jj_houstome
I was Serena Vitale-untouchable queen of the Vitale empire, born to command boardrooms and blood oaths alike. One bullet at my father's birthday dinner shattered it all. Blood soaked the marble, whispers of betrayal rippled through every famiglia, and my uncle Matteo sharpened his knife for my throne.
Suddenly, the wolves circled. Allies turned vultures. The only door left standing? The one I swore I'd never open again.
Luca Ferrante.
My ex-lover. The man I walked away from when his hunger for power grew darker than my own. He's no longer the charming underboss who once whispered promises against my skin. Now he rules his own ruthless syndicate with iron fists and colder eyes. And his price for protection is absolute.
He doesn't want a partnership.
He wants ownership.
"Sign it, principessa," he murmured, sliding the contract across the table like a loaded gun. "Your empire. Your body. Your every breath-belongs to me until the blood debt is paid."
I should have laughed in his face. I should have chosen pride and fought alone.
But the nights grow longer, the threats closer, and the heat between us refuses to die. Every stolen touch drags me deeper into his world of velvet chains and savage loyalty. Every heated argument ends with my back against the wall and his name on my lips like a confession.
In this game of thrones and twisted desire, three forces war inside me: the pride that built my name, the raw lust that still burns for the only man who ever matched my fire, and the crushing responsibility to keep the Vitale legacy from crumbling to ash.
When the final betrayal strikes, I'll have to decide what I'm willing to surrender... and what I'm ready to claim.
Because in our world, queens don't kneel.
They choose who gets to crown them.