LOGINDahlia’s POV
I gasped from the pain and shock. His grip was tight, rough, like he wasn’t even trying to be gentle. I tried to pull away, but he didn’t budge. It was like trying to fight a wall. My voice caught in my throat; I wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Then he shoved me—hard. My body stumbled backward until I hit the bed behind me. The mattress dipped under me as I landed, my breath leaving my chest in a quick gasp. My heart was pounding so fast it hurt. I could hear it thudding in my ears, loud and desperate, like it was begging me to run even though my body wouldn’t move.
I looked up at him, terrified, and for a second, I thought maybe he would stop. Maybe he would just walk away. But then he moved closer, climbing onto the bed. I shut my eyes quickly, tears spilling down my cheeks. My whole body shook.
Was this really happening? Was he really going to take advantage of me? The thought made my stomach twist. I could barely breathe as fear settled over me like a heavy blanket I couldn’t escape. I wanted to disappear—to wake up and realize this was all some terrible dream—but I knew it wasn’t. This was real. Too real.
He held my hands above my head, pinning me down with his weight. "Denise," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Why are you feeling shy all of a sudden? Last time we met, you practically begged me to fuck you. So what's changed?"
"Please," I whimpered, trying to shrink back from him. "Please let me go. I'm begging you."
"Why should I?" he sneered, his eyes glinting with a cruel, hungry light. "Why shouldn't I fuck my own wife?"
I shook my head frantically, tears now streaming down my face. "Please," I begged again, my voice barely above a whisper. "Please don't do this. I'm begging you."
He just laughed, a harsh, cruel sound that sent chills down my spine. "Begging won't help you now," he sneered, his eyes glinting with a malicious light. "You are my wife and you now belong to me."
I knew I had to think of something, anything, to make him stop. My mind raced frantically, searching for an excuse, a lie, anything that might save me from what was about to happen. And then, suddenly, it came to me.
"I...I'm on my period," I stammered, hoping against hope that he would believe me. "I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier. But please, you can't...you can't do this to me right now."
For a moment, he just stared at me. His face didn’t show anything—no anger, no softness, nothing at all. I couldn’t even read what he was thinking, and that scared me more. My chest rose and fell too fast, and I held my breath without realizing it. I was praying deep inside, hoping he would believe my lie, even though a part of me knew it was stupid to think he would. He was a mafia don, not some regular man you could fool easily. People like him didn’t just stop because you begged.
The silence stretched between us, heavy and cold. My heart was beating so loudly it felt like he could hear it. I kept my eyes on his, waiting for him to get angry, waiting for him to do something worse.
To my surprise, he leaned away
But then, he leaned in close, his breath hot against my ear. "Don't think this is over," he whispered, his voice low and menacing. "You may have gotten lucky this time, but mark my words, Denise - I will fuck you soon. Hard. Whenever and however I like. And you will enjoy it because you belong to me. Every part of you. Your mouth. Your pussy. Your ass."
With that, he stood up from the bed, his movements sharp and angry. I watched him, frozen, my heart still beating too fast. He didn’t even look at me as he walked toward the door. His footsteps were heavy, echoing in the quiet room. Then he grabbed the door handle and slammed it shut so hard the walls seemed to shake.
I lay there for a few seconds, too scared to move. My body was trembling all over, and I could hear my own breathing—shaky and uneven. The room felt colder now, emptier, but his presence still lingered like smoke. I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to calm my heartbeat, but it didn’t help much.
His words kept replaying in my head, every tone, every look he gave me. It made me shiver again. But there was also this strange feeling in my chest—confusion. Why did he stop? Why did he let me go just because I said I was on my period?
If he was really as cruel and heartless as everyone said he was, then he wouldn’t have cared. He could’ve done whatever he wanted. So why didn’t he?
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, staring up at the ceiling. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as they said. Or maybe… maybe he was just waiting for the right time.
