Se connecterKatarina’s POVThe drive back was quiet, but my chest wasn’t. Every word that man at the cemetery said kept replaying in my head — the child, the bloodline, the throne.Vittorio’s hand rested on my thigh the whole way home, thumb brushing over my skin like he was afraid I’d disappear if he stopped touching me. When we finally drove past the edge of the cemetery, he suddenly spoke.“Stop the car.”Valentino frowned but pulled over. “We good?”Vittorio didn’t answer. He stepped out, came around, and opened my door. Then without warning, he lifted me into his arms.“Vittorio—what are you doing?” I whispered, startled but clinging to him anyway.“Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”He carried me across the empty road, into a small stone church sitting just beyond the trees. The place looked ancient—quiet, lit by a single lamp over the altar. It smelled like old candles and rain.He set me down in front of the pews, hands still around my waist. His eyes were softer than I’d ever
Katarina’s POV“Holy shit, I’m freezing.”That was the first thing Luce said when she walked through the front doors like she’d just returned from a weekend trip instead of being kidnapped. She was wrapped in a huge coat, hair messy, eyes sharper than ever.“That bastard Mori?” she shouted the second she stepped in. “I swear to God, I’ll gut that son of a bitch myself!”Valentino looked up from the couch, calm as ever. “Well, good morning to you too.”“Don’t ‘good morning’ me,” Luce snapped. “They locked me in a cold room for two days. Two. Days. You know how hard it is to sleep on a floor that smells like bleach?”I just stood there, watching her. She was still herself — fierce, unfiltered, all noise and chaos. But something in her eyes was different this time.Vittorio stepped forward, voice even. “They didn’t hurt you?”“No,” she said, throwing her arms out. “Fed me like I was on vacation. Soup, rice, and those stupid green teas. I almost started liking it before I remembered I was
Katarina’s POV The Next MorningI was heading down the hall when I heard them. Vittorio’s voice — low, sharp — came through the half-open door of the office.“—they never made it back,” he said.I stopped cold.Valentino was pacing. “You’re saying both of them are gone?”“Gone,” Vittorio said flatly. “The maid and the man she met.”My heart kicked. Rosa.I leaned closer to the doorway, careful not to make a sound.“We had someone tail her,” Vittorio continued. “She went straight to an old part of town. A diner near the docks. Sat there like she was waiting for someone. An older man came in, maybe sixty, dressed too clean for the area.”Valentino grunted. “Government type?”“Could be,” Vittorio said. “He sat with her. She handed him the note. He opened it, looked at it once through his glasses.” Vittorio’s voice dropped. “And then both of them dropped dead.”My breath caught.“What?” Valentino said.“They were shot,” Vittorio said. “Two clean bullets. Same time. Long range. Someone w
Katarina’s POV“I don’t like it,” I said, staring at the locked door at the end of the hallway. “Something’s wrong.”Vittorio looked up from the folder he was reading. “What is it little fox?”“The cleaning room,” I said. “That’s where she was. Fiorella — or whatever her name is — she wasn’t just hiding there. She was doing something.”Valentino kicked back in his chair. “What, folding towels suspiciously?”I gave him a look. “She was too calm when you brought her in. Like she knew something we didn’t.”Vittorio’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What are you saying?”“I’m saying,” I said slowly, “she left something behind.”He stared at me for a second, jaw tightening. “You think she planted something?”“Or hid something.” I crossed my arms. “You didn’t see her face when you mentioned the cleaning hallway. She flinched.”Valentino leaned forward. “You sure?”“I’m sure enough to bet your stupid car on it.”That got his attention. He grinned. “Now I’m listening.”Vittorio stood, pacing once. “
Vittorio’s POV“Sit her down.”Fiorella didn’t fight when the guards pushed her into the chair. Her wrists were tied, ankles too. Her hair was a mess, eyes swollen, face pale but proud. Like she still thought she had a way out.Valentino leaned against the table, arms crossed. “Comfortable?”She smirked. “I’ve had worse.”I ignored her and nodded for the guards to leave. The door shut, heavy and final.The silence that followed was thick. Only her breathing and the small hum of the light.Katarina stood by the wall, arms crossed, a bandage still on her head. She shouldn’t have been here. I told her that, twice already.“You’re not staying,” I said without looking at her.“I’m not leaving either,” she said.“This isn’t your fight.”“She hit me in the head,” she shot back. “It feels like my fight.”I turned to her then, slow. “Not this time. You’re done getting hurt for me. I’ll handle it.”Katarina’s mouth tightened, but she didn’t argue again. She just moved to the corner and folded h
Vittorio’s POV“Signore! Signore!” Ombra’s voice ripped through the hall like a scream.I was halfway through pulling on a shirt when she burst into the room, eyes wide, face pale. “It’s Madam Katarina—she’s hurt! The war room door was open. She’s on the floor—there’s blood!”For one second, everything stopped. Then I was moving. Without shoes and no shirt. Just shorts and the rush of adrenaline. In my body Valentino came out of his room at the same time, his hair was a mess and gun already in hand. “What happened?” he barked. Ombra was still panting. “The nanny found Katarina in the war room. Said she was bleeding. I—I think someone attacked her.”He didn’t wait for more.We moved with speed.The house blurred. I barely saw the marble or the guards we passed. My head was ringing too loud to hear anything except her name.Please not her. Not again.When we reached the west wing, Ombra pointed. “There!”The war room door was half open and Blood smeared the floor. And she was
Selena POV: At Home Studying For The Nursing Exam."No, I don't care if he has a degree from Oxford. If he breathes on my neck one more time, I will punch him in the face."I slammed the textbook shut, nearly knocking over my coffee. My so-called tutor flinched from across the table, eyes wide lik
Giordano POV, Earlier At The Fake Safehouse, They Blew "You idiots couldn’t catch a cold in a snowstorm."I stepped out of the black SUV like a storm rolling in. My boots hit the gravel. My jaw clenched. The wreckage of the failed raid still smoked behind the so-called safehouse. Bodies, blood, c
Vittorio POV: At The Back Of The Restaurant Where Kat Was Kidnapped..Scarface didn’t get far.Luce slammed him face-first into the pavement outside the restaurant kitchen, gun still hot in her grip. Blood poured from his leg where Katarina’s bullet had kissed him good. He screamed like a stuck pi
Kat’s POV – The Mansion, Greenhouse BathMalva was gone.The door had closed behind her minutes ago, but her spell lingered.My body… didn’t feel like my own.My skin was too sensitive. My breath too loud. My nipples brushed against the surface of the water, and I whimpered.The water hadn’t stopp







