Chapter 1
The sharp screech of tires was the first warning.
I hadn’t seen it coming—of course, I hadn’t. The city was too dark, too quiet, the kind of night that invites bad things. The muffled hum of a late-night car idling at the curb didn’t register until the door flew open.
“Get in the car.”
A man’s voice, low and commanding. I froze, instincts screaming at me to run, to scream for help, but my body betrayed me. Before I could react, a hand shot out, grabbing my arm with force. The grip burned through my sleeve, hard, unrelenting.
“What the hell?” I jerked back, pulling against him. But he didn’t let go.
“I said get in the car.” His voice was colder now, sharper.
I looked up to see him—the man who had just taken my life away from me.
Alessandro Ricci.
His eyes were like twin black holes, devoid of warmth, pulling every ounce of life out of the air between us. I had heard the stories, of course. Everyone had. Alessandro Ricci was a legend in the underworld—a don so ruthless, so feared, that even the police gave him a wide berth.
He was the kind of man who didn’t just control the streets; he owned them. No one crossed him without paying the price.
“Let go of me!” I snapped, voice trembling with a mixture of anger and fear.
He didn’t flinch. His expression never wavered. “You should’ve stayed out of this, Valeria. Now, you’re coming with me. If you don’t want to make this harder, I suggest you stop fighting.”
I looked around frantically, my heart pounding in my chest. But the street was empty, just like the world I thought I knew. The world my father built—powerful, untouchable—had suddenly crumbled into a nightmare.
I felt the panic rising in my throat, the walls of my privilege and safety crumbling, but I refused to show it. Not in front of him.
“You won’t get away with this. My father—” I began, but he cut me off with a look that sliced through me like a blade.
“Your father isn’t here. And I’ve already made my move. Now, get in the car.” His tone was final, as if my protest didn’t even matter.
I wanted to shout, to scream, to do something that would change this moment, but I was paralyzed, the weight of his presence suffocating me. I’d spent my whole life trying to stay above it all—above the politics, the corruption, the mafia. Now, here I was, being dragged into the very thing I had worked so hard to avoid.
He leaned in closer, his breath brushing my ear. “You can make this easy, or you can make it difficult. But either way, you're coming with me.”
The coldness in his voice made the air feel even heavier, like I was suffocating in a room too small to escape.
The tension between us was electric, thick with something I couldn’t name. Fear? Desire? Or maybe just the realization that I had just stepped into a world I’d never fully understood—one where I was no longer in control.
His hand still gripped my arm, dragging me toward the black SUV that waited idling by the curb. I didn’t have a choice. The grip of his hand was enough to crush any defiance left in me.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I muttered, trying to gather whatever shred of dignity I could find.
He stopped walking, eyes narrowing slightly, his lips curling into something between a smirk and a sneer. “You will be.”
I swallowed hard. “This isn’t how you get what you want, Ricci. You can’t just kidnap people because you think you can control them.”
“Watch me,” he said, his voice laced with a finality that made my chest tighten. “Get in the car, Valeria. And pray I don’t change my mind.”
I tried to pull back again, but it was useless. The moment I made contact with the side of the vehicle, a sudden jolt of fear surged through me. This wasn’t just k********g—it was a declaration of war.
As I climbed in, reluctantly, his eyes never left mine. His gaze was piercing, calculating, as if he could see through every mask I wore, every lie I told myself.
The door slammed shut behind me, and the sound reverberated through my chest like the closing of a coffin.
Alessandro Ricci wasn’t just a mafia don. He was my captor. And I had no idea what he wanted with me.
But I was about to find out.