Andrea's POVHe groaned softly and curled his fingers inside me, hitting that spot that made everything go bright. His thumb worked my clit faster. “You’re doing so good,” he whispered. “So wet and tight around my fingers. I can feel you trying not to moan. Keep trying, baby. Come for me quiet. Let me feel it.”The orgasm hit fast and hard. My back arched off the bed, my pussy clenching around his fingers as pleasure rushed through me in hot waves. I cried out into my own hand, the sound muffled and broken, thighs shaking hard. He kept moving his hand through all of it, drawing it out, whispering the whole time.“Shh… that’s it. Come quiet for me. Good girl. So fucking good, staying quiet while I make you come all over my fingers.”Only when I started to come down did he slowly pull his fingers out. He brought them to his mouth and licked them clean while I watched, still trying to catch my breath with my hand over my mouth. Then he stood up long enough to shove his pants and underwea
Andrea's POVI pushed myself up on my elbows so I could see him better. “I missed you too,” I said. My voice came out quieter than I meant it to. “All day. Every time I looked up at the house I hoped I’d see you at one of the windows.”He leaned down, one knee on the mattress, and kissed me. It wasn’t soft. It was hard and hungry, his mouth opening over mine like he needed to taste me to breathe. His tongue slid against mine, deep and insistent. I kissed him back the same way, reaching up to fist the front of his shirt and pull him closer. One of his hands braced beside my head; the other came down to rest on my waist, fingers spreading wide over the damp bikini fabric. The kiss went on until my lips felt swollen and I was making small, needy sounds into his mouth.When he finally pulled back, his forehead stayed close to mine. “You look so hot in this swimsuit,” he said. His thumb stroked slowly along the edge of the bikini top, just above my breast. “I saw you from the mansion. From
Andrea's POVI was happy that my mum was giving her that. Happy that Dahlia was getting, even temporarily, the kind of warmth she deserved and maybe had never had.I lay back on my lounger and watched the two of them together—my mum laughing at something Dahlia said, Dahlia laughing back, her hand resting protectively over the gentle swell of her stomach—and without meaning to at all, I found my mind wandering somewhere I hadn't quite expected it to go.I imagined myself in Dahlia's place.Pregnant. Glowing. My own hand resting over my own growing belly. And Dante beside me—not hidden, not a secret, but mine, openly and completely. Looking at me the way Luca looked at Dahlia, with that quiet fierce pride and devotion. A future where we didn't have to hide. Where my mum could fuss over me the way she was fussing over Dahlia now, asking about names and nursery colors and whether I was feeling alright. Where Dante could rest his hand on my belly and feel his child kick and there would be
Andrea's POV"Love is a beautiful thing, sweetheart," she said quietly. "It's one of the most beautiful things in the whole world. There's nothing like it. But the people we give our hearts to don't always feel the same way back. And that's one of the hardest truths there is to live with." She squeezed my hands gently. "I just don't want to see your heart get broken, Andrea. That's all. That's the only thing a mother ever really worries about, no matter how old her children get. We just want to keep you from hurting.""I know," I said softly. "I know, Mum.""It's not that I don't believe he cares for you. From the little I saw, the way he looked at you in that mirror—" She gave a small knowing smile. "A man doesn't look at a woman like that over nothing. But caring and being able to say it, to give it freely—those aren't always the same thing. And you deserve all of it. The caring and the words and everything in between."She leaned over and kissed my forehead, soft and warm, the way
Andrea's POVI blushed before I could stop it. The heat rushed up my neck and flooded into my cheeks instantly, completely traitorously, giving me away before I'd said a single word."What? No, of course not," I said quickly. "He just works for Luca, that's all. He drove us from the airport, that's the only reason you saw us together."But my mum had been reading me my entire life, and she just looked at me with the patient, unhurried certainty of someone who already knew the answer and was simply waiting for me to stop pretending and admit it."Andrea," she said again. Just my name. Gentle but immovable.I deflated. There was no point. There had never been any point in trying to hide things from her—she'd always seen straight through me, even when I was small and certain I was being clever."How long?" she asked softly.I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. "It started a long time ago. The first time I came to visit Luca. Four years ago." I picked
Andrea's POVI settled onto my bed with my laptop and opened up my novel, picking up right where I'd left off. The words had been coming so much more easily lately, ever since things with Luca had stabilized and the constant crushing weight of fear had finally lifted off all of us. My characters were finally getting somewhere good now—working through the misunderstandings that had kept them apart, finding their way back to each other. There was something deeply satisfying about writing toward a happy ending, even when my own real-life situation still felt so uncertain and complicated.I wrote for about an hour, completely losing myself in the story, before my phone pinged on the nightstand beside me.I picked it up. It was Dante.You okay?I felt myself smile at the screen before I'd even started typing.I'm fine. Mum and Dahlia are downstairs becoming best friends. I think my mum has officially adopted her.His reply came quickly.Good. Dahlia could use that.I noticed he didn't elab
Luca’s POVAnd the worst part for him was that he knew I would enjoy every second of what came next.I moved slowly, unhurried, like a predator who already knew his prey couldn’t escape. My hands stayed tucked in my trouser pockets, my shoulders relaxed, but inside me there was that familiar heat,
Dante's POVI set Andrea's suitcase down near the bed and turned to find her standing in the middle of the room, looking uncomfortable now that we were alone together."So," I said, leaning against the doorframe and crossing my arms. "What do you think?""It's... a lot." She wrapped her arms aroun
Dante's POVI sat there in the SUV for a moment, staring at my phone. This was exactly why I didn't do relationships. They always ended like this—messy, complicated, full of emotions and expectations I couldn't meet.Love was a weakness. I'd learned that lesson early and learned it well.My old man
Dahlia’s POVThe car slowed to a stop, and I felt my stomach twist itself into a hard knot. My fingers curled into the fabric of my gown, bunching it up in my lap as though holding onto it would keep me steady. The driver stepped out, and a second later the door beside Luca opened. He got out first,







