MasukPanic exploded instantly.Several men ducked, others backed away.Don Rossi reached for his weaponBANG!The bullet tore through Rossi’s shoulder violently, throwing him backward against the table with a scream.Chaos erupted.Some guards fired.Valenti men returned fire instantly.The room became a war zone.Glass shattered.Bullets ripped through walls.Men screamed.Blood splattered across white tablecloths.Lorenzo stood unmoving in the center of the chaos like death itself.Cold.Controlled.Untouchable.Rossi clutched his bleeding shoulder desperately as terror filled his eyes."I'm not going to kill you today," Lorenzo finally spoke, his gaze fixed on Rossi, "but just so you know, the house you left this morning, you can't return back to it."Rossi stared at him with confusion.Lorenzo smirked, enjoying the look of confusion on his face."I set it on fire."Rossi remained sprawled against the ruined dining table, one hand clutching his bleeding shoulder as rage and humiliation
The private dining hall of a luxury hotel was wrapped in silence.Not peaceful silence.Dangerous silence.The kind that existed when powerful men gathered behind locked doors to discuss betrayal, bloodshed, and survival.Expensive whiskey sat untouched beside half-eaten meals on a long polished table at the center of the room, as some of the most feared mafia figures in the city exchanged tense looks with one another.Every single man seated there carried power.Territories.Men.Weapons.Influence.Yet tonight, fear sat heavier than authority.Because the topic of discussion was one man.Don Lorenzo Valenti.The Butcher.And speaking of him openly already felt dangerous enough.Don Silivio Rossi stood near the head of the table, one hand resting against the polished wood as his sharp eyes moved across the room.“You all heard what happened,” he said grimly.No one interrupted him.No one needed clarification.Everyone there had already heard whispers about the attack.About Don Lore
The safe house was silent before dawn.Inside the bedroom, Isabella slept peacefully for the first time in days.Curled beneath the dark sheets.Beside her, Don Lorenzo Valenti's eyes slowly opened.Instantly alert.Instantly focused.Years of danger had trained him never to sleep too deeply, no matter how calm the surroundings appeared.And this morning?His mind was already working.Already calculating.Already preparing for blood.Lorenzo turned his head slightly toward Isabella.For a brief moment, he simply watched her.Her breathing soft.Her face relaxed against the pillow.So different from the fear and tears that had haunted her recently.Something inside him tightened unexpectedly.Because this peace around her was temporary.And Lorenzo hated temporary things.Carefully, he shifted away from her body, making sure not to wake her.But even in sleep, Isabella instinctively moved slightly toward the warmth he left behind.Lorenzo's eyes darkened faintly at the unconscious acti
The Valenti mansion felt unusually cold that night.Alessandro sat alone in the downstairs lounge with a half-empty glass of whiskey in his hand.His jaw remained tight.His thoughts darker.The image of Isabella in his father’s arms refused to leave his head.No matter how hard he tried.The humiliation at the fundraiser party had already destroyed him enough.But what hurt worse?His father hadn’t denied anything.He had stood in front of everyone and claimed her openly.Like Alessandro never mattered.Like his own son was insignificant beside a girl he barely knew.Alessandro swallowed another mouthful of whiskey bitterly.His fingers tightened around the glass.He hated this feeling.Hated feeling weak.Powerless.Replaceable.The sound of vehicles entering the compound suddenly pulled him from his thoughts.Alessandro immediately stood up.His pulse quickening instinctively.His father was back.He moved quickly toward the entrance hall just as Luca and several armed Valenti men
Don Lorenzo's words lingered heavily between them.Hot.Dangerous.Intoxicating.Isabella'a breath trembled as she stared up at him, her entire body burning beneath the weight of his gaze.There was something terrifying about how honest he was with her.Don Lorenzo never pretended.Never softened the darkness inside him.Even now, with desire consuming him, there was still restraint in his eyes.Still control.But barely.And somehow…That made him even more irresistible.Isabella's fingers tightened slightly against his shoulders as he hovered over her.“So quiet suddenly,” Don Lorenzo murmured.His voice was deeper now.Rougher.The kind of voice that sent shivers straight through her.Isabella swallowed hard.“You make it hard to think.”A faint smile touched his lips at that.Then his hand slowly slid upward along her waist, deliberate and possessive, until it settled gently against her neck.Not threatening.Protective.Claiming.Don Lorenzo stared at her for a long moment.Like
The moment Don Lorenzo carried her into the bedroom, Isabella's heart forgot how to beat properly.Outside, rain tapped gently against the windows, but inside?Everything felt heated.Too heated.Lorenzo lowered her slowly onto the edge of the bed, his large hands still resting possessively on her waist as though letting go of her wasn’t an option anymore.Isabella's breathing came unevenly.Fast.Shallow.Her pulse thundered wildly beneath her skin as she stared up at him.Don Lorenzo Valenti.The most feared man in the city.The man people whispered about in terror.The man who could order deaths with a single glance.And yet…The way he looked at her right now didn’t feel cold.It felt hungry.Intense.Like she had become the only thing capable of calming the storm inside him.Lorenzo brushed a strand of hair away from her face slowly.“You’re thinking too much again,” he murmured.Isabella swallowed hard.“How do you know that?”A faint smirk touched his lips.“Because your eyes a
Don Lorenzo Valenti stepped further into the room, his presence filling every corner of the space.The gun in his hand remained steady, aimed directly at the young woman standing before him, half-dressed, trembling… yet strangely still.“Please… don’t shoot me,” Isabella pleaded, her voice shaking.
Don Lorenzo Valenti, also known as The Butcher, downed his fifth glass of whiskey, the burn doing nothing to calm the storm raging inside him.Anger simmered beneath his composed exterior.This trip was supposed to be a vacation, a brief escape from the chaos of his world.But men like him didn’t e
Isabella Lombardi froze at the school entrance, her breath catching in her throat.Standing there, as if he had stepped straight out of a dream, was Alessandro Valenti—the most popular, most desired boy in school, holding a bouquet of fresh red roses.Waiting for her.Her heart skipped.Today was h
Don Lorenzo Valenti's study, was partially dark, with low lighting. He stood by the window, a glass of whiskey in his hand, his gaze fixed on the night outside.But his mind?There was nothing still about it.Isabella Lombardi.She had been on his mind far more than he cared to admit.More than was







