Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
My fingers shook as I carefully photographed each page with the compact's hidden camera. Nico had shown me how to capture the clearest images, how to make sure every detail was legible.
Just three more pages. Two. One.
"I thought you might try something like this."
His voice froze my blood. The world narrowed to the small click of the study door closing behind him. The compact mirror was still in my hands, its screen glowing, damning evidence of what I'd been doing.
"Though I must admit," Vittorio's footsteps were measured, unhurried. "I expected more patience from you."
The compact slipped from my fingers. I could feel his presence behind me, the weight of his disappointment pressing against my spine like a blade.
"Your mother was impatient too." His voice turned thoughtful, almost gentle. That gentleness terrified me more than any rage. "Always rushing into things she didn't understand."
When his hand settled on my shoulder, I couldn't stop the small sound that escaped my throat. His fingers traced up to my jaw with terrible softness, the way he used to check my appearance before galas and dinner parties.
"The clinic will help with that." His thumb brushed my cheek, an echo of fatherly affection that made my skin crawl. "Alessandro has such wonderful methods for teaching patience."
Ice slid down my spine. The clinic. Where girls went in screaming and came out silent.
"They'll come for me." The words tumbled out before I could stop them, memories of their gentle hands, their fierce protection flashing through my mind.
"Oh, I hope they try." His smile turned cruel as he crushed the compact under his heel. "It would be entertaining to watch them fail."
His grip tightened just enough to remind me how easily he could crush. "Everything will be perfect again. You'll see."
When the guards appeared, I barely registered their hands guiding me from the room. My world had shrunk to the cold threat in Vittorio's smile, the knowing look in his eyes as they'd fallen to my stomach.
The city lights blurred through my windows that night, each one a star I couldn't reach. Somewhere out there, a group of men who'd shown me what love really meant were searching. Seven hearts beating with mine. But in the suffocating darkness of my gilded cage, I pressed my hand to my stomach and faced the truth I'd been avoiding:
I wasn't just fighting for my freedom anymore.
And this time, no one was coming to save us.
29
GIULIANO
Something was wrong.
The thought had been gnawing at me since dawn, growing stronger with each hour of silence from Pearl. Twenty-four hours without contact. No messages, no signals, nothing. The rain hammering against the windows matched my darkening mood as I looked at my men, each radiating tension in their own way.
Nico stood like a statue by the window, massive shoulders tight as he tracked movement on the street below. The twins prowled opposite corners of the room like caged animals, while Vincenzo cleaned his weapon for the third time this morning—a tell I'd learned meant he was deeply worried. Luca's usual easy smile was nowhere to be seen, and even Enzo's carefully maintained facade showed cracks, his fingers drumming an anxious rhythm against his thigh.
"She missed both check-ins," I finally voiced what we were all thinking. "Night and morning. That's not like her."
"Maybe Vittorio's watching her too closely," Vincenzo suggested, but his voice held no conviction. "She might be waiting for a safer moment—"
"You really believe that?" Angelo's tension finally broke. "This is Pearl we're talking about. She'd find a way, even if she had to break something just to get a message out—"
"Which is exactly why we need to wait," Luca cut in. "If we rush in now and we're wrong—"
"Fuck waiting!" Rocco exploded, making us all jump. "Who knows what that psycho's doing to her? We promised to protect her!"
I watched my men argue, their voices fading into background noise as I wrestled with my own doubts. Pearl's silence screamed danger, but was it a warning to stay away or a cry for help? Vittorio never did anything without reason.
Maybe this was nothing. The tactical part of my brain said to wait, to gather more intel... but my mind kept circling back to all the ways Vittorio dealt with those who disappointed him.
And then I remembered Pearl's eyes the last time I saw her. She'd risked everything on our promise to protect her. If something happened to her because I hesitated...
"If we wait too long, there won't be anyone left to save." Nico's words dropped like stones into the tension.
The silence that followed was deafening. We'd all seen Vittorio's handiwork. All of us knew what happened to people who betrayed him.
"We stick to the plan," I announced, cutting through the ongoing debate. "Pearl trusted us. She risked everything."
My men exchanged glances, years of working together allowed them to read the gravity in each other's eyes. They knew the risks. Knew we were probably walking into a trap.