ght wa

I wa

s that claimed my body without a second thought. Leonardo Vercetti had come again, taken me

han just the physical. It felt like something inside me was breaking, sh

tered was

than a tool, a possession, a pawn? That he'd care?

My heart ached for my sister, Aria. All I could think about now was how much I needed t

t

ak. So weak. He was powerful, untouchable. He cont

ing inside

weak. Not

ertaste of his touch lingering. I didn't care about the pain anymore. I

hat I'd protect her. I would give her a better life. A life that wasn't this. A life that didn

it all from him. I would take his empire, his fortune, his life, and

in my bones. It felt heavy. But it was

om. The emptiness in the house matched the emptiness inside me. I needed to un

o him? How could I get him to

forming, slow

carefully constructed empire. I'd learn the vulnerabilities. And then, w

ed open, and I

ence filled the room like an ominous storm cloud, dark and oppressive. He didn't even

he said, his voice

couldn't. He didn'

a way that made me feel small. He didn't care about me. He never would. I wa

lling me up from the be

ordered, hi

mmand, and I had no

from fear anymore. It was something else. It w

ut that I would make him pay for what he h

ly, looking him in the eye for the

ed. "You should eat," he said dismissively, like he

r my ribs, and I couldn't help the way my stomach churned in hunger. But

n to me anymore. His cruel

" I finally said, my voic

gaze cold, calculating, and then

e muttered, then turned and walked

nding in my chest. He was righ

get st