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Chapter 60 – Valerio & Sera (Part 1)
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2025-05-02 14:00:48The moon hung low in the horizon, and it gave the city an eerie light. Eros City, with its neon lights and endless hum, was a world unto itself—one that Valerio dominated with ruthless effectiveness. But tonight, the cold of control felt like a suffocation around him.
Sera sat by the window, her eyes gazing out into the city, but her mind was not nearly so distant. Valerio's presence in the room was magnetic, tangible, even when he said nothing. The space between them pulsed with a force that was electric and dangerous.
It was weeks since they'd shared any real intimacy. Oh, yes, there had been moments—hot, breathless moments—but the tension beneath it all had never been so thick. Neither of them spoke of the past. Neither of them spoke of the weight of the unspoken.
Tonight, it felt heavier.
"Do you ever wonder," Sera's voice cut through the silence, soft but unmistakable, "if we're just running in circles?"
Valerio
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Velvet Chains Chapter 60 – Valerio & Sera (Part 2)
The kiss grew, slowly, as evening gives way to night. Sera melted into Valerio, her fists bunched in the collar of his shirt as if she thought he might disappear. But he didn't retreat. For once, there was no imperative in him, no command under his fingers—only raw, unbridled feeling.When they parted, air between them trembled."I don't want to lose you," she breathed, barely more than a whisper."You won't," he said, gently brushing his nose against hers. "Unless you run."A ghost of a smile danced on her lips. "And if I do?""I'll burn every corner of this city to get you back." His declaration was half-threat, half-promise—but all him.The tension that had simmered under their interactions for these weeks had become something fragile. Fragile, even. And that made it lethal. Because fragile things, when they broke, left the deepest cuts.Sera grasped and held his hand and pulled him wordlessly to the bed.
Last Updated : 2025-05-03Velvet 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
Last Updated : 2025-05-03Velvet 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
Last Updated : 2025-05-03Velvet 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
Last Updated : 2025-05-03Velvet 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
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The bass beat pounded like a heartbeat beneath the crimson brocade shadows of *The Crimson Room*. Smoke drifted along the darkened room, weaving with perfume, sweat, and decadence. Valerio Moretti leaned in the back of the VIP club, his hand wrapped around a glass of black whiskey, unmoving.Partygoers were around him, society's elite losing themselves in excess as if they had no fear of death. Which was appropriate.They did not know that he was there.Valerio was death in a specially tailored suit. No one breathed in that club without his permission. The owner knew it. The girls knew it. Even the bartender handed him his drinks without meeting his gaze.And yet…His gaze did not leave the stage.A new girl had appeared in the limelight.She did not dance like them. Did not stalk, did not strike. She was frozen in place for a moment too long, blinking in the blinding light as though she didn't belong there. Her trembling fingers twitched ever so little at her hips, and when the music
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They called her *Stella* on stage. Some manager had picked the name because it sounded like a porn star and was easy to scream over a deafening bassline. But when the lights went down and the music died and the glitter stuck to her skin like shame, she was just **Sera** again.Sera Devlin.Twenty-three years old. College dropout. Full-time stripper.Part-time liar.She hated this place. *The Crimson Room* pulsed with the stench of greed and desperation. Men sat in velvet booths, drinking themselves under at bourbon and lust. Women moved across the floor in sequins and high heels, red paint on their lips, eyes lifeless behind their lashes.And Sera? She danced.Horribly, she'd admit. She wasn't as cool as the other girls. She didn't know how to make her body promise anything. Her movements were stiff, unsure—like she was moving through something dirty and didn't want it to smear on her skin.And yet she came here. Night after night.Letting strangers look at her like they were hers. Le
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Valerio Moretti hated waiting.He loathed being told no.And he sure as hell didn't appreciate the fact that ever since the evening he had the nerve to set foot in her dressing room, Sera Devlin had been taking up space inside his head like a forbidden prayer he couldn't suppress.She was hardly the prettiest woman he'd ever seen. But she was the most *untouched*. Even when she danced half-naked in front of drunk, salivating men, there was something about her that stayed locked away, behind those big, suspicious eyes.And he wanted to be the one to break that lock.To *own* whatever it was she kept hidden.He had not been able to get the image out of his head of how her breath caught as she had kicked him out.The manner in which she looked at him—not with fear, but with fire.Tonight, he needed more.He walked along the blood-red hallway of the nightclub with two of his guards. As ever, the door swinging open behind him shifted the mood. Bartenders straightened aprons and spat toothp
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Latest chapter
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
Velvet Chains Chapter 60 – Valerio & Sera (Part 2)
The kiss grew, slowly, as evening gives way to night. Sera melted into Valerio, her fists bunched in the collar of his shirt as if she thought he might disappear. But he didn't retreat. For once, there was no imperative in him, no command under his fingers—only raw, unbridled feeling.When they parted, air between them trembled."I don't want to lose you," she breathed, barely more than a whisper."You won't," he said, gently brushing his nose against hers. "Unless you run."A ghost of a smile danced on her lips. "And if I do?""I'll burn every corner of this city to get you back." His declaration was half-threat, half-promise—but all him.The tension that had simmered under their interactions for these weeks had become something fragile. Fragile, even. And that made it lethal. Because fragile things, when they broke, left the deepest cuts.Sera grasped and held his hand and pulled him wordlessly to the bed.
