Semua Bab Bound For 365: Bab 11 - Bab 20

~ Seraphina ~Breakfast came late.The long oak table stretched across the hall like something stolen from a king’s castle. Platters of eggs, smoked meat, steaming bread, fruit too perfect to be natural. At the far end sat Dino, shirt half-buttoned, tattoos curling down his chest, a glass of whiskey in his hand even though it wasn’t yet noon.Women lined the walls like ornaments. Silk slips, too short to cover, smiles too wide to be real. One leaned across him to refill his glass, her breasts pressed against his arm. He smirked, gave her backside a hard slap that cracked like a whip. She giggled.I watched her. Her giggle was empty, rehearsed. What would she do, against a man like Dino? Nothing. I froze, fork halfway to my lips. My stomach clenched as I watched her lean back into his touch.Slaves. That’s what they are. Not companions, not lovers. Warm bodies, bought and branded without chains.My throat tightened. Was that what Mazikeen was to Alessandro?The thought slipped out of m

~ Dino ~The door slammed behind me and a thug followed me in as I rushed into my office. Her voice wouldn’t quit the torment in my headNo.Alessandro is better than you.The words clawed me raw.I had always wanted to beat him. From campus to the street. From the street to the empire rivalry. By the time I threw myself onto my chair, I wanted to tear the walls down. The thug was waiting like always, standing stiff. I tapped the desk twice, he slid a stick across, then sparked it.I snatched it, dragged hard, and set the smoke tearing down my throat.Her name left with the exhale. “Sera…” Another drag. “Sera… Sera…”Every puff was her. Her lips, the way she stripped bare just to test me. Her eyes when she shoved me off, like she was the one in control.A knock.“Enter.”Arturo stepped in, coat still heavy with travel dust. Russia on his shoulders, cold in his eyes. He dropped a case on the desk, but didn’t open it.“Boss,” he said, voice low, measured. “I came back with news. Not

~ Seraphina ~The office swallowed us in silence the moment the lock clicked.I stayed near the door, my back pressed against it, as if the wood could anchor me. Dino leaned on his desk, head bowed, both hands spread over the polished surface. His knuckles were white against the dark wood. He looked like a man trying to wrestle something invisible, something heavy, something inside him.He stayed there, breathing hard, his shoulders rising and falling. The silence stretched. I counted my heartbeats, and each one felt louder than the last.Finally, he lifted his head.“You think I don’t fuckin’ see it?” His voice was low, scraping. His eyes found mine, hard, unblinking.“See what?” My voice cracked, though I tried to sound steady.“You.” He pushed away from the desk, pacing the length of the room. His boots hit the floor in sharp, deliberate strikes. One hand dragged through his hair, the other clenched into a fist at his side. “Everywhere I turn, you’re there. In my head. In my chest.

~ Seraphina ~The day was too bright for this. Too sharp. Sunlight carved into Dino’s fortress, throwing long shadows across the stone porch where I stood. Down below, in the garden, Alessandro Torricelli waited. Alone.No guards, no entourage, no smirking lieutenants at his back. Just him, in a black suit that looked like it belonged to another world, standing calm in the lion’s den.My heart stumbled. Not because I hadn’t known the danger. I knew about the Volkov Syndicate. I knew I wasn’t safe with Dino, or with Alessandro, or with anyone. No—my thoughts spun on something else: If he could walk here now, into Moretti ground, why hadn’t he before? Why today? Why me?Dino leaned his bulk against the railing, cigar between his teeth, smoke curling around his face like a crown of fire. “Well, well. Pretty boy Torricelli,” he barked, voice booming over the courtyard. “Comin’ to the lion’s fuckin’ den. You beggin’ for death, or just missin’ me?”Alessandro didn’t so much as blink. He stoo

~ Seraphina ~We stopped at downtown Veridia, where an agent had directed. The house loomed at the edge of an old street, stone weathered, ivy clawing up the columns. Its stained-glass windows fractured daylight into slanted shards across the cracked steps. It wasn’t grand like Dino’s fortress or pristine like Alessandro’s estate. It was worn. Tired. But when I pushed the key into the lock and stepped inside, I told myself one word—mine.The scent of dust and old wood pressed into me, heavy but grounding. The floors creaked like they were testing me, asking if I was strong enough to hold this place together. I ran my fingers along the bannister, heart beating faster than it should. Can I really build something here? Or will this house collapse like everything else I’ve touched?My phone rang. An unknown number.“Where are you?” His voice was silk, but there was steel beneath it. Alessandro.I hesitated, eyes on the archway ahead. “In a house.”A pause.“My house,” I added, softer bu