All Chapters of STRIP NIGHTS WITH THE DON: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Gianna woke up gasping, her body jerking like it had been yanked out of deep water. The room was dark except for streetlight leaking through the blinds, but the nightmare still clung to her skin.She heard the footsteps. A door opening. That voice.“Don’t cry, little dove.”Her stomach rolled. She squeezed her eyes shut and the rest came rushing back anyway: the van, the blindfold, the warehouse, men laughing while she begged. And always the same name moving through the dark like a curse.Uncle Tommy, she grasped.She sat up fast, clutching the blanket to her chest, and tried to breathe the way Sera had taught her. In through the nose. Out through the mouth,it was slow and Steady. Normal. Except nothing about her life felt normal anymore. Her ribs hurt from how hard her heart was beating.The apartment was very quiet, and Sera had left early for class and left a note on the counter: Eat something. Text me if you wake up. Love you.Sigh, love you.Those two words almost broke her.She

By the time I left the apartment the guilt was eating me alive but the need was louder. Gianna looked so peaceful on the couch, sketchbook pressed to her chest like it could protect her from the nightmares. I brushed her hair back, whispered sorry even though she couldn’t hear me. Then I grabbed my bag and went out into the night, the door clicking shut behind me like a final warning I ignored.***************The ride to Luca’s felt like going to my own execution and my own salvation at the same time. My phone sat heavy in my pocket. That message from him earlier still burned in my head. Be ready tonight sexy. Three words and my body was already doing what it shouldn’t do, I dang so slick between my thighs, nipples tight against my shirt. I hated it. I craved it. That was the fucked-up part of all this. The way my brain screamed run while my pussy said stay.When I got to the penthouse I used the key he gave me last week. The place was dark except for the city lights coming through t

I let the hoodie fall to the floor. The robe was all I had on, just like he’d ordered, and it felt like nothing at all under his intense stare. My skin prickled, nipples started getting so hard in peaks that rubbed against the thin silk with every shaky breath. Between my thighs the ache was constant, a deep throb from last night when he left me bent over the couch with my ass out and my pussy dripping. I was wet already, slick and swollen, glistening trails of arousal sliding down my inner thighs for him to see. Luca didn’t speak right away. He just watched from that big leather chair. His green eyes were locked on me, intense and unblinking, like he could see straight through the robe to the mess he’d made of me. His family was in deep. Tommaso Vitale’s name twisted my gut but Luca had paid the ransom and gotten her back. Maybe it was a setup to pull me in. I was here anyway, body burning for him. “Music,” he said finally, his voice rough like he’d been fighting the same battle I wa

Detective RodriguezDetective Angela Rodriguez leaned back in her chair, the glow of the computer screen casting harsh shadows across her sharp features. Forty years old and still chasing ghosts in the night, her dark hair pulled back tight, eyes bloodshot from too many all-nighters. The precinct was quiet at this hour, most of the night shift out chasing leads that went nowhere. But she had something better. Something that had been simmering for years, finally coming to a boil like the rage she kept bottled tight.On the monitor, grainy footage from a hidden camera she’d planted near Club Nero’s VIP entrance played on loop. Sera Moretti, no, Scarlett Vale tonight—stepped out into the alley, wrapped in a coat that did nothing to hide the curves underneath. The girl looked exhausted, eyes downcast, but there was a fire there. Rodriguez could see it even in the low-res video. The same fire her father had. The one that got him killed.James Moretti. Her partner for eight years. The man w

LucaLuca sat in his big leather chair. The penthouse lights were low. He drank whiskey. It burned going down. The city lights were bright outside the big windows. But he only looked at the door. Waiting. She was late. Or maybe he was just too impatient. Last night she was on her knees. Tears in her eyes. Her body wet on his floor. He told himself he would take her tonight. Break the rule. Put himself inside her. Make her scream his name. But here he was. Still just watching. Still fighting the feeling in his chest. The door clicked. Sera walked in. She was not the scared college girl anymore. No robe held tight. No shaky steps. She wore the same silk thing. But it hung loose. Like she did not care if it fell open. Her long dark hair fell down her back. Her lips were dark red. Her eyes locked on him right away. No fear. No hesitation. She was playing the game back tonight. And fuck, it hit him harder than any bullet. “Luca,” she said. Her voice was low and soft. Not the scared whisper