Chapter 21 Everybody's Watching Her

AMARABelieving I’d get some semblance of peace after escaping my father had been a very stupid thought I let fester. One I was starting to rue.“Ouch.” The word slipped out of my lips when the doctor’s hand grazed the wound for the second time.He looked up at me and sent an apologetic smile. I waited till he was done wrapping it before letting out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.Subconsciously, my gaze wandered to Celeste. Her unconscious, slumbering face did little to the nerves that chipped away at me by the second.This shouldn’t have happened.Or rather, it was my fault that it had in the first place. I should have known better. I was the loose end in all this, and it had ended up costing all of us.“How long will she be asleep for?”The doctor chanced a glance at Celeste, then turned to his watch. “The effects of the medication should wear off by evening. You should be able to talk to her by then.”I nodded, turning my gaze back to Celeste. When she finally roused, the

Chapter 22 Venom And So Much More

DANTEIt was too early that morning for my knuckles to already be split. The gym wall downstairs had taken the brunt of my anger, but it wasn't enough.I stood by the study window, turning Celeste’s recovered earring over in my palm. The sharp metal bit into my skin.It was a message from Kaz Vitale. A reminder that he had breached my estate, caused chaos, and walked out alive.My father always said a DeLaurentis never bled without making the world pay tenfold. Yet here I was, pacing my office, while the Vitale girl was recovering in my guest wing.“Be a good pawn too. Won’t want you getting killed before I’ve gotten enough use out of you.”Amara’s words from last night replayed in my mind. Even cornered, with her back against the wall and my body pinning her down, she hadn't flinched. She had stared right into my eyes, stripping away my leverage. I had been the one left staring at her lips.I tossed the earring onto the desk. It clattered against a stack of decrypted financial files.

Chapter 23 Primal

AMARAThe blood was everywhere. Mostly smeared over every part of my hand. Dante DeLaurentis’ blood. And yet for some stupid reason, my mind found its way to a memory I’d buried as deep as I could.Five years ago, when I had shared one heated moment with Dante in the abandoned closet of Iridium High’s bleachers. It was a stupid, dangerous memory to bring up. Especially now. Yet, the longer I look at the dark red that coated my fingers, the harder the past and present seemed to collide in a sickeningly, dark rush. I had every right to hate him. He’d spent his entire life trying to ruin my grades, trying to outrun me in everything academic, and most importantly, trying to destroy my family in the mafioso war.I should hate him.But I couldn’t. Not when he had jumped without hesitation. As soon as another shot exploded after his last words, he had brought me down to the floor and even protected from the bullets that rained on us.“Dante.” I called out as he trudged into the study.No re

Chapter 24 Crossroads

DANTE“I don’t care if you have to burn the entire block down.”It had been three weeks already since the shootout at that restaurant. The Thursday afternoon son felt sweltering under the sullen atmosphere of the estate. While the whole place felt like a fortress, I remained in my absolute position of jailer.“Really?” The deadpan look on Cassian’s face made my jaw tick.“I don’t care,” I leaned further back into my seat. “Nobody watches her.”Cassian stood in the doorway of my study. He didn’t so much as flinch. “We’ve swept the perimeter three times today. Leon’s been shadowing every move and making sure tabs on her are kept.”I nodded, something fluttering my chest. As it should be.But something in Cassian’s made it clear he wasn’t done. “You’re suffocating her, Dante.”“I’m doing what’s necessary.” I retorted sharply.“Well, she’s going to break soon.” Cassian moved a little from the doorway, daring to take a single step further into the room.“Then let her break!” I snapped, tos

Chapter 25 Breaking Point

AMARA“You look like absolute shit.”Hearing those words shouldn’t have instantly brought me to tears. But they did.“I mean that as sweetly as possible.” Bianca said, pulling down her designer sunglasses to look at me.I looked across our small outdoor table at the bistro, swirling my glass of water. It was Saturday afternoon. The streets of downtown Chicago were buzzing with shoppers, completely oblivious to the shootout that had almost claimed my life three weeks ago.“Good to see you too, B.” I muttered, leaning back in my chair.With my own phone smashed to pieces on my bedroom floor, I’d had to get creative to set this up. Two days ago, I’d borrowed Celeste’s laptop under the guise of looking at clothes online. Since Celeste was a trusted DeLaurentis, her personal device didn't have the same heavy firewalls as the rest of the house.And it sure as hell didn’t take much for me to slip onto an encrypted browser and send a quick message to Bianca’s private email.I studied my cousi

All Chapters of Claimed by My Rival: Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

Chapter 21 Everybody's Watching Her

Chapter 22 Venom And So Much More

Chapter 23 Primal

Chapter 24 Crossroads

Chapter 25 Breaking Point