was dressed in a white button-down shirt and black slacks. I spent ten minutes pulling my hair back, brushing it until every stray strand was flattened into a sleek, tight bun
Raphael ━━ ⛓ ━━ I leaned against the cold marble wall, my glass heavy in my hand. My brothers were all around me, a solid wall of dark suits, expensive cologne, and mean faces. We stood in the shadows of the hall, watching the reception like it was a funeral. Across the room, our father was a
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ I was still frozen, when Madeleine came jogging back down the stairs. She had a thick textbook tucked under her arm and a bright smile. The normalcy of it felt strange after the moment I’d just had with Raphael. "Ready?" she asked, her voice light. I nodded quickly, not trustring







