Page 30 of I Would Die For You

And I have. The man I’m with now, he’s not the same one I met over a month ago. Gone is the laughter brimming inside him, the joy bubbling out of his every action, the spring in his step. Every time he kisses me goodbye now, this soft press of his lips to my hairline, it feels like a piece of him drifts away and never returns.

I know he’s been activated as the Don’s enforcer—it’s the only thing anyone at the club can talk about lately. Sandro and Dino have been hovering over me a little, making sure I’m well. Dino, especially, ensures I know Stefano is okay on a daily basis. I hardly see him anymore, and when he does come to me, it’s to drift in and out of my world, in and out of my body, and then leave with that goddamn kiss goodbye.

Sometimes, it feels like adieu, and he’s only back because he can lose himself in me. Words aren’t exchanged anymore, his hands, lips, cock doing all the talking, his mouth only delivering some dirty talk as he fucks me. He seems to find solace this way.

I don’t.

I want my lover back, my beautiful, extroverted puppy-like Stefano who talks a mile a minute while gesturing with his hands as his every expression courses over his expressive face. This other man, I don’t know who he is.

Worse, I don’t know if I can ever get my original Stefano back. What if I don’t? What if I can’t live with this shadowed, darker version?

Every time he leaves me to walk into an underworld that reeks of danger and unimaginable threats, I feel like essential breath is stolen from my lungs and I can't recover. It’s gets more painful with each goodbye kiss he presses into me.

The club is closed tonight, the one time per week all the staff get a night off. I’m not expecting a knock on my door, much less to find Dino on the landing.

“Come with me,” he says with a nod. “Boss wants to see you.”

A frown creasing my forehead, I start after him. Why would the Don come over on a night we’re closed?

“Take your handbag with you,” he adds over his shoulder.

Weirder and weirder.

I do as he bid, but take the time to change from my black yoga pants and gray tank top to a more appropriate jumpsuit. Even I have standards, and looking like a slob is perfectly fine but in the privacy of my room alone.

His request starts to make sense though I’m still frowning when I get into the car waiting on the curb, Dino riding shotgun in front. The drive isn’t overly long, yet soon, we’re not in any part of Torino I’m familiar with. This looks like a residential area, with sprawling villas behind high walls and intricate gates.

We’re rolling into one such property next. A wide gravel driveway leads to a big, L-shaped, two-story dwelling sitting in the middle of a verdant garden. When I alight from the car, I can clearly see a very long pool glimmering to the side of the house at the back.

Dino walks me around the other way. The manicured grass gives way to a path made of smooth large pebbles embedded in the earth. A row of a dozen or so steps leads to a wide terrace, from where I’m ushered into an opulent living room.

“Boss will be here soon,” Dino says before leaving.

I only nod, too awed by this magnificent interior. The décor is exquisite, like something from inside a palace, but it also looks lived in. I’ve never seen such luxury in real life, and I can’t stop from flitting all over the room to glimpse this and that.

“Hello.”

The voice makes me jump, and I whip around, still catching my breath when my gaze alights on the person standing in an opened doorway. It’s a young boy, in that awkward stage where he’s no longer a child but not yet a man, all gangly limbs and with facial features that haven’t yet decided to be more grown-up than kid-like.

“Hi,” I say.

“Sorry I startled you.”

His English is flawless, with a hint of a British accent.

“My fault,” I say with a small smile. “You must be…Giuseppe?”

He’s not the spitting image of his father, but the resemblance is there, in the wide jaw and square chin.

He nods. “What’s your name?”

“Kaya.”

“Wanna play a game?”

I shrug. “Sure.”

He turns toward the hallway, and I follow, wondering what he’s getting at. I needn’t have worried, because the next room has a massive TV screen hooked up to a PlayStation console.

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