Bound To The DevilI was sold to the devil to save my father. Now, I might let him keep me.When Alessia Moretti is auctioned off

[Alessia’s POV] My father sold me like a lamb to the slaughter. I could still hear the gavel's echo in my head as I sat in the back of the blacked-out SUV, my wrists trembling against the cold leather seat. "Sold," the auctioneer had barked, his voice slicing through the haze of perfume, cigar smoke, and greed. Sold to the devil himself—Salvatore De Luca. The most feared mafia king in the city. A man whose name was whispered in the streets like a curse. And now, I belonged to him. I clenched my thighs, suffocated by the tight silk dress my father forced me to wear—thin, crimson, revealing. It was a warning, a weapon, a sacrifice. My father’s gamble to save his own wretched skin. The car jerked to a stop. The door swung open. And there he was. Salvatore De Luca. Tall. Dangerous. A black suit draped over a body built like sin. His dark hair slicked back, jaw sharp enough to carve through bone. His cold, honey-brown eyes locked on mine like he already owned me. "Out," he ordered, his voice rough velvet, deadly calm. I hesitated. His lips curved into something between a smirk and a threat. "Out, Alessia. Unless you'd rather I drag you." I stepped out, ignoring the tremble in my legs. The mansion behind him was enormous, terrifying, beautiful—the kind of place you don’t leave unless he allows it. He turned without waiting for me and walked up the marble steps. His guards flanked us, their guns displayed like accessories. My heels clicked as I followed him inside, each step feeling like I was walking deeper into hell. The doors slammed shut behind me. Trapped. "Your room is upstairs," he said, not bothering to look back. "You won’t leave it without my permission." "Like a prisoner?" "Like a wife." His words coiled around me like a noose. A wife. His wife. I didn't sign up for this. But then again, I didn't sign anything at all. My father had done that for me. "This arrangement won't work," I said, forcing steel into my voice. He paused, turning to face me with the slow, deliberate grace of a predator. "Oh, it will. Because I don't make offers, Alessia. I make rules. And you... you are now mine." I should have screamed. I should have spat in his face. But my body betrayed me—the burn of his gaze, the raw, magnetic pull between us. It wasn't fear that made my pulse race. It was him. "Dinner is at eight. Be there. And wear something black." His footsteps echoed away, each one final, each one sealing my fate. The bedroom he assigned me was too beautiful to feel like a cage, but it was a cage nonetheless. Dark velvet curtains. Golden chandeliers. A king-sized bed with silk sheets, I couldn’t bring myself to touch. I stood by the window, staring at the garden below, wondering if I could climb out if I could run. But the guards patrolling the perimeter made sure I wouldn't get far. A knock came at the door, sharp and impatient. "Miss Alessia, Mr. De Luca expects you at dinner." I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to. Disobedience was just a waste of time. I slipped into a black dress I found hanging in the closet, perfectly my size. Of course, it was. He probably had his men measure me the second I stepped into that auction hall. The dress hugged every curve, low at the back, high on the slit. It screamed temptation, but I wasn’t his toy. I would not be broken. I walked downstairs, my head high, my stomach flipping. He sat at the long dining table, a glass of red wine in his hand, watching me like a man who already knew what I tasted like. "Sit." I took the chair across from him, refusing to let him see me tremble. "Eat." "Not hungry." His brow lifted slightly. "Defiance won’t get you far with me." "Neither will submission." His lips twitched, the faintest spark of amusement in his otherwise cold expression. "You’re bold for a girl with no power." "I have one power left." "And what’s that?" I leaned in, matching his intensity. "You don’t own my mind." "Not yet." The air thickened, charged with something electric and dangerous. He toyed with his wine glass, spinning it between his fingers. "You’re going to learn something, Alessia. In my world, love is a weapon. Desire is leverage. And obedience is survival." "Then teach me." I don’t know where the words came from. Maybe I wanted to wound him. Maybe I wanted to see him lose his control. His eyes darkened. His chair scraped back. He crossed the table in two strides, standing over me. He gripped my chin, tilting my face up to his. "You want me to teach you? Fine. Lesson one: Never provoke the devil. He always collects." His thumb brushed over my bottom lip. Heat flooded my core, my body at war with my mind. "You’re playing a dangerous game," he murmured. "Maybe I like dangerous." His gaze dropped to my lips, and for a heartbeat, I thought he might kiss me. Instead, he released me and stepped back. "Good. I like dangerous too." He turned, his voice clipped as he walked away. "You’ll sleep in my bed tonight." I shot to my feet. "That wasn’t part of the deal." "There is no deal, Alessia. There is only me." His words hung in the air long after he disappeared up the stairs. I should have refused. I should have fought harder. But as I climbed into his bed that night, I realized something that terrified me more than anything else. I didn’t want to escape. I wanted to be devoured. [Salvatore’s POV] The moment I saw her in that auction hall, wrapped in red silk, fire in her eyes, I knew she would be trouble. I didn’t buy her to keep her. I bought her to punish her father. To remind the city what happens when you betray me. But Alessia wasn’t the trembling little princess I expected. She looked at me like she wanted to burn me down. And maybe I’d let her try. I watched her sleep from the armchair in the corner, my jaw clenched, my body on edge. She lay in my bed like she belonged there, the moonlight casting silver over her dark hair. I could have touched her. I could have claimed her. I had every right. But I didn’t want to break her. Not yet. No, I wanted her to come to me willingly. I wanted her to beg. Her breathing shifted, her lashes fluttering as she slowly woke. Her gaze met mine in the dark, fearless. "Are you going to watch me all night?" "Perhaps." "You’re obsessed with me already." "Careful, Alessia. You might like the attention." She sat up, the sheets falling around her waist. She didn’t cower. She didn’t ask to leave. "Tell me why you really bought me." "Revenge." "Liar." She wasn’t wrong. It started as revenge. But now, I wanted more. I stood, walking to the edge of the bed, gripping the wooden post as I stared down at her. "I bought you because I couldn’t let anyone else have you." Her throat bobbed, but she didn’t look away. "What happens now?" "Now?" I leaned in, my voice a dark promise. "Now we see how long you can resist me." Her lips parted, her breathing quickening. I was close enough to kiss her, to taste her, but I didn’t. "Goodnight, Alessia." I left her there, aching, wondering, needing. I’d make her crave me the way I already craved her. And when she finally broke, when she finally begged for me— That’s when I’d ruin her.