LOGIN"It's more than that though, isn't it?" Mike stood, joined him at the window. "They're both in love with people who'll never love them back. Enzo with Isabella. Isabella with you. That kind of shared pain, it creates loyalty. Bonds.""Are you saying they're a threat?""I'm saying they're unpredictable. And unpredictable is more dangerous than outright hostile." Mike put a hand on Dimitri's shoulder. "You need to know what they're planning. Before it blows up in all our faces."A knock at the door interrupted them.Marco entered, his expression tense."Boss. Mike. We've got intel.""On?" Dimitri turned."Enzo and Isabella. They met with Alexei Volkov tonight. Celestial Club. Two hours ago." Marco pulled out his phone, showed them surveillance photos. "It wasn't exploratory. It was a deal. They signed contracts."Dimitri's blood went cold."Contracts for what?""Territory. The Volkovs are backing a new organization. Valentino-Russo Enterprises. Equal partnership between Enzo and Isabell
POV: DIMITRIThe text from Mike came at 8 PM, just as Dimitri and Eve were finishing dinner.We need to talk. Meet me at Sinners. 10 PMDimitri showed the message to Eve."Go," she said immediately. "You haven't seen him since the confrontation. You two need this.""I don't like leaving you...""Dimitri." She took his face in her hands. "Mike is your best friend. Your brother in every way that matters. And you've been walking on eggshells around each other for weeks. Go. Talk. Fix whatever's still broken between you.""What about you?""I'll be fine. Nonna's here. Marco will be here. And I have quarterly reports to review." She kissed him softly. "Go. Make things right with Mike. I'll be waiting when you get back."Two hours later, Dimitri walked into Sinners, the club where everything had started. Where he'd first seen Eve drunk and devastated and determined to forget her cheating husband.Where he'd claimed her for the first time.The main floor was packed, bodies moving to heavy ba
"There's not much to tell.....""Bullshit. Tyler heard from someone who heard from someone that you're dating Dimitri Valentino. The Dimitri Valentino. Is that true?"Eve hesitated.She'd known this conversation was coming. Had rehearsed various versions of it. But actually saying the words out loud, to her oldest friend, in public..."It's true," she said quietly.Maya's eyes went wide. "Holy shit. EVE. He's....I mean....people say he's.....""Dangerous. Yes. I know.""Are you okay? Is he treating you well? Because if he's not, I don't care how scary he is, I will....""Maya." Eve took her hand. "I'm okay. Better than okay. I'm happy."Maya studied her face, searching for signs of coercion, fear, anything that would justify concern.She must have found none, because her expression softened."You really are, aren't you? Happy.""Yes.""Even knowing what he does? Who he is?""Especially knowing that." Eve squeezed her hand. "I know it sounds crazy. And I can't explain all of it. But Ma
"Alexei handles international expansion. If we convince him, we convince the family." Enzo pulled out his phone, showed her a dossier. "He's thirty-two. Educated at Oxford. Speaks six languages. Ruthless but progressive.....wants to modernize the family business."Isabella scrolled through the information, her mind already calculating angles, leverage points, potential risks."If we align with the Volkovs, we'll have access to their Eastern European networks. Weapons. Trafficking routes. Money laundering infrastructure." She looked up. "But we'll also paint a target on our backs. Antonio and Lorenzo will see this as betrayal.""They already see us as disappointments," Enzo said. "At least this way, we're disappointing them on our own terms."She laughed. sharp and bitter. "Fair point."They stood in companionable silence, watching the city wake up below them."Can I ask you something?" Enzo said finally."Of course.""Do you really still love him? Dimitri?" He held up a hand. "I'm not
"Maybe. Or maybe they'd respect it. Strength. Independence. Proving we don't need Dimitri's shadow." He paused. "Besides, what's the alternative? Spend the rest of our lives watching the people we love be happy with other people? Following orders from fathers who see us as tools instead of children?"Isabella was quiet for a long time."You're serious about this," she said finally."Dead serious.""And what about...." She gestured between them. "This. Us. What would we be?""Partners," Enzo said simply. "Allies. Friends, maybe, if we're lucky. I'm not asking for your love, Isabella. I know that belongs to someone else. I'm just asking for a chance to build something that's ours. Something we choose."She studied his face, searching for deception, for weakness.She wouldn't find any.For the first time in his life, Enzo knew exactly what he wanted.Not Dimitri's approval. Not Antonio's pride. Not even Isabella's love.Just freedom."Alright," Isabella said slowly. "Tell me more about t
"He doesn't love her." Isabella's voice was sharp. "He's obsessed with her. There's a difference.""Is there?" Enzo met her eyes. "Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like love. He chose her over everything....you, the alliance, his father's approval. He told me he's going to marry her."Isabella's face went pale. "He said that?""To my face. While he had me pinned to the wall." Enzo took a long drink. "It's over, Isabella. Whatever you thought you had with him, whatever future you imagined....it's gone. She won.""No." Isabella stood, pacing. "No, she hasn't won. She's just... temporary. A phase. He'll realize his mistake and come back to what makes sense.""He won't.""How do you know?""Because I saw his face when he talked about her." Enzo's voice was raw. "I've never seen him look like that. Like she's oxygen and he can't breathe without her. Like he'd burn the entire world down if it meant keeping her safe." He laughed, hollow. "That's not obsession. That's love. Real love.
She gagged but didn't stop. Couldn't stop. This was the closest she'd gotten to what she needed and she wasn't going to waste it.Tears streamed down her face from the effort, from the stretch, from the overwhelming need to please him.When he finally pulled out, a string of saliva connecting her l
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
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







