All Chapters of BOUGHT,TAMED AND TAKEN : Chapter 151 - Chapter 160

The silence inside the steel yard was suffocating. Rusted beams groaned in the wind, carrying with them the smell of oil, metal, and the heavy promise of violence.Aria’s heart pounded in her chest, each beat loud enough to drown out the world. Her father’s voice still echoed in her ears, sharp and unyielding:“Ask him, Aria. Ask Luciano what he’s kept from you.”Her fingers tightened around the pistol Luciano had pressed into her hand. The weight of it felt foreign, wrong, as though it had been meant for someone else. She tried to step forward, but Luciano’s arm was an unmovable bar across her body, holding her back.“Don’t listen to him,” Luciano growled, his voice low, almost vibrating with fury. His eyes never left the man standing across the cracked concrete. “He’s playing you, like he’s played everyone his whole life.”Aria’s chest constricted. “Then tell me!” The words burst out before she could stop them. Her voice cracked, too raw, too desperate. “Tell me what you’ve kept fro

The silence after battle was always worse than the storm itself. Smoke lingered in the steel yard, rising like ghosts from the bodies sprawled across the dirt. The air was heavy with the metallic tang of blood and the acrid stench of gunpowder.Aria sat on the cold ground, her knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped around herself. Her body trembled, but not from fear. From betrayal.Luciano stood a few feet away, his shirt torn and dark with blood where shrapnel had sliced through him. He hadn’t asked for help; he hadn’t flinched when his men tried to approach. He was a statue of power and control, the mafia king everyone feared.But she could see the cracks now. His hands shook when he reloaded his gun. His jaw clenched hard enough to splinter bone. His eyes kept darting to her, searching for something she could no longer give.Finally, he stepped toward her. Slowly, cautiously, like a man approaching the edge of a cliff.“Aria.” His voice was low, gravel dragging across stone. “We n

The night had gone deathly still, as if the earth itself sensed the fracture about to tear her world apart. Smoke coiled from the burned crates, the air sharp with the scent of gunpowder and ash. The letter lay crumpled in the dirt at Aria’s feet, forgotten for the moment—but the words still screamed in her chest.Her father’s pistol gleamed in the dim light, steady, unshaking. He had always been the picture of control, a man who bent the world to his will with sharp words and sharper silences. But now—now his control was a blade aimed directly at Luciano’s heart.“Step away from her,” he repeated, voice like steel. “She comes with me.”Luciano didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. He stood as if the bullet meant for him could do nothing but bounce off his skin. His eyes, though—his eyes burned, a storm waiting to break.“She’s not yours to command,” Luciano growled, his voice a low thunder. “Not anymore.”Aria’s heart was a drum against her ribs. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, caught be

Aria couldn’t breathe. The room was too small, too full of smoke and blood and choices no daughter should ever have to make.Her father’s hand was limp in hers, his pulse fading under her fingertips. The medic’s voice hammered at her ears, clinical and cold. “If we don’t act now, he won’t last five minutes.”Luciano stood across from her, a storm in human form. His shirt was open at the collar, his dark hair disheveled, his chest heaving as if he carried not only his own rage but hers too. His eyes, black as midnight, locked onto her with a fierceness that pinned her to the spot.“I’ll give him my blood,” Luciano said again, calm this time. Too calm, like a man already certain of the outcome.“No…” her father groaned, struggling weakly. “Aria… don’t let him… poison me.”The words stabbed her deeper than any knife.“Poison?” Luciano’s jaw tightened, his voice cutting like glass. “Your pride has blinded you, old man. This isn’t about power. It’s about life.”Aria shook her head, her tea

The moment I saw that shadow move, every muscle in my body froze. My throat went dry, but I forced myself to keep my voice steady.“Luciano,” I whispered, my eyes still locked on the far side of the courtyard. “We’re not alone.”His fingers tightened around mine, his jaw clenching. Even bloodied and on his knees, he radiated control. “Don’t look scared, Aria. Fear feeds them.”I swallowed, trying to steady my breath. My hands were shaking, though I tried to hide it. I couldn’t tell how many there were, or who they were. Enemy? Ally? Ghost of another fight?The silence stretched until I thought I might scream. Then—footsteps. Slow, deliberate. Whoever it was wanted us to hear them.I shifted, placing myself in front of Luciano without thinking. He was hurt. He couldn’t fight like this. But me? I would.The footsteps drew closer, and then a tall figure stepped into the moonlight. My heart dropped.It wasn’t one man. It was three.Their guns gleamed in their hands, their eyes cold and fi