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Chapter 13 — The Price of Disobedience
Last Updated:
2025-04-17 23:25:07
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Velvet Chains Chapter 14 — Cracks in the Armor
Sera didn't say a word to him the next day.Not when Matteo delivered her breakfast — a lavish spread of fruit, pastries, coffee — on Valerio's orders. Not when she opened the front door that evening and heard the unmistakable thud of Valerio's heavy footsteps coming into the penthouse. Not even when he stood in the living room, eyes burning into her back where she was curled up on the giant velvet couch, lost in a book she wasn't even reading.All she had left to fight with was silence.She refused to look up. Refused to even glance at him.Valerio stood there for a moment.Then, silently, he vanished into the depths of the penthouse.Sera shook with her breath once he was gone.But her heart still pounded in her chest. She could sense every gasp he took when he was near, the way the air around him became dense. It was maddening. infuriating.She loathed him. She loathed the way he could make her body betray her. She loathed the way part of her—the weakest, darkest part—ached
Last Updated : 2025-04-18Velvet Chains Chapter 15 — Blood and Velvet
Sera thought she knew the shadows that lurked in Valerio Romano.She was wrong.It happened one evening, late.She had walked the perimeter of the penthouse, tense and restless, when she heard the noises of voices from the staircase — low, rough, insistent. Hairs on the back of her neck stood on end immediately.Sera knew she shouldn't be outside. Knew no good could ever come from listening in on the Devil.But her curiosity, her stubbornness, overpowered her.She crept towards the stairwell door, ear pressed against cold metal.She only caught fragments at first.".told you." ".disrespect."".deal was clear."".you *lied,* you little shit."And then a sickening *thud*, the unmistakable sound of flesh meeting flesh.Sera's stomach twisted.She rested her hand on the door, heart thumping painfully against her ribs.Another sound — a low, throaty groan of pain.And then—"You don't steal from me," Valerio's voice stated, icy and lethal."You don't lie to me."There was a gurgling, we
Last Updated : 2025-04-18Velvet Chains Chapter 16 — The Devil's Courtship
Two days passed without Sera leaving her suite after witnessing the murder she saw Valerio perpetrate.She stayed huddled on the oversized velvet sofa, wrapped in a blanket, jolting at every knock, every creak of footsteps outside the hall.Her mind went round and round with it over and over — the calculating competence, the factual brutality.She couldn't *want* a person like that.She *couldn't*.And yet…She slept with him at night.Of silk and blood.Of pinning hands and bruising mouths, a voice speaking foul, awful promises on the skin.She woke gasping, dripping with sweat, legs clenched around an ache she was not about to name anything.*It's fear,* she lied to herself.*Nothing else.*She was lying though.And despised herself for it.---On the third day, gifts arrived.The first was a simple, elegant box set on the coffee table when she didn't notice.Inside, supported by black velvet, was a thin, delicate anklet of gold.Delicate. Thin.And a tiny ruby pendant shaped like
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Velvet Chains Chapter 17 — A Cage Without Chains
Sera thought that after she'd strapped on the anklet around her ankle — after she'd held her tongue and *given in* silently — things would calm down.They did not.Valerio didn't storm into her suite.He didn't touch her.He didn't even speak to her the following day.But the world outside her *altered*.In a quiet. Unseen. Complete manner.It started with what she wore.The closet that used to be filled with her plain jeans and frayed sweaters was now packed with silk, lace, leather.Gowns so sheer they were almost invisible.Lingerie that seemed to promise defeat.Shoes with heels so high they made her legs tremble.Sera wouldn't wear any of it initially.She stormed back into her old jeans and sweatshirt, refusing to admit the boxes that piled up day by day.Pretending she wasn't interested in the fine material, the brutal cut of the clothing.But Valerio was patient.Patient, and cruel.When she entered the hallway to find something to eat, she noticed a new notice on the door.**
