MasukThe revelation hung in the air like a death sentence.Three names. Three people Damian trusted with his life. One of them was a traitor."Are you absolutely certain?" Damian's voice was dangerously calm, the kind of calm that preceded bloodshed."As certain as I can be without direct access to their personal devices." Kai pulled up financial records, communication logs, encrypted data streams. "Look at this pattern. Every time one of your shipments got hit, every time intel leaked, one of these three had access to the information beforehand."I studied the screens, my stomach churning. Sofia—cold, efficient, always three steps ahead. Councilman Marcus—political connections that made him untouchable. And Marcus Vincenzo—Damian's right hand, the man who'd stood beside him for five years."What about Matteo?" I asked quietly. "Which one of them knew about him?"Kai's fingers flew across the keyboard. "All three had information about your brother's movements in the weeks before his death.
Friday arrived too quickly.Damian had been cold and distant for two days. He still came to bed, still held me at night, but there was a wall between us now. He didn't touch me the way he usually did—possessive, consuming. Instead, his touches were careful, almost... fragile.Like he was already letting go.At 6:00 PM, I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting my collar for the third time. I'd chosen dark jeans and a charcoal sweater—casual but nice. Normal clothes. Not the expensive pieces Damian had bought me.I looked like myself again. Almost."You look good."I turned to find Damian leaning against the doorframe, watching me with an unreadable expression. He was in his usual black, perfectly composed, but there was something haunted in his eyes."Thanks," I said awkwardly."Castellane has good taste. He'll appreciate the effort." His voice was flat, emotionless. "Have fun, Luca."He turned to leave."Damian, wait—"But he was already gone, the sound of his study door closing echo
Damian kept his promise.We barely made it through the penthouse door before he had me against the wall, jacket shoved off my shoulders, bow tie yanked loose. His mouth was everywhere—my lips, my jaw, down my throat—claiming every inch of skin with teeth and tongue."Every. Single. Word." He punctuated each word with a bite to my collarbone. "I'm going to make you forget everything he said."My head fell back against the wall as his hands worked my belt. "Damian—""Did you like how he looked at you?" His voice was rough, dangerous. "Like you were something precious?""Yes," I gasped, then immediately regretted the honesty when his eyes flashed dark."Wrong answer."He spun me around, pressing my face against the cool wall. I heard the sound of his belt, the rustle of fabric, and then his body was flush against my back, hard and demanding."You want to know what you are?" he growled in my ear. "You're mine. Not precious. Not glass. Mine. And I'm going to prove it."What followed was in
"Hold still."The tailor's assistant circled me like a vulture, pinning fabric with ruthless efficiency. I stood on a platform in Damian's bedroom, arms outstretched, while he transformed me into someone I didn't recognize."A gala?" I'd asked when Damian announced it over breakfast."The Annual Sapphire Foundation Charity Event," he'd corrected. "Where the criminal elite pretend to care about orphans while negotiating weapons deals in the bathroom.""Sounds delightful.""It is, actually." His smile had been sharp. "And you're coming with me."Now, three hours later, I stared at myself in the mirror and felt my breath catch.The tuxedo was midnight blue—so dark it was almost black, with silk lapels that caught the light. It fit like it had been painted on, emphasizing every line of my body. The assistant had styled my hair, tamed it into something elegant, and the overall effect was..."Devastating," Damian said from the doorway.I turned to find him watching me with an expression tha
The tailor came and went, leaving behind a wardrobe that probably cost more than my brother's funeral.Everything was dark—blacks, charcoals, deep navy. Colors that matched Damian's aesthetic. Colors that screamed his.I hated how good I looked in them.By evening, Damian led me down to the building's sublevels, past security checkpoints that required retinal scans and fingerprints, into what he called his "private facility."The gym was state-of-the-art. Weapons lined one wall behind reinforced glass—everything from knives to firearms to things I didn't have names for. Mats covered the floor. Punching bags hung like bodies from the ceiling."Strip to your waist," Damian ordered, already pulling off his shirt.I froze. "What?""You heard me." He stood there, torso bare, all carved muscle and ink and that jagged scar across his collarbone. "If you're going to survive in my world, you need to learn how to fight. Properly.""I know how to fight."His laugh was dark. "You know how to thro
The first thing I felt was pain.Not the sharp, immediate kind that makes you scream. This was deeper. A slow, throbbing ache that radiated from my hips, my thighs, the base of my spine. Evidence of what Damian Moretti had done to me the night before.Evidence of what I'd let him do.I opened my eyes to find myself alone in his bed—a California king draped in silk sheets that probably cost more than six months' rent at my old apartment. The room was bathed in cold morning light, all steel-gray and unforgiving. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city like a god surveying his domain.Damian's domain.I sat up slowly, every muscle protesting. My wrists were bruised where the cuffs had held me. Fingerprints marked my hips in deep purple. And lower, between my legs, I could still feel him. The stretch. The burn. The complete and utter possession.I should have been disgusted with myself.Instead, I was... what? Confused? Angry?Aroused?No. Fuck that.I shoved the thought away and swu







