ADONIS Dom was by the bar next to the living room. I knew with one look at his face he wasn’t in a great mood. He held a bottle of whiskey in his hands, which was a rare sight since he preferred remaining sober—well, most of the time. He poured some in a glass and offered, “Want some?” I frowned and took a seat beside him. “No, thanks. You’re not a day drinker. Is everything okay?” He exhaled, taking a sip from the glass. “There was a raid on one of our warehouses last night in Santorini. The police have two of our men. And I’m fucking tired.” “Just peachy,” I grunted. An immediate rage took over his self-controlled form as he spoke. “The rat we caught, Ty, I heard you gave Julian the order to break a few of his bones and a leg.” I shrugged. He needed to be dependent for my plan to work. “Julian is suppressing his urge to shove a knife down his fucking throat or boil him or skin the fuck out of him.” “He knows we need Ty alive.” I quirked my lips to the side. “I have a meeting w

ADONIS I pursed my lips and looked back at my men, who curiously watched us. “My men and I train here.” I pointed at the building. “The first two floors are for the gym, the top one’s a spa and the basement... you don’t want to know.” “I’m curious,” she admitted with a pressed smile. “But I feel like I can get into trouble if I ask.” “All I can say is that we don’t murder or torture people here. We have locations for such with magnificent views,” I joked. I fucking joked? I turned around and walked through the entrance. The wise-guys watched every single step that Abigail took, every little nervous exhale she made, and even though I wanted to gouge out everyone’s eyes, I had to keep it down. She was no one to me—not mine—and giving out the impression of that could put her life in danger, but it irked me all the same. I glanced at Abigail when we entered the gym on the second floor. Her jaw dropped at the polished white marble floors, grey carpets covering some of the area and mint

ADONIS I hated parties. All the people spitting nonsense over my face. All those eyes zeroed on me. But according to David, attending parties, especially the ones thrown by the underbosses or captains, was a necessity, almost like dressing up. Dom sighed, following behind me. He wasn’t any different from me. He hated having to hold on to a fake smile just as much as I did. Standing by the entrance was the man of the house, the underboss Danilo Romano, the father of the woman—no, girl—I didn’t want to marry. He kept contact with my eyes as he took my hand in a firm hold. “Danilo,” I said in a low, crisp voice. He greeted me, then Dom, and led us inside the house. Danilo’s parties had always been fancy, with flowers and carpets, chandeliers and candles, frames and statues adorning the corridor and rooms. The room where the party was being held was filled with people, mainly the other underbosses and captains, and tables with arrays of beverages and drinks and snacks, all put on an

ADONIS “You should know, David has been pressuring him to get you to agree to the marriage proposal,” Eros said, stretching out on the couch. My eyes widened and steps halted near the fireplace. “He what?” “David said, quote, ‘You should for once make him do something for the sake of his future’,” Eros added, mimicking David’s heavy voice. I dreaded going into the same spiralling shit stirring between me and David with anyone else, especially him. “He’s pissed.” “You bet.” The gravelly voice came from the door and my gaze followed. Salvatore Castellanos entered the room in casual trousers and a loose shirt, the shades of white and grey hairs highlighting in his black hair and bushy beard. “And it’s not because of your reluctance to his proposal,” he told me. “I’m not worried about that,” I lied. David Vitale didn’t have the right to pressurise me into doing shit like marrying his favourite underboss’s daughter, but Salvatore Castellanos did. As my father. “He questioned my sense

ADONIS “I want to do what’s best for you.” “Best for me?” His brows creased. “By taking away part of your empire that I protect? That I work so damn hard to defend? I’ve been trying day and night to prove to everyone that I’m worth it, that I deserve this position just as much as everyone else, and you just want me to step back? Cower?” “It’s not what I—” “That’s not what you meant?” I looked at Dad and then back at Eros. “I only want to protect you.” “Like how you protected our sister?” “Eros!” Dad roared. Eros stared at me, his chest heaving as if he had just been snapped out of a phase. I knew he didn’t mean any of the things he had said, that deep down he knew all I wanted was for him to be safe, but his words hit a deeper nerve ending in my body. I looked away and gulped. Eros was the one person I couldn’t burst out on. I didn’t look but felt Eros shift from the couch and bolt out of the room, bumping his shoulders against that of the figure we had somehow missed noticin