ログインPOV: MARCOMarco had been in firefights before.Iraq. Afghanistan. Places where combat was expected.But this....watching Dimitri move through the Calabrians like death incarnate....this was different.This wasn't combat.This was execution.Dimitri dropped three men before they could even raise their weapons. Headshots. Clean. Efficient.Marco and the other soldiers opened fire, taking cover behind cars, returning suppressing fire.But Dimitri didn't take cover.Dimitri advanced.Walked straight into the Calabrian positions, gun in one hand, knife appearing in the other, and started killing.Shot a man in the throat. Stabbed another in the kidney. Grabbed a third and used him as a human shield while shooting two more behind him.It was brutal. Savage. Beautiful in the way apex predators are beautiful when they hunt.This was why they called him the Devil.The firefight lasted maybe three minutes.When it ended, all fifteen Calabrians were dead.Dimitri stood in the center of the carn
Medical records. Treatment protocols. Connection maps between Ospedale San Giovanni and Prometheus Laboratories."Sofia's not receiving legitimate cancer treatment," Dimitri said quietly. "She's a test subject for experimental immunotherapy developed by Prometheus Laboratories, my father's illegal pharmaceutical company. They're using her to test drugs that aren't FDA approved, that haven't passed safety trials, that might work or might accelerate her death. And they're documenting everything. Her pain levels. Her deterioration. Her response to compounds that have killed other test subjects."Marcelo stared at the records, his face draining of color."No. No, Antonio told me....he said it was cutting-edge treatment, the best available....""It is cutting-edge. Because they're inventing it as they go. On your wife. On dozens of other patients who don't know they're guinea pigs." Dimitri's voice was hard. "Look at the documents, Marcelo. See for yourself."Marcelo read.And read.And re
She stayed still, and wrapped her hand around him, her forehead pressed to his, their breathing syncing."I shot someone today," Dimitri whispered, not planning to say it but unable to stop the words. "He stole from me. And I shot him in the leg and told him I'd kill his children if he betrayed me again."Eve didn't flinch. Didn't pull away.Just held him tighter."Did he deserve it?""Yes.""Then you did what you had to do.""You're not horrified?""I'm sad that you have to carry that. But horrified? No." She pulled back to look at him. "I know who you are, Dimitri. I know what you do. And I chose you anyway. All of you. Even the parts that scare you."Something in his chest cracked open.He kissed her desperately, and started moving, he needed to feel her, needed to lose himself in this.They made love slowly, her riding him while he watched her face, both of them chasing connection more than orgasm.When they came together, it felt so perfect and so synchronized, it felt like heali
"Yes....God yes....thank you....""Don't thank me. Just pray you're smart enough to never make this mistake again." Dimitri straightened, looked at Vinnie. "Get him out of here. Make sure everyone knows what happened. Make sure they know I showed mercy. But make sure they also know what happens if they test that mercy.""Yes, boss."Dimitri walked out of the warehouse, Marco beside him."You good?" Marco asked as they got in the car."Fine. Why?""Because you just shot a man in the leg and threatened to kill his children. Most people would need a minute.""I'm not most people." Dimitri checked his phone, message from Eve. Vincent had visited her. "And that man stole half a million dollars from me. He's lucky he's still breathing.""Fair point."They drove in silence for a while.Finally, Marco spoke. "You heading home?""Yeah. Eve's waiting.""You gonna tell her about this?""No." Dimitri looked out the window at the city passing by. "She doesn't need to know, She just needs to know I
"Please tell Dimitri I appreciate his concern," she said carefully. "But as you can see, I'm perfectly safe here. My security team is excellent.""Of course. Just doing my due diligence." Vincent moved toward the door, paused. "You're good for him, you know. The boss. I've known him since he was a kid. Never seen him like this. Happy. Settled. You've given him something to fight for beyond just power.""I hope that's a good thing.""It is. Makes him more dangerous, actually. A man with nothing to lose is unpredictable. A man with something to protect? That's a man who'll burn the world down to keep what's his." Vincent's eyes were knowing. "Be careful, Ms. Thorne. The world Dimitri lives in....the real world, not the sanitized version he shows you, it's brutal. And the people in it will use you against him if they get the chance.""I understand the risks.""I hope so. For both your sakes." He tipped his head. "Have a good day, Ms. Thorne."Then he was gone.Eve sat back down at her de
When the last underboss left, only Marco remained.Dimitri's head of security stood by the door, silent and watchful as always."Total?" Dimitri asked."Forty-two million for the month. Up from thirty-eight last month. Vinnie's expansion into Staten Island is paying off. So is the new weapons route through Norfolk."Forty-two million dollars.In one month.From operations that existed entirely in the shadows.Dimitri looked at the duffel bags lined up on the table, physical cash that would be counted, cleaned, and distributed through Sandra's laundering networks before the week was out."We need to talk about Italy," Dimitri said.Marco's expression shifted. "The expansion?""Yes. I need the same infrastructure there that I have here. Drug networks. Weapons suppliers. Money laundering. Protection rackets. All of it." Dimitri moved to the table, unzipped one of the bags, looked at the stacks of hundreds inside. "Right now I have maybe twenty percent of the power in Italy that I have in
The arousal was shameful and involuntary and made absolutely no logical sense, and it was there regardless, coiled low in her stomach alongside the shock, the two things existing in completely contradictory parallel the way they had since the warehouse.She heard the shower run.She heard it stop.
POV: EVEThree days after Mike left, Eve had started to believe things might actually be okay.Not perfect. Not simple. But okay.Mike had stayed for dinner that first night....had eaten Dimitri's pasta in near silence, had answered Eve's careful questions about London in short sentences, had looke
POV: EVEShe'd moved to the living room by the time the afternoon light started going golden, tucking herself into the corner of the large grey sofa with a different contract....one she was actually managing to read this time and a second coffee that had gone cold twenty minutes ago.Dimitri was in
She had. She really had."When?" she asked. "When do you think... when would you want...?""To marry you?" He smiled. "When the six months are up. When you've had time to truly know what you're choosing. When there's no doubt in either of our minds that this is forever."Four and a half months.Fou







