Page 15 of Covert Desires

Jesus, Kiah. Stop it.

Trying to force the idea from my mind, I take another swig of the liquor.

Time to plan my revenge.

I have just the thing in mind…

Chapter five

Caged

(Nico)

Painexplodesinmyshoulder when that bitch stabs me.

It burns through my insides white-hot and searing.

I gasp, the air catching in my throat as I see the jagged piece of porcelain jutting out from my flesh.

A mixture of shock and rage surges through me as blood wells up around the shard, warm and sticky, soaking the gown.

I can't believe the innkeeper stabbed me.

They don’t usually fight back…

I clench my jaw, the taste of copper on my tongue as I bite down on the inside of my cheek.

The pain in my shoulder is blinding, but I force myself to stay conscious as my vision blurs at the edges.

Every breath sends a jolt of agony through my body, but I push it aside, focusing on Kiah.

I won't show weakness, not now, not ever.

That harlot will regret the day she was born.

You don’t fuck with Domenico Ricci and get away with it. My father is Don Ricci himself, head of one of the most ruthless crime families on the East Coast.

Was.

My fatherwasDon Ricci.

Manipulative cunt.

He got what he had coming.

Even if things didn’t go according to plan.

My family history doesn’t change shit about my current predicament, though.

I’m still spread out on this bed with my shoulder throbbing like a motherfucker, clouding my thoughts, making it hard to think straight.

Kiah studies me from the foot of the bed, her posture defiant, her eyes blazing with determination. It's a look I know well—the look of someone who believes they have the upper hand.

My mind races, calculating, assessing. There's a part of me that almost admires her nerve.

It takes guts to turn the tables on me.

But that admiration is fleeting, quickly smothered by a surge of anger and betrayal.

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