Penelope Levine has been "promised" to notorious mafia boss, Brock Rumlow, in order to pay a family debt.
The night before her wedding, she meets James Barnes, the owner of Underworld, one of the most infamous nightclubs in New York. Their spark is...
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CW:Extreme violence, a lot of "good for her" moments/Ready or Not vibes, descriptions of blood, James takes a massive beating, violence against women, major character death (not anyone from our beautiful trio, don't worry).
This might be the bloodiest chapter I've written next to something like Ravenous. So, it's going to get pretty dark and murdery.
Once again, no smut in this one, but it's been in almost every chapter and it just doesn't fit with these super violent and climactic chapters. Sorry! It'll be in the wrap up chapter.
I wrote this entire chapter to the Smashing Pumpkins song in the epigraph. Highly recommended listening for the vibes. It's the last song on the Devil Town playlist.
Once again, seeing far more reads than votes and comments, so please interact with this by voting and commenting! I'm never joking when I say it means a lot to writers to have readers engage with our work! We don't get paid to do this and comments are always great to see <3
Delivered from the blast The last of a line of lasts The pale princess of a palace cracked
And now the kingdom comes Crashing down undone And I am a master of a nothing place Of recoil and grace - The Smashing Pumpkins, "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning"
"WHERE ARE THEY?!" Steve screams as he hits Natasha again.
Blood dribbles down from her chin and she smiles.
Any and all compassion he had is gone. Steve has been pushed to his very limit. The two people he loves the most in the world have disappeared, and he's been doing this job long enough to know that Natasha fucking knows something. Steve paces back and forth, his knuckles bruised and bloodied, and his face leaking blood.
"I said I don't know."
Steve cocks his gun and shoves it into her mouth.
"You're a goddamn liar," he hisses. "Remember when I used to make you suck on this, sweetheart? It was always unloaded. For your safety. I should just blow your fucking head off right now and paint the walls with your brains. Maybe I'll fuckin' frame it. Hmm?"
"Steve, stop," Sam says softly. "It's not gonna do any good to kill her if she has information."
"I don't!" Natasha manages to cry out with the barrel of Steve's gun still in her mouth. He cocks his head to the side and pulls the gun out. Natasha spits blood onto the floor. "I swear I don't know anything."
"I don't think that's true," Sam says softly. His gun is aimed at her.
They're back at the villa. Fisk is dead. Castle has been shot in the leg. The group stands in a sea of broken glass. The rest of the house is untouched, but the lounge looks like a fucking bomb hit it. The cats are safe, tucked away in the basement. After they got back, it was one of the first things Steve did. He and Natasha barely managed to survive the car crash and had Yelena come and pick them up.
