𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃| ✎

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

The room was filled with a thick silence, the walls seeming to shrink with every passing second. Luca stood before me, his report on my mind, yet my thoughts were entirely focused on the news about Ava.

The thought of her, innocent and vulnerable, being taken advantage of by that lowlife Alessio sent a wave of anger through me.

Right.

I clenched my fists, my jaw set in a tight line, as I tried to contain the fury that boiled within me. "Continue," I said wanting to know more, my voice low and cold.

My jaw clenches as I listen to Luca's words, the anger surging through me like a storm. The mere thought of Ava being touched by someone else, by one of the lowly men like Alessio, makes me see red. Nobody touches what's mine. Nobody.

"Find out where they are. Now." The cold, steely tone of my voice leaves no room for argument.

Luca nods, a hint of an arrogant pride flashing across his face at my words. "I knew you'd say that, so I already found one of Alessio's men."

"Good," I reply, the word coming out as a low, gravelly growl. My mind is already racing, plotting the next moves. Finding out where they are is just the first step in my plan of revenge.

Luca leans forward, a smirk on his face. "He's being held in the warehouse on the outskirts of the city. My guys are keeping watch, making sure he doesn't go anywhere."

As I listen to Luca's report, my mind drifts for a moment to that very thought. How dark my life has been, how it never resembled the beautiful tales of princesses and princes. No, my life was a dark one, where I had to fight and claw my way to the top, leaving a trail of bloodshed in my wake.

It wasn't just a case of not being handed anything easy. No, life had been deliberately cruel to me. The world had turned its back on me, and I had to learn to survive on my own. My parents were not the caring, nurturing type. They were cold and detached, their love for me as icy as the harshest of winters.

I remember being just a boy, trying so desperately to seek their love and affection. But all I got in return was their dismissal, their disappointment. They never showed me any warmth, any compassion. In their eyes, I was nothing more than a mistake, an inconvenience a machine to their success.

I was a child, just a small boy, and yet I had to grow up so fast. I had to learn the cruelty of the world, the harsh realities of life. My parents pushed me to excel, demanded perfection, without ever providing a sliver of comfort or understanding. It was a lonely and brutal existence, one that left me feeling like an outsider even in my own family.

As I sit there, my mind racing with thoughts of the past, one thing suddenly stands out. An interest I had developed in something that was truly natural, something that didn't stem from the cold, harsh world I grew up in. That interest was in Ava.