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Velvet Chains Chapter 18 — The Blindfolded Game
Morning light poured across the suite like molten gold.Sera sat at the breakfast table, gazing at the new note lying neatly beside her untouched food.> **Today's rules:**>> 1. You will greet me on your knees.> 2. You will wear the dress I've chosen.> 3. You will not lie to me.Three simple things.Three impossible things.Her stomach twisted into knots.*On my knees?**Like a pet. Like a whore.*She pushed the card away roughly and picked up a piece of toast, her trembling hands.No. No, she wouldn't do this. Wouldn't.She'd already given him too much — her silence, compliance, betrayals of her body's shame.If she gave him her dignity too.She'd have nothing left.---She broke the first rule.When the heavy knock shook her door, Sera stood tall.Heart racing, sweat trickling down her spine, she slammed open the door.Valerio stood there.Sin incarnate in a crisp black suit, tie loose around his neck, his dark hair rumpled as if he'd just run his fingers through it in frustrati
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Velvet Chains Chapter 19 — His Mouth, Her Undoing
The night pressed against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the suite, a black velvet curtain dotted with city lights.Sera stood at the glass, arms clasped tightly around her chest, trying to contain the storm inside her.She hated him.She hated the way he made her feel.She hated the way her body responded to him — starving, desperate, hungry.And she detested that aspect of her, this dark, starving aspect of her she barely knew, *loved* the way he unraveled her.*You need to leave,* she told herself.*You need to remind yourself who you are.*It was too late, however.The man had stitched himself into her skin, into her very breaths.And she couldn't unravel him.---Behind her, the door of the suite quietly clicked shut.Heavy footsteps strode across the room, slow and deliberate.Sera tensed.She did not turn around.She did not have to.She felt him — Valerio — like a stormfront sweeping in.Dangerous. Imminent."Sera," he said, his voice a dark caress.She winced at his use of h
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Velvet Chains Chapter 20 — His Cage of Silk
The first thing Sera became conscious of was warmth.Not just the heavy, expensive bedding that surrounded her, but the heat of a body lying next to hers — large, heavy, emitting a quiet possessiveness even in sleep.Her heart stumbled.*No.*She squeezed her eyes shut.Maybe it was a dream.Maybe she'd fallen asleep backstage and this was some delirious fantasy brought on by exhaustion.But when she opened one eye, what she saw was more deadly than any nightmare.Valerio De Luca.Half undressed.An arm loose around her waist, pinning her in place.His dark eyelashes against his razor-sharp cheekbones, lending him a look almost. innocent.If it were possible for a man like him.---Sera stiffened, trying to piece together the night before.Images flashed in clusters:His mouth.His hands.The manner in which he *worshipped* her body until she couldn't remember her own name.Until she remembered nothing but the brutal, punishing pleasure he'd inflicted on her.Her thighs clenched toget
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Velvet Chains Chapter 21 — Punishment Fitting the Crime
Sera stood in front of Valerio's massive penthouse door, racing heart so thudding she was certain anyone could hear it from down the street.Her bag was loaded.She'd stolen it from the closet when he'd withdrawn to his office — no doubt to make over some foul, bloody deal she had no desire to take part in.She tightened her grip on the strap.*You can do this. Simply get up. Go, Sera.*Her trembling hands wrapped around the golden door handle.Twisted.Pulled.It creaked open.Freedom.Close.She pushed out into the corridor, fighting not to breathe too deeply.Not to see how with each step she got farther away from him something in her chest groaned open and bled.---She reached the elevator.Pressed the button with desperate fingers.The doors opened and she near *threw* herself on.Heart racing in her throat, she pounded her hand on the ground floor button.*Come on, come on—*The doors started to close.And then — a hand.Strong, big, and oh-so-familiar.Ripped them open again.
