Who else is excited to have Mr. and Mrs. Vincenzo Mancini here? And what do you think about Sylvia’s first introduction to part of the family? I’m giggling. 🤭
Chapter 106⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾"I don't know what to do," I admitted. It was the first time I'd ever said those words to them. The first time I'd let them see me this useless.Manuel's hand found my shoulder, grip firm despite his injury. "We need to get you out of here and get you patched up. That shrapnel needs attention before it kills you.""Maybe it should.""Bullshit." Kegan's voice cut through my self-pity like a blade. "You think these men died so you could sit here feeling sorry for yourself?”"How bad is it?" I asked. "The damage.""They killed nine of our men.”"We need to get you out of here," Kegan said, standing up and brushing off his shirt. "This place is going to be crawling with cops and feds. It's only a matter of time before—""I'm not going anywhere," I said flatly."The hell you're not." Kegan's voice took on that tone I remembered from childhood, the one that meant he was done fucking around. "You're bleeding, you're probably running a fever, and you look like you
Chapter 105⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾I could no longer feel my legs. Maybe it was from sitting in the same spot for too long.Still, I sat there, in the wreckage of what used to be my father’s prison, surrounded by the bodies of men who'd trusted me to keep them alive. The silence was deafening after all the gunfire and shouting. Just me and the dead and the slow drip of water from a broken pipe somewhere in the darkness.Every moment from that day she walked back through the door was playing on repeat in my head. That little red dress she wore, makeup smeared across her face, looking so fragile and broken. “I didn’t think you’d be—” she'd whispered, and I'd been so fucking relieved.What had she been about to say though? Awake? Waiting? Here?That was the setup. The moment they hooked me.She came back the next fucking morning too. Stared into my eyes and told me she wanted to stay. And I'd believed every goddamn word. Brought her inside, gave her protection, gave her a place in my world.
Chapter 104⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾"Thank you, darling," The man in the gear said, his voice carried clearly over the settling dust and distant alarms. "You did perfectly."Now that I heard it, his voice sounded familiar. I turned, following his gaze, and the world tilted sideways.Sylvia was stepping out from behind the spot I’d shoved her in for cover. But she wasn't running toward me or the exit.She was walking toward him."What—" The word died in my throat as I saw her face. Tears streaming down her cheeks, her whole body shaking with sobs, but her feet kept moving. Away from me. Toward the enemy."I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice broken like glass. "I'm so sorry, Nikolai. I didn't want this. I never wanted—""Sylvia." My voice sounded like it was coming from underwater. "What are you doing?"The left handed bastard pulled off his mask and I froze again. Kaine. That left handed fucker I'd been hunting for days was the same one that had cost me two men. The bastard was smiling.I di
Chapter 103⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾The bastard was playing chess when we walked in.Of course he fucking was. Two years in a concrete tomb, and he still thought he was running the game. The pieces were arranged like he'd been in the middle of a match with himself—white and black locked in some eternal battle that existed only in his twisted mind."Oh, look,” he said without looking up, he moved a pawn forward with a maniac smile. "My disappointment of a son finally crawls back into the light."I didn't respond. Couldn't trust myself to speak yet. The sight of him always did this—brought back the taste of blood and the sound of my mother’s screams. Behind me, I could feel Sylvia's nervousness, her fingers ghosting against my back like she was anchoring herself to me."How long has it been?" he continued, studying the board like it held the secrets of the universe. "Two years of leaving the man who gave you everything down to your last name rotting down here, and this is what you bring me?" Hi
Chapter 102⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾“Let me,” I said, turning her to face me. “I want to take care of you.”She bit her lip, torn between embarrassment and arousal. “It’s messy, Nikolai. You don’t have to. I could go inside the bathroom, freshen up and—”“I want to,” I interrupted, my voice firm. “All of you. Every part of you.”She nodded slowly, then guided my hand between her legs. I could feel the string, and I gently pulled, watching her face as I removed it. She was beautiful in her vulnerability, trusting me with this intimate act.“There,” I murmured, tossing it aside before washing my hands quickly in the small sink. “Now where were we?”I turned her back toward the mirror, my hands sliding down to cup her bare ass. The reflection showed us both flushed and desperate, her completely naked now, me hard and aching behind her.When I positioned myself at her entrance, she was slick with more than just arousal, but it only made me want her more. I pushed inside slowly, watching in the mi
Chapter 101⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾Maybe I have to write my fucking name on her forehead in public places, I thought angrily. The rage was still coursing through my veins like molten steel, but having Sylvia pressed against my chest was slowly bringing me back from the edge. Her heartbeat was finally steadying, matching the rhythm of mine, and I could feel the tension leaving her body.But something was different. Wrong.She pulled back to look at me, her dark eyes holding secrets I couldn't read. "You're too stubborn and adamant," she complained, but there was something desperate and hungry in her tone that made my blood heat."When I saw him touching you, I wanted to tear him apart with my bare hands," I admitted, my thumb tracing along her jawline. The skin there was so soft, so perfect. "The only thing that stopped me was you.""Good thing I was there then." Her voice was breathless, and when I looked down at her, I could see desire pooling in her eyes.I exhaled slowly, trying to focu