All Chapters of The Darkest Devotion: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

GABRIELLA A few hours later, I’m in a sleek, off-the-shoulder dress, my makeup done lightly, sitting in the backseat of my father’s car while his driver takes me to Dine, an upscale restaurant in the heart of the city. The drive to the restaurant is quiet, as always. None of Papa’s employees are allowed to speak to me unless spoken to, and I don’t feel like making small talk. We arrive in no time. The restaurant is dimly lit and way too formal. But it’s Papa. I’m not surprised. When I step inside, I spot him almost immediately. He’s sitting at a table close to a window at the far right corner of the room. As always, he’s in a black suit, his greying hair is slicked back, and he is nursing a glass of wine. As I approach, I notice his men scattered around the room like they’re just regular customers. You would think this is a business meeting and not a birthday dinner. I sigh and slide into the seat across from him. “Do you really need men stationed at every corner like this is a

LEON As soon as the words leave my mouth, the room goes still. Everyone looks at me like I’ve lost it. Shit. Maybe I have. Ivy is the person to break the silence. “You’re joking.” “I’m not.” She stands up and starts to pace around the room. “You want to play bodyguard to the daughter of the man you’ve wanted to kill since you were a child?” Dante exhales. “I can’t lie, that’s dangerous. A lot of things could go wrong.” “I said we needed a way in. This is it. She’s the key. If I’m around her, I’ll know everything about Tomaso. Where he goes, who he talks to, the people he trusts the most,” I say, looking around at their faces. “We’ve never been able to penetrate him. His men are loyal to a fault, and he’s the only target we’ve never been able to get an inside man on his team to feed us information. So I’ll be the inside man.” “That makes sense,” Kai says with a nod. “It’s not the worst plan. It’s actually smart.” “Smart?” Ivy scoffs. “It could get him killed.” She turns to m

GABRIELLAFor a few seconds after the words are uttered from Papa’s lips, I am quiet. Unable to speak. Unable to think.A bodyguard.I lock gazes with that of the man standing behind my father, the man currently invading my space.My soon-to-be bodyguard. This cannot be happening. He’s tall, the tallest man I’ve ever stood in the same space with, which is easy to identify because I barely hang around men. My eyes travel the slow path from his feet, clad in expensive-looking leather, to his long legs in a dark suit, up to his broad shoulders, and finally to his blank face. There’s only one word to describe his features.Striking.He has the kind of face that cannot be ignored. His hair is just as dark as the suit he’s wearing. His eyes are a vivid green, his piercing gaze fixed unwaveringly on me. His face is cold, devoid of any recognizable emotion. Other than his physical appearance, there’s something else… something I can’t quite place a finger on, something about him that makes

LEONIt’s raining heavily, freezing water pouring down in violent torrents from the angry sky. The earth beneath my feet rumbles as an angry roar of thunder bellows through the night. My breath comes out in short pants as I dash through the empty streets, the darkness illuminated by the bright, thick swirl of red and orange in my peripheral vision on both sides. All the houses that line the street are consumed by fire, the downpour acting as fuel to the flames instead of putting them out.Footsteps slam against the ground in heavy thuds behind me. Large, dark shadows cross the streets with me, deep snarls and mocking taunts surrounding the air around me. “You won’t run forever, boy.”A hot trail of tears slips down my eyes, coming down to my slightly open lips. I taste the liquid—my salty pain diluted by rainwater. My thin, small frame trembles from the cold, my small feet propelling me forward even though my lungs are on the brink of collapse. I dash out of my street into the muddy

GABRIELLA“What’s so funny?”The words come out sharper than I mean them to, but their laughter grates against my skin until I can’t take it anymore.Nicole is still laughing, her hand pressed to her stomach as if I just delivered the punchline of a joke. Lisa’s cheeks are pink, her eyes shining as she wipes a tear away.“Oh, come on, Gabby,” Lisa says between little bursts of giggles. “An assassination attempt? Really? This was the lie you came up with?”Nicole leans back in her chair with a knowing smirk on her lips. “Just admit you couldn’t sneak out to the party. You don’t have to create this poorly written story.”Heat creeps up my neck. They don’t believe me. Of course they don’t. To them, I’ve always been the dramatic, rich girl with excuses. But to turn this into a joke? My stomach twists.“I’m not making it up.” My voice rises, sharp and defensive. “Check the news. There was an attempt on a business tycoon. That was my father.”Their laughter eventually comes to a stop. Nicole