로그인CHAPTER 74LENA POVThe island looked nothing like the way it always looked that afternoon. Music drifted through the gardens. White tents lined the cliffs overlooking the sea. Long tables overflowed with food and flowers. Donations for orphanages and hospitals. To the outside world it was a charity gala.To those who understood the mafia it was something else. A carefully controlled gathering where powerful families built alliances beneath polite smiles. Men capable of ordering executions laughed with children. Women in designer gowns discussed charitable projects while bodyguards hidden in tailored jackets kept their hands near weapons.Nothing in this world was ever simple.Matteo walked beside me. For the first time in days he smiled. Seeing it eased the ache in my chest. Maybe today would be different. Maybe for just a few hours everyone could pretend the world wasn't falling apart.Across the garden Salvatore stood with Charlie and Diego speaking with influential guests. His eye
CHAPTER 73SALVATORE POV Rain hammered the windows of my office. The waves slammed against the cliffs below. Normally storms cleared my head. Today it only got louder inside it.I hadn't slept. Every time I closed my eyes Matteo's voice came back. "They were fighting. Uncle David." I gripped the whiskey glass hard enough to hurt. My knuckles ached.No.Matteo was a frightened child. Children got things wrong. Trauma twisted memories. It had to be the explanation. It had to be.Charlie knocked and stepped inside carrying three thick folders and a laptop. "I found something."I didn't move. "Tell me."He laid the folders across the desk. "I traced financial records from ten years ago.""You worked all night?""You told me to find it."I looked at the files. Charlie opened the first folder. "These are payments made six months before the massacre.""Business accounts?""Officially." He slid printed bank transfers across the desk. "But the money didn't go where the records claimed."He ex
CHAPTER 72LENA POVThe mansion was quiet. The kind of quiet that suffocates you. The kind that settles after everything explodes. I stood outside Matteo's bedroom with my hand on the doorknob. Since the meeting ended, he hadn't spoken. Not to me. Not to Salvatore. Not even to Cerberus, who whined softly from the hallway.I pushed the door open.The curtains were half closed. Gray afternoon light filled the room. Matteo sat on the floor with his knees pulled against his chest. His comic book lay unopened beside him. His eyes weren't seeing anything. They were looking through everything. Trapped somewhere ten years in the past.I crossed the room and sat down on the carpet next to him.For several minutes we didn't speak. I just stayed close enough so he knew he wasn't alone."I'm here," I whispered finally.Nothing.I brushed hair away from his forehead. "You don't have to talk."His breathing hitched. Then so quietly I almost missed it: "I don't want to remember."My eyes burned. I w
CHAPTER 71SALVATORE POV Charlie stood outside my room holding the folder. The warmth from Lena's presence disappeared the moment we started walking through the quiet corridors toward him. Charlie spoke in a low voice. "Matteo heard something during today's strategy meeting. He reacted immediately."I frowned. "What did he hear?"Charlie answered, "A name. But he won't tell anyone except you."Something twisted in my stomach. We found Matteo curled up on a sofa in the library. Cerberus was lying protectively beside him. The young boy's face was pale. His hands trembled so badly he could barely hold them still. Lena immediately knelt down beside him. "It's okay. We're here."Matteo looked at me with eyes that were completely terrified. "I didn't mean to remember."Those words sent ice through my veins.Charlie explained what had happened. During the afternoon meeting, one of the captains mentioned a businessman connected to Dante Caruso. It was just a name. One name spoken almost casu
CHAPTER 70LENA POVThe morning after the incident it felt like the entire fortress was holding its breath. Everything was quiet in a way that felt wrong. Servants avoided my eyes when I passed. Guards stood straighter than usual. The atmosphere was thick with fear. Everyone knew what had happened in that yard.I overheard two maids talking quietly near the kitchens. "He almost killed one of his own soldiers." "Only because he insulted her." Their voices disappeared the moment they noticed me standing there. Instead of feeling protected by what he'd done, I felt guilty. I felt responsible.Charlie found me in the gardens a few hours later. He looked completely exhausted like he hadn't slept. I asked quietly, "Is the soldier alive?"Charlie nodded. "Barely."Relief washed over me that at least he hadn't died. Then Charlie said something that stayed with me the rest of the day. "I've followed Salvatore for almost twenty years. I've seen him angry. I've seen him merciless. But yesterday
CHAPTER 69SALVATORE POV I stood on the balcony overlooking the courtyard. The soldiers below were laughing among themselves, completely unaware that I could hear every word they were saying. One of them said, "She's making the Boss weak." Another added, "All this bloodshed for one woman." A third muttered, "Maybe she'd betray him too."Charlie stood beside me. I felt his stomach tighten. He'd seen this silence before. It was always worse than when I shouted. My expression remained perfectly calm too calm in a way that made the air feel dangerous. Without taking my eyes off the men, I said quietly, "Bring them to the training yard."Charlie hesitated. "Salvatore""Now."The single word left no room for argument.Minutes later every soldier on the island had gathered in the main training yard. No one knew why they were being assembled. Whispers spread through the crowd like electricity. Even Diego sensed something was off. The three men who'd mocked Lena exchanged nervous glances with
SALVATORE POVRevenge was supposed to feel cleaner than this. Simple. Kill everyone responsible, walking away empty but satisfied.Instead, I stood outside Lena Moretti's bedroom at two in the morning wondering why I couldn't stop thinking about the way her hands shook when Matteo smiled at her.I
LENA POVI woke up in silk sheets that probably cost more than most people's houses. And for one horrible second, I forgot where I was.The room was quiet except for the sound of waves crashing against rocks somewhere below the fortress. Pale sunlight spilled through massive glass windows overlook
CHAPTER 3 SALVATORE POVThe first thing Lena Moretti did after arriving on my island was glare at me like she wanted to watch me burn alive. Interesting.Most people arrived here terrified. Broken or either begging.But Lena stood in the middle of my fortress soaked in rain, blood staining her w
CHAPTER 1.SALVATORE POVTen years ago, my family was slaughtered and burnt down in our own house. Tonight, I was finally returning the favor.Rain hammered against the black windows of the SUV as the cathedral came into view through the darkness. My fingers tightened slowly around the gun resting







