All Chapters of Promised to The Don: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

43 Chapters

Chapter Thirty One

Riley POVI wake before the sun.The house is quiet in that heavy way it gets when everyone is asleep or pretending to be. For a moment I lie there staring at the ceiling, replaying yesterday in pieces I wish my brain would stop holding onto.The fight, Matteo bleeding in the ring, the slap in the locker room and most importantly Lorenzo’s hands all over me, his scent, the heavy breaths and his low groans. My face flushes and heat creeps in my lower stomach.Then it disappears at the thought of Enzo opening that door. My stomach twists and drops. Running suddenly feels like the only thing I can do that might quiet my mind.I wonder if Lorenzo will join me. The thought crosses my mind automatically as I pull on leggings and a loose shirt, tying my hair back. But I shut it off, I know he won’t be there and honestly I don’t blame him.Whatever happened between us hadn’t changed anything. Of course the feelings were always there...just buried deep down under layers of guilt. But what we

Chapter Thirty Two

Riley POVI sit on the floor contemplating life. I hate myself. He literally hurt me today but I still can’t bring myself to hate him. What is wrong with me? Why do I find excuses for him? Why, even now with my head pounding and the horror still fresh do I blame myself?I push myself of the ground, hands still trembling. My key is still on the other side of the door, I had left it there. I pick it up and close the door. Slowly, I move towards my bathroom already thinking about a hot shower and the chance to wash the entire day off my skin.I get a better idea, instead I prepare a bubble bath so I can relax. I throw in a couple of bath bombs and light some scented candles.When I walk out, I am surprised, Giana is sitting on my bed.She’s cross legged in the middle of it like she owns the place, surrounded by my makeup brushes and palettes spread across the comforter.“Oh good,” she says, glancing up. “You’re back.”I blink.“How did you get in here?” I say.I could have sworn I had

Chapter Thirty Three

Lorenzo & GianaLorenzo POV The club is loud enough to drown out most thoughts. Most, not all.The bass from the speakers vibrates through the floor and up my legs as I lean back on the couch of the VIP area, glass of whiskey hanging loose between my fingers. Blue lights flash across the room in slow pulses, turning the crowd into shadows that move in waves.People come here to forget things. Sometimes its work, relationships and other mundane things. I used to think it was weak behaviour, that is until I found myself doing the same thing. It isn’t fucking working.My mind keeps drifting back to Riley.The way her hair fell across her face that night. The way she looked at me like I was everything to her. Her soft moans when I dished any form of pleasure on her soft body. But I also saw something in her eyes that night, something I saw in my own eyes, they screamed forbidden. And maybe that’s exactly what it was.I tilt the glass back and swallow the rest of the whiskey. It bur

Chapter Thirty Four

Riley POV The house has been quiet for days, nothing has happened and it is almost peaceful...well except for Giana’s bad mood. When she had gone out with Aria someone had spotted her and reported her. She has been grumpy since.Lorenzo and I barely speak. We pass each other a few times, once at breakfast when he walks into the kitchen just as I’m leaving, another time in the hallway near the study when he’s speaking to one of his men but each encounter is stiff and short, just a nod, some muttered greetings and very awkward eye contact.Neither of us seems to know how to exist around the other anymore. And maybe that’s for the best. But some part of me, a nagging part tells me that maybe he already got what he wanted...a taste of me.I shove the thought down so deep it won’t see the light of day. I think of Matteo and his hot and cold behaviour. I googled it and my research says he is probably psychotic or had aa mental disorder. I knew I was fucked when one of my search results gav

Chapter Thirty Five

Riley POV Emotions roll over me like an anticipated tide. I push the double doors open as I make my way to the larger garden. The air outside is cold enough to sting my lungs.I barely notice when I step onto the terrace. The doors slam shut behind me with a dull thud, sealing off the warm, polished world inside the mansion. The sound of voices and clinking glasses fades instantly, swallowed by the heavy silence of the night.The garden stretches out in front of me, dark and wide. I walk into it without thinking. Gravel crunches under my shoes as I move farther from the house. The lights from the windows grow dimmer behind me, their golden glow barely reaching the edges of the pathways. The hedges loom tall and shadowy, the statues pale shapes in the dark.My heart is still pounding from the dinner table.From the looks and the silence. From the way everyone stared at me like I had just done something unforgivable.Maybe I should have just sat there and smiled like the other wive

