Prologue ANTONIO (Past) It hurt. I didn’t think it was supposed to hurt that much. But no matter how much it hurt, I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t scream. And I couldn’t ask for help. If I cried I’d be nothing but a weak little boy, no matter that I was just ten years old. If I screamed Caterina would hear me and she would cry. If she saw what that fucker, who was our father but we hadn’t called him that in a long time, had done to me. It will hurt her. And out of her loyalty to me she will go against that bastard and to make him see his mistake which will be just another mistake on her part. And if that happens, this time I will not be able to save her. Not with the pain that was spreading through the soles of my feet that seemed to be on fire as I stumbled and took support from the wall. So I bit down on my bottom lip that throbbed from the cut, and kept my silence even as my legs trembled and taking each step became difficult and more difficult by the second. Breathing deepl

ERICAI woke up with a jerk in a sterile white room with white lights and smell of disinfectant. The last thing I remembered was walking or trying to walk with Leo and Riley, but as I breathed slowly and closed my eyes, the little bit of flashbacks rushed in. And through blurred memories snippets of Antonio came back. Like him holding me in his arms and I remembered him wiping my tears though I couldn't remember why I was crying in the first place. But his words were crystal clear in my mind, him telling me that no one will hurt me because he was there for me.The throbbing pain in various parts of my body pulled my attention to myself and I pulled the blanket off to find myself in a blue hospital gown. My eyes tracked the bandages on my arms and one around my wrist in the left hand, besides them I could feel that there was one on my shoulder too and another on my side. For a brief moment I wondered why I was covered in bandages like I had a fight with a wild cat but then... my eyes w

ANTONIOPast and present blurred in my mind as phantom fingers of the long ago memories clutched me tight in their grips. As much as I fought the darkness, every time it dragged me down deeper. I didn’t know how much time it took me to wake up from the haze of pain, the only thing that I remembered was Mario holding my hand and sitting beside me. It was the same scene from when I was a kid. And what woke me up was not anything else but her.As the memory replayed like every time it had in all these years, this time when my younger self looked back over its shoulder, the bloody red footprints weren’t there. No, it was worse. This time Erica was there, unconscious in a pool of blood around her. And it was that nightmare that woke me up. I sat up too fast and without any care, and instantly blinding pain raced down my back. “Easy, there...” i recognised Mario’s voice, and when I turned to look at him, I found his eyes searching my face.I rubbed a palm down my face and asked, “Where is E

ERICAThe kiss might’ve started slow but soon it escalated and became hungrier and desperate as I clutched my fingers in his hair and Antonio tightened his fingers around my throat. Even as my chest constricted for a lungful of oxygen I didn’t want to pull away from him and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to do so himself. “Fûck, little devil. You make me insane with need and want and...” His eyes met mine, similar to liquid gold, and the unsaid word hung between us.I cupped his cheek and leaned up to nibble on his bottom lip, matching the fever in his eyes. “Antonio...” There was no hiding the needy whimper that escaped me.“My little devil...” He slipped his hand back between us and used his fingers to part my folds. “Are you feeling empty?” I nodded. “Words.”“Yes... please.” I finished it with sliding the soft silk of his robe from his shoulders and smoothening my palms down on his back, only to stop when my fingers came in touch with the bandages wrapped around his torso. Onc

ANTONIOI laid her down on the bed, ignoring the sharp pain that shot down my back. It was the first time I got hit. I got shot at many times in the past but my men always protected me and I never left myself vulnerable enough to let the enemy have the upper hand but this time I was the one doing the protecting. And as I looked down at her, the way she was still gripping my arm, I didn’t even regret it.I freed my hand, pressed a soft kiss on the corner of her lips and pulled the covers over her. We were back in the castle after spending another day at the hotel and I had many things to focus on no matter how much I wanted to spend another day and another night wrapped up in her, deep inside her pûssy filling it with my come. When I walked around the bed, my eyes caught a moving shadow near the head of the bed. I paused and scowled at the unwanted little ruffian. I took a step closer to the dog and he let out a low growl. I exhaled out an irritated sigh and glared at the culprit. “Fû