Page 33 of One Savage Union

He shrugs. “A future full of danger, yes. But also passion, luxury, and the love of our children. You will live the life of a queen. Your training begins as soon as we board my private plane to my villa in Ravello, off Italy’s Amalfi Coast.”

I squirm to take my seat belt off as we approach the airstrip. Then I panic. As long as we were in Chicago, or at least the United States, I understood my surroundings. I could ask for help, given the chance. Now, he wants to take me to a foreigncountry where I don’t even speak the language? I will depend on him. Hello no!

“Italy!

I’m not going anywhere else with you! Let me out of this car right now!” I try to open the door, but the locks are engaged. I scream and kick at him. But he catches my foot and squeezes, stilling me for a moment.

He shakes his head in disappointment. “No, I will not let you go. I did not want to do this, but if you can’t cooperate, I must drug you again for your safety.”

“I hate you!” I scream and whine, but he pulls me to him and pushes my head against his shoulder. When I feel the needle he must have had in his pocket, puncture the back of my neck, I release a silent cry.

The last thing I hear before I black out is his quiet words of advice against my ear.

“Prepare yourself la mia piccola palla di fuoco. Life with me will not be easy, but it will be worth it.”

I doubt that very much.

11

ROCCO

Ravello is just as I remember.

Quiet, wealthy, and romantic.

The stone walls, white-washed Duomo, and cobbled streets make even the most hardened men feel sane.

Amalfi’s hidden jewel is the only place I dare to call safe.

I hid here for an entire year after Matteo Ricci ruthlessly killed my parents in our home in Bari. Ravello was my uncle’s idea. His enemies knew I escaped, and he was paranoid they would cut out what they left of his heart. My mother was his entire world. He never recovered from her death.

Some think that’s why my uncle Thomasso is so unforgiving and hard. Those people don’t know him. If they did, they’d recognize he was always a savage.

After my mother’s death, he just stopped camouflaging his true ferocity. There was no point. He had zero fucks to give except for the fuck he gave when he took me under his wing.

He offered me refuge and saved my life. I owe him everything, including the Ricci throne on a silver platter.

I came to him as a shipwrecked sixteen-year-old. The Ricci’s hit us hard, and took away the two most important people in my life. They tortured me and crushed my fingers before I could escape, ensuring I’d never play piano again.

Then my uncle brought me here to a seaside village known for its international music festivals. It felt like a cruel joke. But after a month of living on the mountainside and working in nearby Scala’s lemon groves, I realized it kept my mind sober.

When the time came to join Uncle Thomasso and the family in Chicago, I could do so without bloodlust clouding my judgment. Ravello was my salvation, and that’s why I’ve brought Lucia here.

Five years ago, I began renovations on an 800-year-old villa that was once turned into a hotel during the 1930s. I paid the owners a substantial amount of money to relinquish their tourist business and turned Villa Dal Mare into my very own 13,000-square-foot sanctuary. It’s secluded and secure.

I did not create it with a woman in mind, but I expect the home will be to Lucia’s liking. I’ve only known her for a short while, but I think the mix of vintage Italian and beach modern decor will please her.

I just need her to wake up and see it.

She was still asleep when we landed in Naples this morning. My local driver, Canon, picked us up, and I held her tightly in my arms for the entire commute.

When I first took her, I thought only of my uncle’s needs. My plan was to break her down into whatever my family and I needed to ascend the throne that Leo aims to claim as his own—a throne with two seats: the Romanos and the Riccis. We’ve peacefully coexisted for the past twenty years, and none of that needs to change. The last war took too many precious lives; my mother’s included. However, there can only be one leader, even in times of peace.

My uncle will become the don of all dons through this forced marriage

Kidnapping and matrimony are less bloody, but just as persuasive as a street offensive.

After making Lucia come last night, I witnessed a different side of her. She’s responsive to my touch. She responds well to my… preferences. After I spanked her sweet ass, the first night we met, she was dripping wet, though she will never admit it.

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