INICIAR SESIÓN(Adraino pov)
I stared down at her sleeping face, so innocent, so peaceful, with those soft lashes brushing her cheeks and her lips slightly parted in quiet breaths. My hardened, ruthless heart softened, just a fraction, from the moment I spotted her at the bar, I had knew she was special and different, pure light in my endless night, and I wasn't letting her go, not ever.
But the fear of her finding out who I really am, the Mafia Don who ruled this city with an iron fist, enemies trembled at my name. Rivals begged for mercy I rarely gave. They called me the Devil, and for good reason. Blood stained my hands, deals sealed in shadows, power built on fear and bullets. She could never know. Not yet.
My phone vibrated sharply on the nightstand, shattering the silence. I snatched it up, my expression hardening instantly as I saw the caller, I answered on the second ring, my voice low.
“Talk.”
“East warehouse,” Roman said, breath tight. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Shipment’s compromised.”
My eyes lifted slowly from her sleeping form. “Define compromised.”
“Security’s down. Cameras went dead ten minutes ago. Guards aren’t responding."
“Who hit it?” I asked.
“We don’t know yet.”
“You don’t know?” My tone dropped. “Or you haven’t looked hard enough?”
“We’re still pulling feeds from nearby blocks—”
“Stop talking,” I cut in. “Are you there?”
“Two minutes out.”
“Good,” I said, already reaching for my jacket. “Stay outside. No one goes in until I get there.”
“Yes, boss.”
I ended the call, for a second, I didn’t move, "Damn it," I muttered under my breath. I glanced back at her one last time, memorizing the curve of her face, then leaned down and pressed a feather-light kiss to her forehead.
"Sleep, pajarito I will be back before you wake."
I moved like a ghost, grabbing my jacket and signaling my men waiting in the hall. Within seconds, they were armed, each one with a sleek black gun holstered or gripped tight.
“Boss all set,” Marco said as I stepped outside.
“How many?” I asked.
“Six cars. Full crew.”
“Good,” I replied. “We go in, we secure the shipment, we get out.”
“You think it’s a hit?” Luca asked as I got into the SUV, engines roared to life, and the convoy sped through the rainy city streets toward the warehouse district. I sat in the lead SUV, jaw clenched, fingers drumming on my knee.
"How bad?" I asked my right-hand man, Luca, without looking away from the window.
"Bad, boss. Looks like a setup. Shipment's hot, automatic rifles, enough to arm a small army. If we lose it..."
“I think someone wants my attention,” I said.
“And you’re giving it to them,” Marco muttered.
I glanced at him. “That’s how you find out who’s stupid enough to ask for it.”
We pulled up to the warehouse under cover of night. The air was thick with tension. No lights. . My instincts screamed trap, but the shipment was too valuable to abandon. We moved in formation, guns drawn, shadows blending with the crates stacked high inside
“Where the hell is everyone?”
“Stay sharp,” I said as I stepped out. “No one spreads out. We move together.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Doors are unlocked,” Luca said.
“That’s not a good sign,”
Then all hell broke loose. Gunfire erupted from multiple directions, ambush. Police sirens wailed in the distance, but these weren't just cops. Special teams poured in, backed by what looked like rival informants. Bullets ricocheted off metal, shattering glass and wood. My men returned fire with precision, but they were outnumbered.
"Cover the exit!" I barked, my own gun blazing as I dropped two officers with clean shots. Blood sprayed. Chaos reigned. I spotted Luca pinned down behind a crate. Without hesitation, I charged forward, laying suppressive fire, grabbing my lieutenant by the collar and shoving him toward the back door.
"Get the others out! Now! I'll hold them!"
"Boss, no—"
"Go!" My roar cut through the noise. I protected my crew one by one, taking hits that grazed my arm and side, but never faltering. My men escaped into the night, vanishing like smoke.