Last Updated : 2025-04-22
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Velvet Chains Chapter 69 - Valerio & Sera
The guns' noise had long since faded, leaving behind only the crackling of the blaze in the impromptu hideout Valerio's men had occupied. Darkness descended on the forest hideout, thick with silence and secrets. Valerio was at the window, his gaze trained on the trees as if trying to break through the shroud of treachery that had surrounded his organization.Sera slumped on the arm of the leather couch, covered in one of Valerio's warm jackets, dripping wet hair curving around her face in tender strands. Her mind spun from the chaos of everything they had just been through. The fight at the compound. The deception that ran deeper than they had expected. The shadow of what still remained out there, hanging in wait."I don't know whom to trust anymore," Valerio burst out, his voice low, husky. "Every time I think I've located the leak, someone else bleeds.""You trust me," Sera said softly.His head rotated toward her slowly, eyes obscured in the dark. "You're the only one I trust. That
Velvet Chains Chapter 68 - Valerio & Sera
Rifle fire cracked through the underbrush like a fury of vengeance, echoing across the destroyed manor. Sera winced, racing heart still within her, as Valerio shielded her body with his. His arms wrapped around her, driving her behind a blackened pillar as rounds spat stone and ash into the air."Down!" he bellowed, voice booming over the chaos.His men returned fire, moving as precisely as surgeons. The ambush hadn't surprised Valerio—it had merely reinforced what he already knew: there was a mole in his organization, selling information to the enemy.Sera clung to the icy stone, her breathing short and shallow. She could feel the shock of the gunfire through the floor, smell the bitter flavor of metal and smoke. But it wasn't fear that bound her.It was rage.Whoever had enough guts to come for Valerio—enough guts to disrupt what they were building—would regret it.Valerio whirled, dropped down beside her. His mask was streaked with dirt, eyes burning hot with fury. "You believe me?
Velvet Chains Chapter 67 - Valerio & Sera
The sun rose blood-red over the ruined estate, staining the skeletal remains of Valerio's childhood house in fire and gold. The smoke from the last battle still lingered in the air, curling like specters through the broken windows. Sera waited in the silence that followed, her pistol loose at her side, ears still ringing from the gunfire.Valerio crouched next to the body of the man who'd named his father."He's making a grab," Valerio growled, to himself more than anything else. "He waited so long to allow me to establish everything. so he could then attempt to steal it away."Sera stepped forward. "Then he's mistaken."He gazed up at her. There was pride in his eyes, but something more. Sadness. Grief. Not for the man he'd thought of as a father—but for what he'd lost because of him. His mother. His innocence. His peace."This house," Valerio said, standing slowly and surveying the wreckage, "was built on blood. It alway
Velvet Chains Chapter 66 - Valerio & Sera
The ride to the estate was a long one, winding through deserted woods covered in mist. The further they went, the further back into the distance the city retreated, a memory fading into night. Sera sat next to Valerio in the rear of the bulletproof SUV, hands clasped in her lap, eyes flicking toward him every few minutes.He'd said nothing since they'd left the penthouse.Valerio stood at the window, his jaw clenched, a muscle beating at the corner. The silence was another form of weight now—not of anger or distance, but of ghosts. The sort that tugged at him from the past, hissing through the trees they drove by."You alright?" Sera asked at last.He didn't answer initially. Then, in a gravel-edged voice, he said, "I haven't been back here since the fire. Since I saw him walk away from the ashes like he hadn't just killed her."Her breath caught. She leaned in, her fingers closing around his delicately."Then why now?" s
Velvet Chains Chapter 65 - Sera & Valerio
