Lana A hard pounding in my head dragged me awake. My eyelids felt heavy as I forced them open. Everything around me blurred for a second before pieces of memory came rushing back.The subway station.Xander.Shit.Cold metal cut into my wrists when I tried to move. Pain shot through my shoulders from having my arms pulled behind the chair. I sucked in a breath and looked down. Thick cuffs locked my wrists together while rough rope held my waist tight against a hard metal chair.Fear spread through my chest as I looked around.The warehouse was huge and dark. Rusted shipping containers stood around me like walls. Metal rafters stretched high overhead. The air smelled damp and dirty, like seawater and oil.We had to be close to the docks.The containers had to come from somewhere.A thin row of windows sat near the ceiling, but they were too high and too small to see outside. I twisted my wrists again, trying to slip free, but the cuffs only bit deeper into my skin.My pepper spray was

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Lana“I do.” I force my shoulders back and try to look stronger than I feel. My wrists ache as I test the movement of my tied hands behind my back. Now that I’m no longer strapped to the chair, my fingers can barely reach the side pocket of my shorts.Across the room, Xander drags the metal table into the center of the warehouse. The legs scrape hard against the cement floor, the sound sharp enough to make my teeth hurt. Every nerve in my body already feels stretched thin.He turns toward me with a cruel smile.Then he hooks a finger under the first button of my shirt and yanks hard. It snaps free and hits the floor with a tiny clink. Before I can react, he grabs the front of my shirt with both hands and tears it open. Buttons scatter across the concrete.Cold air hits my skin.I bite down hard to stop myself from gasping. At least I’m wearing a plain beige bra. The thick fabric covers most of me, hiding my body from the disgusting stares around the room.I force myself to wear the sa

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Dominic“I don’t give a damn about appearances, Jones. Marco is my brother. I’m going to the hospital to see him.” I stab my finger against the red button and shove my phone back into my jacket pocket.Everything about the warehouse went to hell.If Rocco hadn’t called in a favor with the mayor last night, Marco’s name would already be all over social media. Mine too. And sooner or later, King Industries would’ve been dragged into it with whispers about the mafia.Jones managed to spin the story enough to make Marco look like some concerned bystander who got caught in the middle of the chaos. But the rumors circling him weren’t far from the truth.At least Lana’s name stayed out of it.That alone cost me a fortune, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to let her reputation get buried beside ours.A heavy feeling settles in my stomach.Xander, his cousin Jin, and three other members of the Golden Phoenix are dead. Wen Chen is going to answer that blood with more blood. It’s only a matter

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DominicLana sat beside the bed, curled into the stiff hospital chair while the steady beeping of the monitors filled the quiet room. The sound should’ve felt cold, but somehow it didn’t. It mixed with the soft rush of the ventilator and made the room feel strangely calm. I stepped inside carefully, almost afraid to break whatever peace had settled here during the night.Marco lay motionless in the bed, tubes and wires running around him. Beside him sat a bouquet of white calla lilies. I’d ordered them first thing this morning before I even came here. I hadn’t thought too hard about why. Maybe because flowers like that meant new beginnings. Maybe because both of us needed one.Lana didn’t notice me at first. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted against the chair as sleep finally claimed her. For one painful second, I thought she was ignoring me on purpose. The thought cut deeper than it should have.Then I saw her properly.She was still wearing the hospital robe. Her hair was messy

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LanaI held tighter around Dominic’s waist as he pushed the motorcycle faster through another sharp turn. The sleek bike cut through the quiet streets, and a laugh burst out of me before I could stop it. The rush of speed made my heart pound, but it also made me feel light. Free. Happy.It had been a week since I moved back into the penthouse for good this time. I didn’t own much, so packing up my old apartment hadn’t taken long. Most of my things were small and worn out, but they still mattered to me.Malcolm Hawthorne was gone.Everything that belonged to him had disappeared from the apartment. He had walked away from the rent he owed, the debt hanging over him, and from me too. Months ago, that kind of abandonment would have crushed me. It would have left me sitting on the floor crying until I couldn’t breathe.Now it hurt in a different way.Because Dominic was beside me, the pain no longer felt heavy enough to break me apart.“Almost there, princess!” Dominic shouted over the r

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EPILOGUEThree Months LaterMarcoI never thought I would live long enough to see this.My little brother standing in the middle of a crowded penthouse with a woman tucked against his side. A woman he loved so much that he was already counting down the days until he could propose to her.Dominic looked insane.Not the dangerous kind of insane. The happy kind.His eyes followed Lana across the room while she laughed with her friend Chloe, and every time she smiled, his whole face changed with it. I had spent most of my life watching my brother scare people into silence. Now he hosted dinner parties and worried about table settings.I still couldn’t believe it.The engagement ring was hidden at my place for safekeeping. A huge diamond Dominic had spent weeks choosing. Lana refused to let him propose before they had officially dated for six months. According to her, the month she spent trapped in his penthouse as his “captive” did not count.Dominic argued about it for days.He lost.Now

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Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Mafia King's Obsession : Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 166

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