*Kindly note that this chapter contains trigger warnings. Please read at your own discretion.
LILY’s POV
I don’t think this is Sergio’s room. It certainly doesn’t look like a gang leader’s room, it’s more like a holding cell of some sort. There is a lone window that has been heavily barred with timber planks leaving just enough space for you to peer out and catch a glimpse of the starry night, but not enough for you to stick a hand out to signal for help.
Help.
That is something I desperately need right now, but who would come? Who would step into this hellhole and free us all? No one. There will be no help.
There is only one piece of furniture in this cold and unforgiving room. The four poster bed, but it gives me no solace for I know the crimes that have been committed on these beautiful white linen. I can hear the ghostly echoes of those who came here before me as their ho
KANE’s POV “Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.” ―Sun Tzu,The Art of War A cool gust of wind caresses my skin as we finally reach our destination. Sergio’s haven looms over us as we crouch hidden in the tall grass. The place is dark, save for a few torched flames that Sergio’s guards carry as they patrol the premise. Russo, who is the stealthiest amongst us raises his hand ever so slightly, forming the number seven with his fingers. Seven. Seven men patrol this dilapidated factory. That is strange. Sergio doesn’t have that many men with him left, probably thirty left at best. So why would he send seven out here to guard the area? I wonder. Unless there is something valuable inside the building that he needs to guard. No matter, I will find out soon enough. I give the signal to Russo and he leads our men
KANE’s POVQuietly I make my way down the long dark and smokey hallway of the topmost floor. I know Sergio is nearby for he was not on the ground floor.Guess I am right. Two dark figures run across the hallway and I smile. Time for a little game of cat and mouse.I draw my gun and chase after the men who lurk in the shadows only to come face to face with two giants and one of them is none other than Sergio. He holds a strange little bag in his hand. Is that what he is protecting? Could that be the SEAL that he stole from father?Whoever holds the SEAL controls the mafia and if that is what is in Sergio’s hand then I must have it back. By hook or by crook.“Hello Kane, we meet again,” his lips curl up with a smile that never reaches his scarred eyes. He thinks he has the upper hand with that trembling lowlife who cowers beside him.“Give it up Sergio,” I cock the gun and aim it betwe
KANE’s POV "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." —Friedrich Nietzsche “Doctor, how is she?” I ask the moment the elderly man in a white coat steps out from behind the dark mahogany door. He looks at me and pushes the round rimless glass up to the bridge of his crooked nose, silently shaking his wintry white head. I feel my gut clench. Why is he shaking his head? Behind the doctor, I see his nurse tucking in the girl under a thick white comforter. The rays of the breaking dawn stream into the room through the stained glass windows and cast a pale haunting glow on her. Believe me when I say she looks like sleeping beauty. But I am no prince, and no amount of true love’s kiss can wake her up from the poison that Sergio cursed her with. “I’ve administered the antidote into her and treated her wounds. She’s lucky to still be alive,” the doctor says. The nurse steps out of the ro
KANE’s POV “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” ―Lao Tzu It is the second day and sleeping beauty has still not awaken. In fact, she has contracted a fever and that is never a good sign. It means her body is waging war against an infection, and it is a war I hope she will win. The elderly doctor, Doctor Antonia came by again this morning but left saying the same thing, that he has administered the antidote and that it is up to her will to survive now. I sit in my favourite armchair by her bedside with hands clasped and elbows propped on my knees as I watch her. Her brows crease in her sleep and she murmurs incoherently. Is she having a nightmare? “What will it take to wake you up?” I ask. But of course, she does not answer. I lean forward and brush a strand of damp hair from her glistening forehead wondering when I will get to see those beautiful acorn ey
LILY’s POV Ibraco? Kane Ibraco? I frown. Why does the name sound so familiar? This man, Kane, releases his hold on me and allows me to take in my surroundings. Every move I make is painful, it is as if my body burns with invisible fire but I strain to move anyway. I am on a bed, a feathery comfy bed and there is a great wide window that has been opened to let in the gentle sunlight. The room is magnificently huge, bigger than my family house even, and every piece of furniture that inhabits this mahogany themed room oozes style and quality. My eyes return from the ogling of the room and I look down at my body only to realize that I am wearing a clean white cotton dress. From the corner of my eye, I notice a movement and my head jerks back up to see a big, tall man with light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and recognition flashes across my face. “You…” I whisper, ignoring the scratchy dryness in my throat. Isn't thi
LILY’s POV I am in the backseat of a luxurious sedan. The seats are black and leathered and the interiors are immaculately spotless; there is air conditioning and a heating system too. I have never been in a sedan before. Father and I used to dream about sitting in a car such as this; we would sit on a grassy spot under a shady tree at the top of the hill of our little village and he would tell me stories of the great vehicles that only the rich and powerful possessed and I would often wonder what it would feel like to be in one. Now I know. It feels like death. I feel no joy in being enveloped by such luxury and as the car gently hums along the rocky road that leads up a winding hill, I lean my weary head against the tinted window, not particularly focusing on anything that whizzes by the window. I look, but I do not see. I breathe, but I am smothered. I touch, but I cannot feel. I cannot do anything. I cannot even cry. The ab
KANE’s POV I look at the girl with my arms folded across my chest. Lily, that is her name. Lilies are supposed to be frail, beautiful and fleeting, but I see an unyielding fire burning behind her hazel eyes and because of this, I know that this is no ordinary lily. This girl is a fighter and no one on the face of the earth will be able to stand in her way until she sees justice served. So how can I reject her plea? How can I deny her the vengeance she so desperately seeks? How can I tell her that once you join the Mafia, you will forever be bonded to it for life? That there is no escaping the life of the damned once you take the sacred vow? The life of the Mafia is a dark and treacherous one; one wrong move and it can cost you everything. Everything. I once so desperately tried to run away from all this. But you see? I ended up coming back, back down this forsaken road. I ended up paying for the sins of trying to run away from my fate.
LILY’s POV “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” ―Sun Tzu I have witnessed too many deaths lately. Far too many. I should be immune to them by now, but I am not. Truly, how can one ever become numb to a life that is lost? Every life taken was once precious to someone, was once a joy bringer to a loved one and was once filled with hopes and dreams. And if you asked me what I thought about the Mafia going trigger happy a week ago, I would gladly tell you that they are sadistic, vile creatures without an ounce of humanity in them. But this is not a week ago. This is today. And today, I pleaded to become one of them. Today, I did nothing while watching Kane Ibraco shoot a man without batting an eyelid. The gruesome image, along with all the others will haunt me to the day I die, but I have made up my mind. I will sell my soul to the devil just to lay waste on the man who took everything from me. I w