Page 99 of Untamed

He scoffs, the sound hollow and bitter. “Is that what you’re calling it? Protecting her how, exactly? Byfuckingher?”

I can taste anger like metal in my mouth. Step by step I close the distance between us, heart hammering, fist balled up as if I might land a punch. Then I force myself to breathe. “I didn’t,” I almost snarl, each word a low growl. “I didn’t sleep with her.”

Enzo’s face shifts, darkening. He raises his glass, studies it for a moment, then sets it down with deliberate calm. “She got a job working at Eden,” he says, tone clipped but furious. “Rocco offered her up to Nicolai Moretti. I got there just in time, found her alone in the VIP room, cornered like a scared little mouse. When I got there, he had her backed into a corner. Tried to shove a line of coke under her nose. Gun on his hip, offering to fuck her for a price.” Enzo’s expression shifts, and he steps forward; his knuckles whiten around his glass.

“Jesus Christ.”

“I handled it,” I tell him, voice like steel. “Dropped his men. Broke Nico’s jaw, and told him if he comes anywhere near her again, I’ll rip his tongue out and feed it to him, and I got her out.”

“And setting fire to Eden with Rocco inside?” Enzo questions. "Was that your idea of justice?"

I hold his gaze steadily. "It was long overdue."

Enzo exhales sharply, his jaw clenched. “Long overdue? Ares, you destroyed a neutral territory.”

“No,” I reply with composure. “I destroyed a place that allowed someone like Rocco to offer girls like Jordyn to men like Nicolai. There's nothing neutral about that. He was warned. The first time I saw her there, I told Rocco to cut ties with her. He ignored me and paid for his greed with his life. That's it.”

Enzo shakes his head. “Do you really think Nico will heed your warning, Ares? He’s more unhinged than you are. And you embarrassed him in front of a crowd. You think he’ll just let that slide without retaliation? You’re tearing down alliances we've bled for years building, and for what? That’s not something you would do just for anyone?” His eyes narrow as he scrutinises me.

“She’s not anyone.”

Fuck.

The words are out before I can stop them.

Enzo’s expression shifts, brows drawing tight, jaw ticking, as I scramble for a way to explain myself, to backpedal, to undo what I just let slip.

“You don’t see it, do you?” he says after a long beat. “How fucking dangerous this is.”

“I see it,” I mutter. “Clearer than you think.”

“No, Ares. You don’t.” He steps closer, voice low and firm. “You’re acting on emotion. That’s not like you. You’ve always been the cold one. The untouchable one. And now you’re willing to light a match to everything for her?”

My hands curl into fists. “He’s got her marked, Enzo. I don’t need to remind you what that means.” I snap, voice low and hard. “You’d think, of all people, you’d want her kept out of shit like this. Considering she’s your precious wife’s little sister, as you never seem to stop reminding me.”

Enzo doesn’t blink. “Ares, you’re my baby brother. I know you better than anyone. I know the damage you’re capable of, and I’ve seen the way your eyes burn every time she’s in the room or her name is mentioned.”

A dangerous heat unfurls beneath my skin. I step closer, lowering my voice until it’s all venom and threat. “If you know me so fucking well, then you’d know I don’t fuck where I sleep. But if I wanted to, if I really wanted to take her, I would. And there’s not a goddamn thing you, Bianca, or the fucking worldcould do to stop me. Do you understand? In fact, I would love to see any of you try.”

Enzo’s mouth flattens, his silence stretched tight. I take a step forward. “Save the sermon for your offspring, brother, he’s the one busy trying to put his dick where it doesn’t belong, not me.”

I hold his stare for another beat, just long enough to see my words sink in before turning and walking off into the night, pulse thundering in my ears, burying everything deeper than I have room for. Because every word I just said was meant to be a lie.

And yet none of it felt like one.

I'm feeling an unsettling restlessness, an untamed energy surging through me like a tempest, ready to tear apart anyone who dares to look at me the wrong way. My body refuses to be still, a constant motion driven by vivid images of Jordyn and Matteo, propelling me to pace relentlessly across my living room like a caged animal.

I’ve never experienced anything quite like this before, this urgent need to expel the chaos churning within me. I snatch my phone off the glass table and dial Dante, my voice clipped and commanding. “Come here.”

Dante appears a minute later, his presence a silent acknowledgement of my turmoil. He doesn't question why I've summoned him. He doesn't need to. He stands there, observingme as I light a cigarette, my knuckles bruised and my eyes shadowed with intensity. It’s all the explanation he requires.

“I need blood,” I say, my voice steely and resolute.

With a single nod, Dante retrieves his phone, making a call that ignites a chain of events. One call is all it takes.

Twenty-five minutes later, I’m pushing through the rotting doors into the heart of Sicily’s underworld. The space is a hostile cavern of concrete floors and steel rafters, filled with a crowd whose very presence reeks of lust and violence. The makeshift ring is encircled by men bearing more scars than scruples and women watching with fervent hope that someone dies tonight.

I shrug off my jacket, allowing it to fall to the ground, a cigarette hanging nonchalantly from my lips. On the outside, I'm calm—too calm. But within, a storm rages.

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