Alone now, surrounded, I lowered my weapon slowly as officers closed in, rifles trained on my chest. I locked eyes with the lead detective, a smug bastard who'd clearly orchestrated the tip-off, the one who'd tricked us here.
"You think this ends me?" I asked ,voice low and lethal, even as cuffs clicked around my wrists. Blood trickled from a cut on my lip. "I will wipe out your entire family from the face of the earth, every last one, slowly, you will beg for death before I'm done."
The detective smirked, but there was a flicker of fear in his eyes. "Big words for a man in cuffs, Devil."
I just smiled a cold, promise-filled grin as they dragged me away. "Count the days."
Hours later, in the cold interrogation room, I sat chained to the table, my expensive suit torn and stained, the detective paced, slamming files down.
"We got you this time, Adraino Rossi. Gun trafficking, assault on officers, ties to half a dozen murders. You're done."
I leaned back, unfazed, my dark eyes piercing. "Am I? You have nothing but a setup, my lawyers will have me out by morning. And you... you just signed your death warrant."
The detective laughed nervously. "Keep talking. We raided three more of your spots tonight."
My phone had been taken, but I knew my empire was already moving. Loyal men on the outside, contingencies in place. But my mind drifted back to her, the girl sleeping safely in my bed, she couldn't know about this, not the arrest, not the blood.
"You think fear will break me?" I said quietly, almost to myself. "I've built my life on it."
The detective leaned in close. "Who was the girl at the bar? The one you were talking to? We know about her now."
My eyes flashed with pure rage. I lunged forward as far as the chains allowed, my voice a deadly whisper: "Touch one hair on her head, and I'll burn this city down with you in it. That's not a threat. That's a vow."
The room fell silent. Even the cops shifted uncomfortably, I settled back, heart still soft for her, but the Devil fully
awake now, they just threatened her, I would get out, I would protect her, and I would make them all pay.
(Melissa Pov)The ride back from the prison was nothing like the ride there, I stared out the window at the gray road flying past. My hands shook in my lap. Daniel sat right beside me, quiet and stiff. Every few seconds I felt eyes on me. Students whispered. Some pretended to look at their phones, but they kept glancing my way. They had all heard it. The prisoner’s loud, wild shout. The guards rushing in. The way they pulled me out like I was dangerous. The professors yelling at security.Everybody knew something huge had just happened and that something was connected to me.Moretti’s daughter.The words kept screaming inside my head. They wouldn’t stop. They cut deeper every time.Daniel finally spoke, his voice low.“Do you know who Salvatore Moretti is?”I shook my head fast. “No.”“But he knew you. He shouted your name.”“I’ve never seen that man before in my life.”Daniel watched me closely, like he was trying to read my face. “You don’t look surprised.”His words hit hard. Becau
(Melissa pov)The moment the bus turned onto the long isolated road leading toward the federal prison, the atmosphere inside changed completely.The loud conversations slowly faded, even the students who had spent the entire ride joking around suddenly became quieter while staring through the windows at the massive concrete walls ahead.Tall fences layered with razor wire surrounded the entire property while armed officers patrolled every visible corner, the place looked cold like hope itself stopped breathing there years ago, I shifted slightly in my seat while Daniel leaned closer toward the window.“Okay,” he muttered quietly, “this is officially the creepiest field trip our department has ever organized.”“You said that about the abandoned asylum museum last semester.”“Because that place also looked haunted.”Fair point, the black SUVs carrying Adriano’s men continued following closely behind the bus, which immediately caught the attention of the prison security stationed outside
(Melissa Pov)For the first time in weeks, I woke up without hearing guards arguing outside the bedroom door.That alone felt suspicious, I blinked slowly against the morning sunlight spilling through the curtains before turning slightly in bed.Empty, Adriano’s side was already cold, a small wave of disappointment hit me instantly before I noticed the folded note resting on the pillow beside me, I picked it up sleepily.You looked peaceful. I didn’t want to wake you. Eat breakfast before leaving.And do not escape your guards today.— AI stared at the note for several seconds before smiling despite myself, the man literally signed threatening instructions like love letters.Completely ridiculous, but still, I folded the note carefully instead of throwing it away, which probably said a lot about my emotional state lately, after showering and getting dressed for class, I headed downstairs expecting the usual suffocating security atmosphere.Instead, the mansion felt strangely calm thi
