Lahat ng Kabanata ng STOLEN BY THE DON: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

The drive back to the estate felt endless, suffocating in its silence; I sat in the backseat with my hands trembling in my lap, replaying everything that had just happened—the boutique, the men, the guns, the devastating truth. Luca was a king, a mafia king.I glanced at him sitting beside me, his jaw clenched tight, his eyes fixed on something beyond the windshield; he hadn't spoken a word since we left the boutique, and neither had I—what was there to say? What words could possibly make sense of this nightmare? Riccardo drove without uttering a sound, his eyes occasionally flicking to the rearview mirror as if expecting danger to materialize behind us; the tension in the car was thick enough to choke on, pressing down on my chest until I could barely breathe. Tommaso drove behind us alone. When we finally pulled up to the estate, Luca stepped out first and extended his hand toward me; I stared at it for a long moment before taking it, my fingers cold and trembling against

Luca's voice cut through the morning like a blade, furious and desperate in equal measure. I looked back and saw him running toward me, his shirt unbuttoned and flying open, his face a mask of rage and something else—fear. I climbed faster, ignoring the pain as the stone cut into my palms, my arms burning with effort; I was almost at the top, almost over, almost free. Then the sky opened up. Rain came suddenly, violently, as if the heavens themselves were conspiring against me; the stone became instantly slick under my hands and I slipped, my fingers scrambling for grip. "Sienna, stop!" Luca was at the base of the wall now, reaching up toward me. "You'll fall, you'll break your neck!" "I don't care!" I screamed down at him, rain streaming down my face, mixing with tears I couldn't control. "I'd rather die than stay here, than become whatever you want to make me!" "Don't say that, don't you dare—" My foot slipped completely; for one terrifying moment I was suspended in

"I know," he replied softly, carrying me toward the bed. "But you can't sleep in a chair Ragazza, you'll wake with your neck stiff and your back aching." He laid me on the bed with surprising tenderness, pulling the covers over me; then, to my shock, he moved to leave. "Where are you going?" The question escaped before I could stop it. He paused at the door, looking back with an expression I couldn't quite read. "To the study; I have work to do, phone calls to make; I'll sleep on the couch there." "This is your room," I said, confusion warring with relief. "I thought the whole point was to..." "The point is keeping you where I can protect you," he interrupted. "Not forcing myself on you, not taking advantage; I may be many terrible things, Sienna, but I'm not that kind of monster." He left before I could respond, the door closing with a soft click.I lay in his bed, surrounded by his scent, his space, his world, feeling more confused than ever. I'd expected cruelty, vi

Luca didn't return that evening. Dinner was brought by a stone-faced guard who wouldn't meet my eyes, setting the tray down before leaving quickly, as if my presence carried some contagion. I picked at the food without appetite, my mind replaying the kiss on an endless loop. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt his hands on my waist, his lips against mine, the desperate hunger that had consumed us both. What had I done? What had I become? Night fell slowly, the suite growing dark around me. I didn't bother turning on lights, preferring the shadows that matched my mood, the darkness that felt appropriate for someone losing her grip on reality. Sleep, when it finally came, was fitful and haunted by dreams I couldn't quite remember upon waking-only the lingering sense of heat, of hands on skin, of wanting something I had no right to want. *** Luca stood in his study, staring at the amber liquid in his glass without drinking it. He'd poured it hours ago, watched it sit un

She shrugged, as if saving strangers was something she did every day. "Because it's wrong to kill people, and someone had to do something. Besides, you looked really scared, and nobody should have to be that scared." Something in her simple logic, her uncomplicated sense of right and wrong, made Luca's chest tighten."What's your name?" he asked."Serena," she said, offering a shy smile. "Serena DeLuca; what's yours?""Luca," he said, leaving off his last name initially; even at twelve, he knew the Romano name carried weight and danger, "Luca Romano."Her eyes widened slightly. Even street children knew that name, knew what it meant. "You're the Don's only son," she whispered. "The one everyone talks about.""Does that change things?" he asked, suddenly wary. "Make you regret helping me?""No," she said firmly. "You're still just a boy who needed help, it doesn't matter who your father is."They sat in comfortable silence, waiting for the rain to ease; Luca touched the cut above h