Velvet Chains Chapter 60 – Valerio & Sera (Part 1)
The moon hung low in the horizon, and it gave the city an eerie light. Eros City, with its neon lights and endless hum, was a world unto itself—one that Valerio dominated with ruthless effectiveness. But tonight, the cold of control felt like a suffocation around him.Sera sat by the window, her eyes gazing out into the city, but her mind was not nearly so distant. Valerio's presence in the room was magnetic, tangible, even when he said nothing. The space between them pulsed with a force that was electric and dangerous.It was weeks since they'd shared any real intimacy. Oh, yes, there had been moments—hot, breathless moments—but the tension beneath it all had never been so thick. Neither of them spoke of the past. Neither of them spoke of the weight of the unspoken.Tonight, it felt heavier."Do you ever wonder," Sera's voice cut through the silence, soft but unmistakable, "if we're just running in circles?"Valerio
Velvet Chains Chapter 59 - Valerio & Sera
There was suffocating quiet within the penthouse. Valerio moved through it with a ferocity that caused the air to feel too tight, too thick, as if the shadows themselves were bearing down on him. He did not walk; he stalked, stalked out whatever was hiding within the walls of his kingdom.His steps were deliberate, every stride precise as he approached the stairs leading to the upper floors. His men were already in place, each of them conversing with swift gestures and wordless nods. The danger was at hand. The threat? It was closing fast.But for all his training, all his power, his thoughts kept going back to her—Sera.The kiss they'd shared before he left the room had been different from the others. It hadn't just been a moment of lust or tenderness. It had been a soft promise. A desperate, brief plea for her to see that, in his world, his heart was the most dangerous thing he could offer.And now, he was too far from her.Va
Velvet Chains Chapter 58 - Valerio & Sera
The rest of the world outside Valerio's penthouse sparkled at twilight, Eros City casting a mauve sheen over the skyline like purple marks on the neck of a wine-stained throat. Inside, Sera sat on the edge of the velvet chaise lounge, legs tucked under her, robe cinched tightly around her waist, but heart wide open.Valerio stood on the opposite side of the room, half-facing away from her, phone stuffed into his ear. His voice was low, biting, and lethal."If he inhales anywhere close to her again, I want his lungs in my floor. Got it?"Sera trembled, not with fear—not anymore—but because of the menace in his tone. The way he ordered when it came to her. Claimingly. Roughly. Guardedly.He hung up and faced her, his features calm but still lined."Everything's alright," he told her."Are you certain?" she demanded, eyes tightening slightly."You're safe. That's the only thing that matters."He strode towards her, h
Velvet Chains Chapter 57 - Valerio Sera
The silence following their confrontation lingered over the suite like smoke. Valerio had not returned since the early morning, and Sera perched on the edge of the bed, her knees tucked up to her chest, the robe slipping down her shoulder slightly. The events of the day before rumbled through her mind like a clap of thunder: the betrayal, the fear, the lust, and the truth she had not been willing to embrace.Her phone buzzed.A message from Matteo, the bodyguard Valerio had sent. **Stay indoors. Don't open the door to anyone. He's on it.**Her heart sank. That meant the threat hadn't passed. She didn't want to think about how many corpses already littered the ground.The darkness fell softly, veiling the city in a velvet shroud. The air in the suite was stifling. She needed some air. Maybe just for a minute on the balcony.Sera stepped out barefoot, robe still clung to one shoulder, hair a tangled halo around her head. The wind tugged at it and made it whirl around her cheeks. From t
