Se connecterMarcelina~Domenico stood near the doorway with one hand tucked into his pocket and his expression as unreadable as ever.And for a second, my heart betrayed me.It wasn't just the fact that the room suddenly felt hot with him in it. It was the fact that seeing him again brought a wave of relief I wasn't prepared for.And I hated it.I hated it because the man standing in front of me was still the same infuriating bastard who had pulled his little stunt, messed with my head, my body, and my sanity, and then disappeared for days.Yet somehow, none of that stopped my eyes from lingering on him.Fuck.He looked hot.Annoyingly hot.But something about him looked different.His dark hair was slightly messy, as though he'd been running his hands through it all day and his jaw was shadowed with stubble, making him look rougher than usual.The black shirt he wore had its sleeves rolled up to his forearms, exposing tanned skin and the veins running beneath it.And those eyes.Those cold grey
Marcelina~Three days later, I was still restless.Corey's call had done absolutely nothing to calm me down.The fact that Xavier was looking for me and seemed determined to find me no matter what was one thing. But the fact that he knew exactly who I had married—and what he might do with that information—was another thing entirely.And if Domenico found out someone was digging into my whereabouts and speaking to authorities...God.I didn't even want to think about that."Signora." The voice pulled me from my thoughts. Only then did I realize I was sitting in the dining room.My dinner sat untouched in front of me, a fork resting loosely between my fingers while Lucia stood nearby with her hands folded in front of her.She offered the same fake smile she had been using for days, since the club incident.But I wasn't fooled.Not even a little."Do you not like the food?"I looked down at my plate.I couldn't even remember taking a single bite."The food is fine."For the third time,
Marcelina~I hadn't heard from him in weeks.Well, not since my dear husband had decided it was perfectly reasonable to invade my privacy and "remove" people from my contact list before handing me a replacement phone.I pushed myself upright against the headboard."This happened last night?""Yeah," she replied with a scoff. "And guess who fucking showed up with him?"I frowned.At the moment, my brain was still stuck on Xavier."Who?""Garret O' fucking Connor,"I winced immediately. "Oh.""Exactly."A groan escaped me.That explained the mood.Garrett O'Connor and Corey were a disaster waiting to happen.The two of them hated each other on principle. Nobody knew exactly how it started anymore and at this point, it had become part of their personalities.Every conversation turned into an argument.Every argument turned into a fight.And somehow, despite all of that, they had still managed to end up in bed together once.A fact Corey hated remembering.And one she hated being reminded
Marcelina~I didn't go downstairs for breakfast.Partly because I was still angry.Mostly because I didn't think I could survive being in the same room as Domenico right now. So I stayed in my room and asked for breakfast to be brought up instead.To my surprise, when Lucia arrived, she looked annoyed. The woman walked into my room carrying the breakfast tray with a smile so forced it was almost painful to watch.Her lips smiled.Her eyes absolutely did not.If anything, they looked like she wanted to lecture someone for three straight hours.Unfortunately for her, I wasn't in the mood.And judging from the way she kept opening and closing her mouth, she wasn't in a position to say whatever was bothering her either.So we both pretended.She pretended to smile, and I pretended not to notice.The moment I finished eating, Lucia returned to collect the charcuterie board and empty dishes before disappearing again, leaving me alone with my thoughts.Which was probably the worst thing poss
Domenico~Six hours later, I was sitting at the head of the table with a glass of whiskey untouched beside me while my men spoke about the incident back in Russia.Normally, I would've been leading the conversation.This time?My mind wasn't in the fucking room.It kept drifting back to Marcelina.To that black dress.Burning it should've solved the problem. It should've erased the image from my head. Instead, it made things worse.Because now every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was her standing in front of me wearing that tight little fucking thing. And somehow, that wasn't even the worst part anymore.The worst part was her without the dress.Holy fucking shit.That image had driven me past insanity into something far uglier.Something obsessive.I could still see every detail too clearly. The way her body trembled beneath my stare. The way she stood there trying to look angry while her body betrayed her in every possible way.And the look in her eyes—Fuck.I dragged a han
Marcelina~Domenico stood completely still, watching me like I had shifted something inside him. His eyes stayed fixed on me with that same blazing intensity that made heat spread helplessly through my body. There was nothing calm or indifferent about the way he looked at me now.He looked tense.Hungry. Hotter.Like he was seeing me for the very first time and hated how much he liked what he saw.Like every ounce of restraint inside him was hanging by a thread.My skin burned under the weight of his stare until I had to press my thighs together just to relieve the ache down there. And somehow, that only made his expression darken further.A shaky breath escaped me.Because I suddenly realized something terrifying.I never knew Domenico Vitali was capable of looking at me like this.Every instinct screamed at me to cover myself somehow, but I couldn't move. Couldn't think. Because there was no hiding anything.Not my face.Not my reaction.Not the way my body trembled under his star
Marcelina's POVBy the time I reached the dining room, I slowed. The room was already set. Only this time, it wasn't empty. I could hear voices from inside."And where is she?" I recognized the voice immediately.His mother.There was no warmth in it, no patience either. Just expectation, edged wi
Marcelina's POVThe dining room was already set when I walked in.Not just set, prepared.The table stretched out in front of me, covered with more food than necessary. And yet, there was no one else.I pulled out a chair and sat down slowly, my eyes moving over the dishes without really seeing the
Domenico's POV He was one of the new faces. Not older than twenty, with a slim build and too clean for someone sitting in a room like this. That alone told me everything I needed to know."Relax," I said calmly, though there was no warmth in it. "You look like you've already been judged." A weak
Domenico's POVBy the time Umberto pulled up in front of Il Ritrovo, the night was already in full swing.The place looked like any other old bar from the outside—dim lights, worn wood, and a sign that had survived more years than most of the men who walked through its doors. But Il Ritrovo wasn't