The old Thorne mansion stood as a forgotten presence on the fringes of Eros City. Time had not been kind. Ivy choked the once gracious facade, and shattered windows glared like vacant eyes into the night. The gate screamed open on a metallic shriek as Valerio drove them through, headlights clawing across ruined stone and weeds that clawed their way up the entry steps.Sera sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her fists tight in her lap. "You grew up here?"Valerio didn't look at her. "I survived here. That's all."It smelled of dust and secrets inside. The grand chandelier above the foyer sagged, its crystals dirty. Sera ran her fingers along the peeling wallpaper as Valerio led her through halls that echoed with too much silence.He finally stopped before a wooden door. He pushed it open to reveal a study. Unlike the rest of the house, it was intact against rot. The desk was clean, papers piled neatly. Books lined the shelves, each spine as s
Velvet Chains Chapter 64 - Valerio & Sera
The storm didn't wait.Thunder exploded overhead as rain pounded the roof of the estate in waves, washing away years' worth of dust. The air inside the mansion turned cold, the kind that crept into bones. Valerio and Sera did not move from the drawing room, though. They stayed on the bench of the broken piano, hands still loosely clasped, the resonance of their bond suspended between keys.Valerio's voice broke the silence. "I used to sneak in here when I was a kid to avoid my father's. lessons. This piano was the one thing that I did not find intimidating."Sera looked at him, her throat constricted in her throat. "Lessons?A muscle flexed in his jaw. "His way of making me 'a man.' Violence. Power. Control. Made me fight bigger boys until I couldn't walk. Made me watch things a child shouldn't."She touched him, her hand tracing along his. "And you came back here to confront it?"He met her gaze. "I came because the ghosts only let up on their chase when you meet them head-on.".Ligh
Velvet Chains Chapter 63 - Valerio & Sera
Eros City never rested. But tonight, it drew a breath.Sera was propped up against the wall-to-wall window of Valerio's penthouse, watching the sea of lights below her. Her face hovered vaguely against the glass, a ghost of the girl she used to be. Valerio sat in front of her, still as stone, speechless, a panther sprung waiting for night.The silence between them was no longer oppressive with distrust or uncertainty. It was a breath. A gasp. The harbinger of a storm they both knew would erupt.Valerio shattered the silence finally. "I need to show you something."She turned, brows raised. "Now?"He nodded and stood, moving across to the other side of the room. He pushed on a wall panel and the panel clicked open to reveal a state-of-the-art black safe. With code and fingerprint, the door opened to reveal a velvet-lined box.Valerio opened it.Inside its depths was a necklace.Not just any necklace. This one was tiny, silver and black diamonds, but the pendant hanging from it made her
Velvet Chains Chapter 62 - Valerio & Sera
The sunlight poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm gold across the silk sheets that were wrapped around their bodies. Sera awoke first, her hands tracing over the bare chest of Valerio. She slowly blinked, watching the way the sunlight danced along his jawline, softening the sharp planes of the man who ruled a kingdom of darkness.She just watched him sleep for a moment.Peace was misplaced on his face. As if something borrowed, and not his. Dark lashes framing his cheeks, lips open, hair rumpled from their evening together. Unreal—this peace, this burn between them. But real. And hers. At least, for the time being.Her hand drifted down, resting on his heart.A steady, solid beat.He rolled beneath her touch. His eyes opened, slowly, as if the cloudiness of sleep and the shadows had fled with his meeting of eyes with hers. That look—like he was eager to see her most of all—set a blaze of fire within her belly."Morning, angel," he muttered.Sera smiled softly
Velvet Chains Chapter 61 - Valerio & Sera
Penthouse silence was shattered like crystal broken by a hammer. Alarms hadn't blared, and guards hadn't been alerted. Whoever had breached Valerio's security mesh had done so without activating the most sophisticated surveillance system in Eros City.Sera stood on the opposite side of the panic room door, her ear pressed against the cold metal. Each beat of her heart was met with the boom of fear pounding in her chest. She wasn't afraid for herself. She was afraid for *him*.Valerio had changed. She'd felt it in his touch, seen it in his gaze. The man who'd dominated the underworld with ruthless efficiency had eased in ways she alone was privy to. That made him strong—but vulnerable.A gentle knock shook her."It's me," came Valerio's filtered but unmistakably even voice. "Open up."She hesitated for a moment before she keyed the code and placed her hand to the biometric reader. The door opened with a soft hiss.Valerio stepped inside, weapon low and still at the ready. He closed the
