All Chapters of Bound By Blood: The Step-Brothers' Temptation: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

_Amelie’s POV_Luca wanted to punish me. That much was obvious.But he didn't do it the way Matteo did. He didn't do it the way Nico did. He did it his way. And it was ruthless. I was surprised when a maid came with a message for me, Luca wanted to see me in his office. And I thought he wanted to finally hear me out, maybe if I explained he would listen. But little did I know of his true intentions.I stood at the door of his office, unsure whether I was expected to sit or kneel or disappear altogether. I didn't mind disappearing from the face of the earth right now.Luca didn’t look up at first—just kept writing something in a small black notebook. His pen scratched softly against the page, the only sound in the room. That, and the heavy weight of my breath.What was I to do now? He had called me into his office and now he was ignoring me? I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, waiting patiently for him to speak. “Close the door.”His voice was calm. Detached.I did

Amelie’s POVI should have known he knew what I was up to the entire time.Every breath. Every lie I tried to stitch together with trembling fingers. Santiago wasn’t fooled by trembling.“You’re sweating,” he said lightly, swirling his drink. “Why?”I straightened my back. “It’s warm.”The weather felt cold right now, but I was still sweating. He didn’t look at me. He was watching the dark liquid circle in his glass like it was more interesting than me. “Strange,” he murmured. “It’s always cold in this house.”I stayed silent. Anything I said would be wrong.Any small movement could lead to dire consequences. I was sitting on a time bomb that was just about to go off. “Sit,” he said, gesturing to the armchair across from him.My legs didn’t want to obey, but they did. I lowered myself slowly, carefully, every movement rehearsed in my mind a dozen times before I acted it out. Like prey pretending it wasn’t seen.I could still feel the gun at the back of my head and I knew any form of

_Amelie’s POV_I woke up with a jolt, my eyes roaming around the room as I tried to figure out why I had woken up in the first place. And that was when I heard it again… the sound of metal.It was a soft click which was followed by the door opening.My entire body tensed. No part of me could move without me screaming. My hands felt detached—raw, destroyed, useless. The pain from yesterday hadn’t faded. It had taken root in me, humming through my blood like a second heartbeat.I hadn’t even known when I had lost consciousness. The pain was too much for me to bear, I had to pass out. I watched as Silvio stepped inside. He looked Calm and Composed. He was dressed in the same black gloves and tailored shirt as if yesterday never happened.But I knew it had. My fingers were proof of it. “You didn’t use the blade,” he said, eyes flicking to where it lay untouched by the wall. “That’s good. Means there’s something still alive in you.”I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My lips were dry and crack

_Amelie’s POV_The first thing I noticed when I woke was the absence of pain.Not the actual pain—that was still there, gnawing at the edges of my ribs, pulsing behind my eyes. But it was dulled. It didn’t threaten to end me like he did when I was dropped off here. It felt like it had been softened by something they’d given me, or maybe just by sleep. I wasn’t sure anymore. The lines had blurred.I didn’t remember what had happened, because at some point I had slept off, or lost consciousness.I couldn’t tell which had happened.The second thing I noticed… was that I wasn’t alone.I turned my head slowly, and all three of them were there.Nico. Matteo. Luca.Standing in the corner of the room like the ghosts of men who had once known what to do. But now they just stood. Staring at me. Staring at what was left of me rather. Their presence filled the room in different ways.Nico’s rage was quiet but barely held back, like storm clouds rumbling under his skin. Matteo’s was loud in the

I woke to heat.Not the weather. It was inside me.It clung to my skin, wrapped around my chest, soaked into the gauze binding my ribs. My body felt like it had melted into the bed, too heavy to move, too weak to try. Every breath scratched down my throat like broken glass.Why had I woken up again? I was confused for a few seconds.Then I heard them.Voices—raised and angry.“Why wasn’t she waking up?!” Matteo’s voice. Sharp, panicked. “She had a fever all night, Luca—she was burning up!”“We did what we could,” Luca snapped back, colder. “The doctor said she was stable—”“She wasn’t stable! She was unconscious!”“You think I didn’t see that?” Nico this time. “You think I slept while she lay there shaking?”I didn’t move.They didn’t know I was awake.I had a fever last night. I didn’t know that. That explained the burn that I felt inside me. I kept my eyes half-closed, listening as their guilt leaked into every corner of the room.“You saw what they did to her,” Nico said again, qu