جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 120

8ElleI stood in the kitchen, wearing one of his shirts and nothing else, sipping coffee I hadn’t finished. Damon leaned against the counter across from me, watching like I was something waiting to be unwrapped.“I want to try something,” I said.His eyebrow lifted, just slightly. “Oh?”“I want to take control. Just once.”Silence stretched but he didn’t blink.“I want to top you,” I added, steadying my voice. “See what it’s like.”He set his mug down slowly. “You sure?”“Yes.”He nodded once, like a deal was being made. “Then do it. But you better mean it.”“I do.”The way he stared made my stomach tighten .He turned and walked to the bedroom, shirt off now, muscles flexing under his skin. I followed quietly and barefoot, my heart pounding.He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me. “Then take it.”I stepped in front of him, pulling the shirt over my head and letting it drop to the floor. His eyes dropped, then rose again to meet mine calmly.“Lie back,” I said.He did without

1AriannaI could hear them murmuring behind the thick mahogany doors. My father with his frantic and broken voice. The other voice was low, calm, and cold as winter steel.Dante Moretti.I stood in the hallway of the penthouse suite, arms crossed, heart punching my ribs like it was trying to escape. The air smelled like expensive cigars, old leather, and my dread.My father emerged first. He wouldn’t meet my eyes.“You did it, didn’t you?” I asked.He flinched. “Ari… it’s not what you think.”“Then what is it?” I stepped closer. “You told me we were meeting someone about restructuring the debt. Not selling me like livestock.”A third voice interrupted. “Your father made a deal, Miss Vale. One I intend to enforce.”Dante stood in the doorway like a shadow. Tall, broad, and impossibly composed in a black suit that looked like it cost more than our house. His eyes didn’t just look at me; they assessed me. Measured me like a possession already acquired.I hated how my breath caught.“He’

DanteShe looked too damn good in black.I had the dress made to my specifications with high slit, low back, and delicate straps that barely held against her curves. Not modest. Not subtle. Because subtlety was for men who didn’t want the world to see what they owned.Arianna was mine.And tonight, I was going to make sure everyone knew it.She sat in the back of the car with her arms crossed, refusing to look at me. The soft lighting inside the Rolls-Royce brushed against the slope of her collarbone, the silk of her dress clinging like sin. I reached across the seat and adjusted the delicate chain I’d fastened around her throat. It was a thin gold collar with no charm. Not yet.“Keep your chin up,” I said.“Why?” she muttered.“So they can see what happens to a princess who gets sold to a king.”She glared at me, but she didn’t drop her chin.We arrived at the estate outside the city just after nine. The place was lit like a palace with warm yellow lights, manicured hedges, a founta

5AriannaIt happened in a blink.One moment I was walking through the manicured garden on the eastern side of the estate, sunlight kissing my skin through the gauze of my white dress. The next, I was yanked backward by a hand over my mouth, the sharp jab of metal against my ribs.“Scream and you die,” the voice growled in my ear, breath hot and foul.But I didn’t scream. Not because I wasn’t terrified, I was, but because I’d learned something since coming here. Screaming wasted time. Time I needed to survive.The man dragged me through the hedge wall, toward the waiting black SUV idling beyond the estate’s border wall. No guards in sight. My heart thundered. Had they been bribed? Killed?I twisted hard, throwing my elbow back and catching his jaw. He swore and stumbled. I made it three steps before another man emerged from the vehicle and slammed me back against the hood.“You’re worth too much to damage, little girl,” he sneered.I spat in his face. He raised his hand.Gunfire. The

7Arianna I never thought I’d get married in a dress stolen from a dead woman, but nothing about my life with Dante had ever followed rules.The gown had been tailored to fit me like it was made for my body. Silk white, low-backed and delicate lace clinging to my spind with a slit so high it whispered sin every time I moved. My hair was pinned up with jeweled combs, lips tinted rose, but I barely looked at the mirror. I couldn’t take my eyes off the window.Venice shimmered beyond it. The canal beneath our villa mirrored the soft gold of the morning sun. It was too quiet for what was about to happen. It was too quiet for my wedding. Food anyone’s wedding at all.We’d chosen to marry in secret. Just Dante, me, and a priest paid to be silent about it. No guests. No vows written on fancy cards. We didn’t need that or any witnesses at all. We had both agreed that our wedding would be a secret to avoid any threats from the people in his syndicate. They wouldn’t want him to marry out of th