Chapter Thirty Six

Riley POV When I wake up, the first thing I feel is heat. It wraps around my body in thick, suffocating waves, like I’m trapped under too many blankets. My head throbs dully, and every muscle feels heavy, sluggish, like it belongs to someone else.For a moment I don’t know where I am. The ceiling above me is unfamiliar at first cream coloured with delicate moulding around the edges. Soft morning light spills through tall windows somewhere to my left, filling the room with a pale glow.Then memory creeps back in slower bits and pieces. I see the garden, then rain and then flashes of Matteo. My cheek tingles faintly where he hit me, as if the pain is buried just beneath the surface waiting to return.My throat feels dry. I swallow and wince. When I try to move, something tugs lightly at my arm. I slowly look down. A clear tube runs from a stand beside the bed into the back of my hand, a drip.I blink slowly, trying to piece everything together. That’s when the door opens. A woman in

Chapter Thirty Seven

Riley POVThe week after my fever passes moves in a strange, quiet rhythm. Nothing dramatic happens, which in this house feels completely unnatural. The tension that used to hum through the hallways has faded into something calmer, it almost resembles peace. Lorenzo and I keep our promise to each other. We are careful now, careful with our words, careful with our distance, careful not to cross lines that once seemed impossible to avoid. At first the silence between us is awkward, but gradually it softens. We begin talking again about ordinary things. My classes. The apartment search. Books. Even small things like food or movies. It feels like learning how to know him all over again, except this time we both pretend we don’t remember the parts that are fucked up.One afternoon he takes me to see the apartment we found near campus. It’s smaller than most of the rooms in this mansion, but it feels warmer somehow. The living room has tall windows that let sunlight pour across the woode

Chapter Thirty Eight

Riley POVGiana leaves the next day. I take her to the airport and she hugs the air outside of me.“Remember to call.” She says.“Again, I will.” I assure her and she smiles.“I know.” She whispers and leaves.The house feels different the moment she’s gone, like someone turned down the volume on everything. She had always been noise and motion and laughter filling every hallway, and now the silence feels too odd and controlled. I still have two weeks left before I leave for school. Two weeks before my new apartment becomes real and this strange chapter of my life ends. I try to fill the days with classes and planning and packing, but the quiet stretches longer than I expect.Matteo doesn’t speak to me, he rarely comes home. At first I think it’s just avoidance. After everything that happened the fight, the slap, the mud, the humiliation I assume he simply wants distance. But within a few days the real explanation becomes clear.He announces his engagement.The news comes casually,

Chapter Thirty Nine

Riley POVThe night of Matteo’s initiation arrives quietly, without the dramatic build up I imagined something like this would have. I had expected secrecy, tension, whispers in the halls, but instead the house moves with its usual efficiency. A handful of cars arrive near dusk, their engines humming briefly before the gates close again. Men step out wearing black suits and speaking in low voices as they enter the mansion. It is not a large gathering. In fact, it is smaller than I expected.Lorenzo tries to stop me from going.“You should stay here,” he tells me that evening as we stand in the foyer. His tone is calm, but I can hear the firm edge underneath it. “You don’t need to see this.”“I want to,” I reply.His eyes narrow slightly. “This is not a ceremony meant for outsiders.”“I’m not an outsider,” I argue. “Matteo is my friend.”Lorenzo watches me for a long moment, clearly unconvinced.“You might regret it,” he says.“Maybe,” I answer honestly. “But I’ll regret not being t

Chapter Forty

Riley POVThe morning I leave feels unreal.For weeks I’ve been counting down the days until the end of summer, until I could finally return to my own life. I imagined excitement, relief, maybe even freedom. But standing in the driveway with my suitcases beside me, I feel something much more complicated.The house stands behind me, large and quiet in the early morning light. For months it has been my world its gardens, its endless hallways, its strange mixture of warmth and danger.And now I’m leaving it behind.Lorenzo walks beside me toward the car waiting at the end of the drive. Chris stands nearby with the luggage already loaded into the trunk. The morning air is cool, carrying the faint scent of damp grass and coffee drifting from the kitchen windows.Neither of us says much at first.There isn’t really anything left to say.The drive to campus takes almost two hours. Lorenzo insists on taking me himself, even though he could have easily sent someone else. He drives the entire

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