Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE MAFIA DON'S PRETTY BOY: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

"He must be hurting..." Vincenzo muttered under his breath, voice barely audible over the sound of his boots crunching against the gravel-strewn alley.The moon was high and indifferent in the sky, casting a ghostly sheen across the abandoned port town where Vincenzo had chased another lead. Blood stained the edge of his sleeve…not his own…but from a man who'd given up a scrap of information after Vincenzo crushed his ribs like paper. Noel. All he wanted was to find Noel.Each night was a darker hell than the one before. Each whisper, each dead end another cut to his sanity."You think you can hide him from me? You think I won't burn the world down to get him back?" he growled to no one in particular, only the icy wind and the shadows answered.His gloved hand trembled slightly as he looked at the blood on his fingers. "He's scared. He doesn't know where I am. He thinks I left him."He squeezed his eyes shut, as though he could block out the image of Noel…cold, bleeding, chained somew

-17 Hours Ago-"We made a deal, Carlton."Jean’s voice was gentle. Too gentle.Carlton Laurent's skin crawled. The chains around his wrists had carved angry, festering lines into his skin, but none of that pain matched the sheer, visceral dread flooding his body as Jean stepped into the cell again.This was the man he’d called once for help.Now, he was praying to never see him again.“You said…” Carlton started, panic coating his words.“I said you'd be protected. And you were. I held up my end.” Jean tilted his head slightly. “But you? You failed spectacularly.”“You’re a fucking psychopath,” Carlton spat. “I should’ve never trusted you.”Jean just smiled, moving to the steel chair in front of him and sitting down like they were catching up over espresso. “That’s the first true thing you’ve said today.”Carlton’s laugh was hollow. “Is that supposed to be clever?”“No,” Jean said. “Just… accurate.”The silence that followed was jagged. Carlton's eyes twitched toward the cameras. Disa

"Let him go, Jean."Vincenzo’s voice thundered through the courtyard as the first beam of sunlight spilled over the island’s jagged cliffs. Guns were drawn. Bodies were frozen. Hearts were thudding like war drums.Noel stood trembling on the edge of a grand stone balcony, the wind whipping his hair around his face. Jean was behind him, one arm hooked tight across his chest, the other holding a gun pressed firmly to Noel’s temple.“No,” Jean said softly. “No one moves. Not unless you want to see how quickly a heart stops when hope finally shows up too late.”Vincenzo took one step forward, ignoring the wave of panic from Francesca behind him. “Let him go.”Jean’s hand tightened.Noel winced.“I’ll shoot him,” Jean said. “Don’t tempt me, Vincenzo. You’re good at that. You always were.. tempting people to destroy themselves for you.”Manuel whispered into Francesca’s ear, “He’s unraveling.”“No,” Francesca whispered back. “He’s already unraveled.”Jean’s eyes were wild. Bright. Lost. He

"Don’t you dare touch me again!"The door hadn’t even closed behind them before Noel shoved at Vincenzo’s chest, breathing wild, eyes wet and feral.Vincenzo caught his wrist mid-swing. His grip wasn’t bruising…but it was tight. Contained fury rippled through him like a tether about to snap.“You’re mine,” he said through clenched teeth.“I’m not!” Noel yanked free, stumbling backward into the foyer. “I don’t belong to anyone. Not anymore.”Vincenzo stepped forward.Noel turned and ran.Past the dark hallway, past the low-lit gallery of framed De Luca family portraits, through the sleek, sterile corridor of the penthouse that smelled like expensive cologne and unshed violence.“Don’t run from me, Noel,” Vincenzo warned, stalking after him. “You know how that ends.”Noel kept running.His bare feet slapped against the marble, pulse roaring in his ears. His shirt was still half-undone from the car ride. His skin burned with the imprint of Vincenzo’s mouth, and his heart…God, his heart…f

“Hands where I can see them, Don De Luca,” Noel warned, slapping away Vincenzo’s fingers from his thigh.Vincenzo grinned, entirely unrepentant as he shifted closer in the back seat of the sleek black car. “I was only adjusting your bowtie.”“Your hand was three inches south of my bowtie.”“Semantics.”Noel tried to scoot away, but there wasn’t much room with the champagne cooler beside them and Lucas up front occasionally glancing at them through the rearview mirror.“Lucas is watching,” Noel muttered.“I’m not watching,” Lucas said flatly.“You’re listening,” Noel hissed. “Which is worse.”Vincenzo chuckled and leaned closer, lowering his voice until it curled like smoke. “You look good enough to sin with.”“I look good enough to walk down the aisle. Save your perversion until after I say ‘I do.’”“Or…” Vincenzo slid his hand behind Noel’s neck and tugged him into a kiss, slow and maddening. “...we have a pre-vow confession of desire.”Noel gasped when Vincenzo deepened it, teeth sc