“What are you going to do about it, Pet?”

“A-about what?”

“You said you won’t be a lamb, so what will you do? Are you going to turn into a wolf and stab me with that?” He takes a step, suppressing the distance between us.

The knife is now at the hollow of his neck, but he doesn’t attempt to push away. If anything, he keeps getting closer until I have to stare up at him. My hand shakes and my eyes widen.

“Go ahead,” he taunts. “You want to stop being a lamb, no?”

The knife nearly falls from my grip due to the tremors in my hand. I’m about to drop it when Jasper clutches my wrist and twists it making the weapon fall to the ground.

He swings me around and slams me against the wall. I gasp as the shock ripples not only through my back but also between my legs.

His rough side always got me in a twist and I brought it upon myself this time.

“You think you can hurt me, Pet? Escape me?” he snarls against my face as he lifts me up. My legs wrap around him of their own volition as he opens his pants enough to get his hard cock out.

He reaches underneath my dress and groans when he finds I’m going commando. “Look at you bare and soaked for me. You want to be fucked like a dirty little whore, don’t you, my slut?”

I grab onto his shirt, my nails digging into his back as my only form of encouragement.

He thrusts balls deep inside me and spanks my ass at the same time. The stinging sensation shooting straight to my core. I shriek and bite his shoulder over his shirt to mute the sound.

“You’re mine, Pet. Fucking mine, accept it already.” He slides out almost entirely before he pounds into me again and again.

A sob tears in the air and that’s when I realize the sound is coming from me. He’s breaking my walls and reforming them.

He’s not only fucking my body, but also my soul. He’s making me his whether I like to or not.

“Come for me,” he whispers near my mouth as he tugs at my throat by the collar.

I do.

I let out a long moan mixed with a sob as I fall apart around him in all senses of the word.

And I know, I just know that if I don’t leave soon, I’ll be completely caught under his spell until there’s no way out.

A part of me, a stupid part, wants that.

Jasper powers into me harder and faster until his cum spills inside me and trickles down my thighs.

I’m too spent to think or do anything, so I let my head rest against his shoulder as I catch my breaths.

“Now,” he spanks me one last time, making me whimper with residual pleasure. “You’re going to sit your ass on that chair and eat.”

“And if I say no?” I murmur.

“I’ll fuck that attitude out of you.” He licks the shell of my ear. “And this time, I won’t stop, my pet.”

9

Jasper

All best-laid plans start with a scheme.

There’s something Nonno used to tell me about the greatest evil of all, turning brothers against each other.

Nonno was a rightful man. He worked the land and the people and protected those who needed protection. Nonno didn’t like evil, but Nonno didn’t have his entire family slaughtered in front of him.

Sorry, Nonno, I’ll pay for this if we ever meet again.

Returning to the States when Lucio has all eyes on me isn’t easy, even with Enzo’s private jet. There’s always the risk there’s some informant, a traitor who works for Enzo but backstabs him by providing information to Lucio.

Enzo says he scans all those working for him, but I don’t trust anyone. Old habits are hard to break.

For that reason, I only take Angelo with me; he’s one of those who work with me on the farm, older than me and one of De Marco’s most trusted men.

Angelo has a silver beard and hair and is one of those quiet ones. He only speaks when spoken to, and he likes to fuck widows. Hey, no judgment here. Everyone has their own kinks.

I leave him outside as camouflage as I break into Paolo Costa’s house. His security is shit compared to Lucio’s, but it still isn’t easy.

I knock down two guards on my way to his study and lose precious time to drag their limp bodies into closets out of the staff’s way.

Paolo’s house is big but impersonal as if he didn’t take the time to add life into it. From the time I was on Lucio’s side, I know Paolo either spends his time in his study or in the garden. And yes, Lucio was that specific about spying on his brother’s movements.

I head to his office first and open the huge wooden door.

“No more coffee. Grazie, Marta.”

“No coffee for you, Paolo.” The door clicks as I lean back against it and point my gun in his direction.

Paolo stands by his window, staring outside. At my words, he slowly turns around to face me.

Paolo Costa is older than Lucio, and it shows. His face is frail and so is his body. Unlike his brother, he doesn’t hide the white strands in his black hair, something he passed down to his daughter.

If I expected surprise or a fight, he gives none. Instead, he watches me with his dark eyes as if having someone barge into his office and hold a weapon at him is an everyday occurrence.

“I heard Lucio is no longer using you, so I gather you figured it all out, yes?” he asks with boredom.

Of course, he knew all that. It takes everything not to shoot him in the forehead. But I don’t do that, because that’s against what I planned.

“Do you also know that Lucio is after your heir?” I ask.

He gives a curt nod, fully facing me now.

“How about the fact that he killed your heir’s mother?”

Paolo seems to have stopped breathing for a second. “Your proof?”

“Do I need any? This is Lucio we’re talking about. He’s been eyeing the throne since Emilio was alive, and if you think he didn’t plan this for years, you don’t know your brother.”

Paolo watches me intently, his finger tapping his thigh. “I’m afraid I can’t trust your words either. You’re a Vitallio after all.”

“Suit yourself.” I keep my tone nonchalant. “This is the only warning you’ll get from me, old man.”

That should be enough to form a bigger dent between him and Lucio. While they’re busy murdering each other, I’ll sneak back and take payment for what they did twenty-five years ago.

I open the door without turning. If I give him my back, he won’t hesitate to shoot me like they did to my mother.

“How about my daughter?” His frail voice causes me to stop.

“Your daughter?” I pretend to be ignorant.

“Stop playing with me. You took my daughter somewhere, where is Georgina?”

He knows.

Well, of course, he knows. After all, he was the reason her mom disguised her as a boy. If my calculations are correct, then he must’ve found her exact location around the time I took her to Sicily.

“I thought you have a son?” I feign surprise.

“I’ll find her and she’ll choose me. You know why, Alessio?” He emphasizes my given name. “For the same reason, you’re doing all this. Family. I’m her only remaining member. Blood runs thicker than water, remember that.”