CHAPTER ONE

CAGED

SOFIA POV

The bedroom door locks at exactly 10 PM. Every night. Same sound. Same time. Same cage.

I put my ear against the wood and count Luca’s footsteps as he walks down the hallway. Suddenly, I heard his door close.

Now I can finally breathe.

I’ve lived in this mansion for twenty-three years and I’ve never seen the city up close. So sad. Not without guards. Not without “him” watching.

My brother thinks he’s protecting me. I’ve known the truth for years, ever since I caught him standing outside my bathroom door, breathing hard, his hand down his pants.

I was seventeen. He was twenty-two. I wasn’t stupid.

Tonight, I’m done with this b.s.

I strip out of the white silk nightgown Luca bought me and pull on the black dress hidden in my closet. It’s tight. Feeling kind of sneaky I guess. 

The kind of thing that would make my brother lose his mind.

The thought makes me smile.

Red lipstick. The color of freedom.

The tunnel behind the wine cellar is exactly where the guard said it would be. I crawl through on my hands, my heart is beating so fast I think it might break through my ribs.

I emerge three blocks away, gasping and more alive than I’ve ever been.

“Goodbye, cage. Goodbye, monster. Oops. I mean brother.”

_ _ _ _ _

Sinners & Saints is darker than I expected. Louder. The bass throbs through my chest and the air tastes like smoke and sex. Everyone wears masks and the anonymity is intoxicating.

I’m no one here. Just another body in the darkness.

I’m halfway through my second drink when I feel him.

Not just attention. This is weight. Gravity. The feeling of being hunted.

I turn.

He’s standing near the VIP section. Tall. Built like violence in a suit. His eyes lock onto mine through the crowd. I froze for a minute.

He walked toward me. Every step is deliberate. 

He stops in front of me. Close enough that I can smell him, literally.

“You don’t belong here.” His voice is deep. Rough.

“Neither do you,” I shot back.

His lips curve. “What makes you say that?”

“Your suit costs more than most people’s cars. You’re slumming.”

“Maybe I like the view.”

Heat rushes to my face. Lower.

He leans close, his breath hot against my ear. “You came here looking for trouble, Mamacita. The question is…are you brave enough to find it?”

“I have rules,” I hear myself say.

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”

“No names. No faces. One night only.”

His thumb traces circles on my hip bone. “Anything else?”

I think about Luca’s hand on my door. His eyes on my body. His voice claiming me as *his*.

I want to be someone else’s. Just for the night.

“If you’re so confident… why don’t you get on your knees and eat my kitty, Daddy?”

His eyes go dark behind the mask. Then his hand tightens on my hip hard enough to bruise.

“You don’t know what you just started.”

He grabs my wrist and pulls me through the crowd toward a hallway marked PRIVATE. He pushes open a door, dim lighting, a lock that clicks from the inside.

He turns and suddenly I’m pressed against the wall.

“Last chance to run, little girl.”

I grab his collar and pull him closer. “I didn’t come here to run.”

_ _ _ _ _

He drops to his knees.

My dress rides up at my waist. Black lace panties hang in shreds from one ankle.

He tore them off like they insulted him.

His hands clamp my thighs, spreading me wide against the wall. Cool air hits my wet pussy and I shiver.

“Say it again,” he growls. “Call me what you called me at the bar.”

“Daddy,” I whisper.

He waits.

Louder. “Daddy… please.”

“Good girl.”

Then his mouth is on me.

No teasing. He dives in like he’s starving. Tongue flat and wide, dragging up my slit in one long stroke that makes my knees buckle. I grab his hair and hold on.

He sucks my clit between his lips. Hard. Then soft. Then hard again. Flicking so fast I can’t breathe. My hips jerk forward. He pins me harder against the wall.

“Stay still,” he orders. “Let Daddy taste what he owns tonight.”

He slides two fingers inside me, slow at first, then deeper. Pressing that spot that makes white sparks shoot behind my eyes.

I cry out.

He doesn’t stop. Tongue circling my clit while his fingers pump steady, ruthless. The wet sounds are obscene.

“Cum on my tongue,” he commands. “Cum like the dirty little girl you’ve been hiding.”

I shatter.

Thighs shake around his head. Back arches off the wall. I couldn't help but moan out loud. He keeps licking through it until I’m whimpering, oversensitive, trying to push his head away.

He doesn’t let me.

“One more,” he says, standing. “You’re not done.”

He lifts me. Carries me to the couch. Drops me on my back. My legs fall open automatically.

Belt open. Zipper down. His cock springs free. Mmm what an amazing view.

Heavy, thick, already leaking. He strokes himself once, twice, eyes locked on me.

“Eyes on me.”

I obey.

He notches the head at my entrance. Presses. Just enough to part me.

“Beg,” he orders.

“Please fuck me, Daddy. I need it.”

He slams home in one brutal thrust.

My mouth opens on a silent scream. He’s so deep it hurts and feels perfect. Full. Stretched. Owned.

He doesn’t give me time to adjust. Pulls almost all the way out then drives back in. Hard. Again. Again. The couch creaks. My tits bounce with every snap of his hips.

“Look at you,” he rasps. “Pussy gripping me like it never wants to let go.”

I claw his back. Nails digging red lines. Thrusts harder. Deeper.

He hooks my legs over his shoulders. Folds me in half. Hits even deeper.

“Cum again,” he growls. “Cum on Daddy’s cock.”

His thumb finds my clit. Rough circles. Fast.

I break.

This orgasm is intense. Legs shaking. Vision blurring. I scream “Daddy!!” over and over while my walls pulse around him.

He follows right after. Groans low. Buries himself to the heat. I feel him swell, throb, then hot spurts deep inside me.

We collapse. Sweaty. Trembling. 

He places his forehead to mine. Breath ragged.

“You’re freaking dangerous,” he murmurs.

I smile against his neck. “So are you… Daddy.”

He shifts, pulling out slowly. Stands. Tucks himself back in. That’s when I see it.

The tattoo on his back. A symbol I’ve seen before.

Then he turns. The mask has shifted.

A thin white scar along his jaw.

My blood turns to ice.

I know that scar. I’ve seen it in photographs in my brother’s office. In files marked KILL ON SIGHT.

Alessio Volkov.

The Viper.

My family’s greatest enemy.

The man who just fucked me raw and made me beg.

One night only?

That rule just shattered.