Semua Bab BETROTHED TO THE CRAZY DON: Bab 31 - Bab 40

TakenLorenzo tore through the hedge maze with half the security team at his heels. “Mrs. De Luca!” His voice struck the walls of greenery and came back to him. Nothing. No footsteps. No answer. Only the distant hiss of the fountain. “Spread out!” he shouted. “Check every passage!” The guards disappeared between the hedges. Lorenzo kept moving, his pulse hammering against his ribs. Every second that passed felt like another door closing between them and Valentina. Then...... “Captain!” He spun around. A guard stood frozen several yards away. Something lay on the stone path. Lorenzo hurried over. The moment he saw it, his stomach dropped. The dagger. Alessandro had given it to Valentina himself. Lorenzo crouched and carefully picked it up. Blood stained the blade. For one terrible second, his mind refused to go any further. Please don't be hers. He wiped the blood onto a gloved finger and examined it. “Not hers.” The words left him in a

The Bait The television murmured quietly in the corner. Valentina sat on the edge of the bed, watching the evening news. Nothing. No mention of her. No De Luca retaliation. No emergency. No sign that Alessandro had turned the city upside down searching for her. Her fingers tightened around the blanket. Maybe he isn't coming. The thought hurt more than the restraints ever had. She looked away, blinking hard. Then the door opened. Two guards entered, speaking in hushed voices. “Still nothing?” “Nothing.” Their faces were tense. One glanced toward the television. “He hasn't made a move.” Valentina slowly looked up. Something didn't fit. If Alessandro truly didn't care, why did they look disappointed? Why were they waiting for him? Her fear shifted. A small, dangerous thought took its place. Maybe Alessandro wasn't ignoring her. Maybe he was playing them. Valentina lowered her eyes before the guards could notice the change in her expr

The Ravens RealizeSomething was wrong.Valentina knew it the moment she heard the footsteps outside her door.Usually, the guards moved with the same careless confidence. They talked. They joked. Sometimes one of them would stop outside her room and glance through the small glass panel before moving on.Tonight, nobody spoke.Only footsteps.Fast ones.Then silence.Valentina sat on the edge of the bed, her hands resting loosely in her lap.She listened.One set of footsteps stopped outside her door.A phone vibrated.“Hello?”Silence.The guard tried again.“Hello?”Nothing.A curse followed.Valentina slowly lifted her eyes toward the camera in the corner.For three days, that camera had watched everything.Her sleeping.Her eating.Her pacing.Her tears.She had stopped caring about it.Now she found herself staring directly into the lens.Something had changed.The door opened.A guard stepped inside carrying her dinner.He looked different.Tired.Distracted.His eyes kept movi

The BreachRain fell over New York in a cold, relentless drizzle.The abandoned freight depot stood in silence beneath the gray morning sky. Rusted shipping containers lined broken railway tracks, their faded paint peeling beneath years of neglect. Weeds pushed through cracked concrete, and shattered warehouse windows reflected nothing but clouds.From the outside...It looked forgotten.Alessandro knew better.He stood on the roof of a warehouse nearly three hundred yards away, binoculars steady in his hands.He didn't speak.Beside him, Lorenzo adjusted the scope of his rifle."There," he murmured.A delivery truck rolled through the front gate.No company logo.No license plates.The guards checked beneath it before waving it through.Alessandro lowered the binoculars."They're nervous."Lorenzo nodded."They've doubled security since yesterday.""They're expecting us."A cold wind swept across the rooftop, carrying the distant rumble of freight trains.Alessandro's gaze never left

First ChoiceThe car rolled to a slow stop outside the De Luca estate.For several seconds, Valentina didn't move.She sat in the back seat with her hands folded tightly in her lap, staring through the window.The mansion stood beyond the iron gates.The same gray stone.The same tall windows.The same gardens she had once believed were beautiful.Now, they looked different.Or maybe she was the one who had changed.Three days ago, she had been dragged away from those gardens.She had fought.She had been terrified.She had wondered whether she would ever see this place again.Now she was sitting outside it, free.And somehow...she was afraid to go inside.The car door opened.Alessandro stepped out.He didn't immediately tell her to follow.He simply stood beside the car.Waiting.Valentina looked at him through the open door.His clothes were still stained from the night before.A small cut ran along his cheek.His eyes looked exhausted.He had barely slept.Neither had she.He hel