Page 5 of Until You Break
The message would go unread. Maybe Enzo would see it later, wondering why I never replied.
My vision dimmed. Someone’s hand kept me upright, holding me steady long enough to watch me fall.
Before the dark took me, one thought stayed clear. Whoever ordered this wanted me alive, not dead.
Which meant something worse was waiting.
Someone they already whispered about.
Someone I hadn’t met yet…
but would.
CHAPTER 2
DAMIANO
“So the opening was a big success,” I said, voice low, letting the words cut the evening air. “What did the street whisper?”
Luca smirked darkly, boots already on the table, a half-empty Negroni in hand, shirt open, sunglasses on, knife spinning slow between his fingers. “That Riccardo’s in trouble.”
We sat on the terrace, the city’s noise humming below while the family estate stayed still. Talk in the streets still circled Riccardo’s casino opening, his win flaunted like a crown. “And we all know that trouble makes better company than saints,” Luca muttered, spinning the knife once more.
He looked every inch the wolf he was. Three years younger than me, loud as sin, and nothing like my cool, efficient other brother Alessandro.
“You’re staring.” He didn’t look up, just let the knife flash like punctuation.
“I’m thinking.”
“Dangerous habit.” He flashed a grin. Quick, crooked, full of teeth. A flicker of motion, the knife twisting, catching light and moving on.
“Well, at least I’m not the one who flirts with waiters and forgets their names by dessert.”
Luca grinned. “Aww… you remember? Then you also know I did that poor guy a favor. Couldn’t carry water without blushing.”
I snorted despite myself. “You wrote your number on the check in lipstick.”
“He called me later that night. Told me he’d never blushed harder. Then sucked me dry.”
“Spare me the details,fratellino.” I shook my head. “You ever think about settling down?”
“Sure.” His tone was casual. “Right after I find a man who can outdrive me and outdrink me.”
“Or at least one who knows how to park without scratching your Maserati.”
“Low blow,bastardo.”
He spun the knife faster for a breath, bored, looking for a nerve, then slower, lazy, when he felt he’d grazed one. Luca’s tells were not for everyone. They were for me.
I let the banter roll off and took in the terrace.
The rooftop was set into the old stone like a secret, part garden, part watchtower. From here, you could see the whole estate. The courtyard, the lemon trees, the old paths winding through grass and flowers below. Mama’s idea. Power should celebrate where the city couldn’t see.
Heat rose off the tiles, carrying rind and oil from the lemons. Bougainvillea climbed the walls in violent bloom. A thin breeze moved the petals cleanly. Glass clicked. Ice sighed. The day had an edge.
It had been two nights since the casino opening. Riccardo had paraded his win like a crown. No Bellandi forgot the insult. That told me two things. His hands were dirty, and we were already cleaner with blood than he was with money.
“You’re wound tight.” Luca finally glanced up over his lenses.
