Katarina POV: A hostage at Giordano's villaI hadn’t seen Maribel in days.Not a sound. Not a scream. Not a whisper through the vents. Just silence. That sick, suffocating kind that crawled under your skin and stayed.I was curled on the cold tile floor, back pressed to the bed frame. The room smelled like stale perfume and disinfectant. My wrists were raw from being yanked around. My lips cracked. My knees ached.Maribel could be dead. And maybe that would be my fault, too.I swallowed hard. “No. Not again.”“She’s dead,” I whispered, staring at the ceiling. “And it’s my fault.”I had to get out. Before they buried me alive with her.That night, the hallway light clicked on—soft and low. The knock came softly. Then the door clicked open. That guard. The one with the twitchy hands. The one who looked at my shoulder like it meant something and flinched when I spoke. He always left my food tray angled toward the wall, like he didn’t want to see me suffer.“You said you wanted out,” h
Vittorio POV: Still At His Mansion"Say that again."I didn’t raise my voice. Didn’t move.The sound of Scarface whining grated on my last nerve.He’d been moaning for the past hour—about the bullet, the cold floor, the chains digging into his wrists. I didn’t care. The stench of his rotting leg was starting to burn through the walls. Maybe that was poetic.I spun. Grabbed him by the jaw.“You got one chance, rat. Tell me why Giordano wanted Katarina.”Scarface whimpered I stared at him. Sweating. Pathetic. Face pale, lips dry, shirt clinging to his back like plastic wrap. He wasn’t built for pain. Not the kind I gave.“You want water?” I asked calmly.He nodded fast. “Y-yeah, boss. Please”I slammed my fist into the wall beside him.The plaster cracked. Loud. A jagged line ripped through the brick, dust raining down like ash.Scarface flinched like he’d been shot again. Eyes wide, legs twitching against the rope.But I didn’t move.I stared at the wall.A torn piece of yellowed pape
Vittorio POV At The DeLuca Mansion“Get. Out.”I didn’t whisper it. I didn’t scream it. I said it like a sentence.The moans from my bedroom were getting louder.My boots slammed down the marble hallway, the cane tapping beside me like a ticking bomb. I could hear the thud of skin on skin. A woman’s breathless gasp. Wet slaps. A man's low growl.My brother’s growl.The twin who vanished after Fiorella died. The bastard who left me alone to drown in the wreckage of her loss.And now?Valentino was back.Fucking some long-legged brunette on my sheets.My sheets.I kicked the door open so hard the knob smashed into the wall.I grabbed the lamp and hurled it. It shattered against the wall, missing his skull by an inch.“You’re in my bed!” I roared. “My fucking bed, Tino!”“Vit!” he called out, grinning like he’d just walked into a bar, not my goddamn bedroom. “You’re early.” The woman didn’t stop. Neither did he.Her head was thrown back, mouth wide. He had her from behind, one hand o
Kat POV in Giordano MansionWe didn’t get the chance.Two days later, the container cracked open to light.Real light. Sunlight.Blinded me.Then rough hands dragged us out. We were shoved into a van. Driven for what felt like forever. No talking. No water. Just heat.When they pulled us out again, I saw it.The estate.White walls. Palm trees. Fountains.Hell dressed in silk.They cleaned us up. Threw dresses at us. Told us to stay in the east wing.I hid the key in the lining of my bra.At night, the air turned sharp. Cold. It smelled like metal, old perfume, and fear.Maribel leaned in so close I felt her breath on my cheek. “You still got that plan?”I didn’t blink. I nodded once. “Then let’s go.”She moved fast, quieter than I expected—like this wasn’t her first time running from a nightmare. The tiny key trembled in her hand as she reached for the old, rusted padlock on the door.She tried it once. Nothing. Tried again. Still stuck.“Shit,” she whispered. “It’s not working
Katarina POV Inside The Shipping Container On Sea This Time“Don’t you fucking die on me.”My voice cracked. My hands were shaking, pressed against Maribel’s shoulder. She was breathing. Barely. Her head lolled back, mouth dry, lips cracked like old pavement.“Hey,” I whispered, slapping her cheek lightly. “Wake up. Come on, don’t do this. I need someone to be miserable with.”She groaned. One eye blinked open.“God,” she croaked. “You’re still here.”“Yeah, lucky you. Your cellmate’s got bad breath and a worse attitude.”The floor of the container rocked beneath us again. Salt air seeped in through the rusted vents. It smelled like wet iron and sea rot. Like the ocean was trying to swallow us whole.I leaned back against the cold wall, staring at the ceiling.“Still moving,” I muttered.The chains around my wrists clanked as I shifted. My ankles ached. Every muscle felt like I’d been dragged across concrete.“How long’ve we been at sea?” I asked.Maribel coughed weakly. “I stopped co
Giordano POV at his villa near the seashore“Where the fuck is Scarface?”I slammed the glass down hard. Champagne spilled, fizzing over the marble. No one answered.“He’s missing probably caught by De Luca,” Mikey said from the shadows. “We will keep searching.”Giordano snarled. “I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.” I wiped the glass with my ring finger. “Now he’s out there, bleeding and probably talking.”The villa smelled like sex, sweat, and sea salt.My kind of night.I stood on the second-floor balcony, watching the party below. Naked women danced in gold masks, twirling between marble pillars. Men in suits and masks lounged with glasses of dark liquor, passing girls between their laps like cigars. Power dripped off every corner. The kind of party where money forgot how to behave and morals weren’t invited.I turned to Scarface’s boy, standing at my side. “The container?”“Three hours out, boss. Just passed the coast.”Good. My package was on schedule.Katarina Delga