Sharp Mouth!

She got dressed in a simple shirt she found in the closet, and went down to the rooftop garden. The place was surprisingly serene. Murmuring fountains, well-kept flowers, and birds flying free in a setting that seemed to belong to another world so opposite to the hell she was living in.

She dragged the chair back slowly and sat, her eyes scanning the garden. She hated how peaceful it looked. Everything here was too controlled, too clean, like someone forced it to stay perfect while she crumbled inside. It made her sick.

Emily appeared shortly after, bringing breakfast.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked, placing the tray down.

Seraphina raised an eyebrow. “Aside from being trapped in a golden castle with a lunatic murderer, I slept like an angel.”

Emily let out a muffled laugh. “You talk too much. That could get you killed in here.”

Seraphina turned to her. “Then maybe that’s the best thing that could happen to me. Maybe getting killed is better than breathing in this fake air and pretending this isn’t a prison dressed up like a palace.”

“You don’t know when to shut up, do you?” Emily said, but her voice wasn’t mocking this time.

“Why should I? You want me to stay quiet and eat toast while someone plays god with my life? "I’m not wired like that,” Seraphina replied. Her eyes didn’t blink. “Let him kill me, at least then I die screaming.”

Emily paused, watching her. Then her voice dropped low.

“Sometimes the enemy isn’t outside; Seraphina, it’s inside. And it’s not always what it seems.”

Seraphina frowned. “What are you talking about? Inside what?”

Emily shook her head slowly. “Inside people, Inside him, Inside you. Maybe everything.”

Seraphina stood. “Why are you saying this now?”

But Emily didn’t answer. She just looked at the tray, then back at Seraphina.

“Eat or don’t, just remember not everyone here is what they pretend to be.” She turned and walked off.

Seraphina stood still. Something about Emily’s tone felt wrong. She didn’t sound like someone doing her job, she sounded like someone warning her. A quiet warning no one else was supposed to hear.

The rooftop suddenly felt colder. The flowers didn’t look as beautiful anymore. They looked like a cover-up.

**********

In the south wing meeting room, Vincenzo was examining reports with a cold gaze. His hand rested on the edge of the table, his fingers tapping softly. There was tension in the air, the kind that never spoke out loud but screamed from every silent look.

His men stood quiet. No one moved unless he did.

The previous attack on the shipment had greatly impacted his deals. Losing money was one thing ….. Losing control was another.

“She’s interfering with your focus,” said Mathew, bluntly. “That’s never happened before.”

Vincenzo looked at him with contempt. “Are you suggesting I’ve lost control?”

Mathew didn’t back down. “No. I’m suggesting she’s affecting you in ways you don’t want to admit.”

“Be careful how you speak, Mathew,” Vincenzo warned.

“I am. That’s the point,” he replied. “You’ve never let anything distract you. Not cops, not rivals, not betrayal….. But this woman... she’s crawling under your skin, boss. And we see it.”

Vincenzo said nothing.

“If we don’t probe for the truth, things may get worse,” Mathew added. “Boss, we need to find out her connection with Frank.”

Vincenzo stood up with contained fury. “I don’t care.”

Mathew raised his head. “You should, sir.”

“I own, command and destroy,” Vincenzo said through clenched teeth.

“Then destroy the weakness too, boss, whatever it is and whoever it is.”

Vincenzo’s silence said enough. He didn’t like being questioned. But Mathew’s words weren’t wrong. Everyone knew it. The problem was... so did Vincenzo.

The spark Seraphina had lit was now burning under his skin. And no amount of fire could kill it.

**********

At the end of the day, Seraphina was called to a meeting in the library.

She walked in, her heart steady but tight. The room was dimly lit, shadows dancing from the fireplace. She spotted him instantly ….. Vincenzo leaned against the stone mantel, his shirt half open with a glass of whiskey in hand. He looked like he’d been standing there for hours, just staring at the flames.

“Came to threaten me again? Mr. De Luca” she said, dryly.

“Came to remind you of one thing,” he replied, stepping closer.

“You may hate that I imprisoned you, but baby… you’ll never leave me.”

She folded her arms. “You don’t hold me, Vincenzo. You chain me like an animal. That’s not power …. Its fear disguised as control.”

Vincenzo tilted his head. His eyes darkened. “Fear works. Ask the thousands who kneel when I walk in.”

She sneered. “You call that respect?”

“I don’t need their respect, I need their obedience and the same as you.”

“Then you’re more pathetic than I thought.”

He moved closer. “You speak like you’ve got options. You don’t. I could’ve had your throat slit the day I found out about your betrayal, but instead, I put you in my room, fed you, dressed you, watched you sleep and even brought you along on a trip to the state.”

“Watched me? "Brought me to the state by drugging me,” she hissed. “You’re sick.”

He leaned in, his voice low and cruel. “I am. But I’m your sickness now. You breathe in my world, live under my roof, eat from my table. Your heartbeat exists because I allow it.”

“You think that scares me?” she snapped.

“No, I think it turns you on,” he whispered, his eyes burning into hers. “I think somewhere deep inside, you like being owned. Even if you hate who owns you.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“And you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever wanted to destroy slowly,” he said, his voice thick and possessive. “I kill for money, for territory. But for you? I’d kill just to feel you shake under me.”

He moved even closer, standing directly in front of her.

Without warning, Vincenzo’s fingers lifted gently to her neck, sliding along her jawline. Slowly. His thumb pressed beneath her chin, tilting her face up.

His touch wasn’t rushed….. It was cold, intentional. Like a warning dressed in silk.

Seraphina froze, but didn’t step back. Her jaw clenched as he traced his finger lightly across her cheek.

“Soft skin,” he muttered. “Too soft for this world, that’s why I need to harden you.”

Her chest rose, her breath locked. She hated that her skin reacted…..not from desire, but from rage, heat, tension.

“You don’t touch me,” she whispered.

“I am going to do what I want,” he replied, brushing her hair off her shoulders, his fingers grazing her collarbone. “And right now... I want to remind you of who you belong to.”

“You’ll never own me,” she said, eyes locked on his.

He leaned closer, his lips near her ear. “You already belong to me, Seraphina. The second I chose you… you became mine. Body, blood and breath.”

She swallowed hard, her fists tightening. “Then kill me.”

He smiled, almost lazily. “Not yet….. Not until I break every piece of you. Slowly and intimately.”

He stepped back finally, his fingers trailing off her skin like smoke.

She whispered with unexpected courage, “The enemy isn’t me, maybe the enemy is in here.” She placed her hand gently on her chest.

Vincenzo’s expression flickered and then hardened. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from her chest, his eyes locked on hers.

“Don’t test me.”

“I’m not testing you. I’m challenging you. And you hate it... because, deep down, you know you’ve lost control.”

His grip tightened slightly before he shoved her hand away and stepped back.

“Careful, Seraphina,” he said darkly. “There’s a thin line between keeping you and burying you.”

“Then dig the grave. But know this …. I’ll haunt every part of your empire.”

He stared at her for one long moment and then turned sharply and slammed the door behind him.

Seraphina stood there, her chest rising and falling fast. Her skin still burned where he touched her. But she didn’t move.

For the first time, she felt something had changed.

She had seen the devil’s crack.

Now she just had to decide... whether to keep pushing, or run before he dragged her down completely.