(Adriano Pov)Yes.One simple word, yet somehow it hit harder than gunfire ever had, for several seconds I could only stare at her.Melissa looked back at me calmly, completely unaware that she had just altered the course of my entire life with one quiet answer.Yes.Not hesitant, not afraid, not conditional, just certain, the terrifying thing was how badly I wanted to believe her, how desperately some ruined part of me wanted to hold onto that single word and build an entire future around it.A future, again that impossible thought, I brushed my thumb slowly against her cheek while my mind struggled between instinct and emotion, instinct told me love was weakness, emotion told me she was becoming the only thing keeping me human which was a dangerous combination.“You shouldn’t say things like that so easily,” I murmured quietly.Melissa frowned immediately.“I wasn’t lying.”“I know.”That was the problem, she meant every word and somehow that terrified me more than manipulation ever
(Melissa pov)For a moment I simply stared at him, the room felt too quiet, Adriano’s question lingered between us like something fragile and dangerous at the same time, would you still choose me anyway?The strange thing was that he sounded almost afraid asking it, not physically afraid but emotionally and that honestly shocked me more than anything else, because Adriano Rossi feared almost nothing.Yet right now, sitting beside me in the dim light of the bedroom with tension visible in his eyes, he looked like a man waiting for a verdict capable of destroying him, my chest tightened painfully at the sight.“Why are you asking me that?” I whispered softly.He didn’t answer immediately, Adriano always carried silence like armor whenever something mattered too much, I studied him carefully while trying to understand what exactly was happening inside his head tonight.Something felt different, Like he was carrying a decision he didn’t know how to make.“You’ve been distant since earlier
(Adriano Pov)The mansion was finally quiet again.Melissa’s friends had left hours ago after turning half the house upside down with laughter, questions, stolen desserts from the kitchen, and enough noise to confuse my guards into believing an actual attack was happening at one point.Now silence had returned, but unlike before Melissa entered my life, the silence no longer felt peaceful, It felt temporary, like the calm before something terrible.I stood alone inside my office staring out through the massive glass windows overlooking the city while rain continued falling steadily across the streets below.Somewhere upstairs, Melissa was sleeping, completely unaware that her father had returned from the dead.Completely unaware that powerful men were preparing wars around her existence, completely unaware that every decision I made now could either protect her or destroy her, I loosened my tie slowly before sitting down heavily against the leather chair behind the desk.For the first
(Melissa pov)“Open the door.”“No.”“You’re not seriously refusing to let me in my own room,” Adriano’s voice came from the other side, calm but edged with something dangerous.“I am,” I replied, arms crossed even though he couldn’t see me. “And I will continue to refuse.”“You’re still angry.”I
“It’s been two months… and I still feel like I never really escaped him.”Two months since Adriano Rossi appeared on every screen in handcuffs, and I still couldn’t breathe without feeling his shadow on my neck, I told myself he was gone, I stopped watching the news, I stopped saying his name, I st
(Melissa pov)“Melissa! Wait—!” Fuck it's Daniel, I didn’t stop.“Melissa, please!”I walked faster, my grip tightening around my bag.“Mel—!”I broke into a run, by the time I reached the lecture hall, my chest was tight and my hands were shaking, but I didn’t turn back, I didn’t look for him, I d
(Melissa pov)“Still want to leave?”His voice cut through my thoughts, low and calm, carrying that same unsettling control that seemed to follow him everywhere, as if nothing in his world ever moved without his permission.“No,” I said, the word leaving my lips before I could stop it. Where did my







