Tormento

In the Viscardi family, a single "no" is law, and an Underboss's command is execution. Pietro is a master of control, a tactical genius who runs a sovereign shadow state alongside his brother. He has no vulnerabilities. No weaknesses.
Except for her.

Elena Bianchi was his pulse. His north star. But in a world fueled by bloodshed and survival, anything except blood family is a luxury. He was given a tactical calculation. A high-stakes risk. He chose the empire. Was the right choice, really the right choice?

Three years of bitter silence have passed, and a new crisis has brought the brilliant, razor‑sharp doctor back into his orbit. She treats his family with maternal warmth, but she treats him with pure, icy contempt. She knows exactly how to stop a heart from beating-and she is testing how fast she can do it to his.

Can a wildfire be cooled by the woman it burned? Or is some wreckage too deep for even a Viscardi to rebuild?

PIETRO
I love you, vita. I need your heart, your body, your soul. I want them all to be mine. You belong with me. My heart burns for you, my body bends for you. I am yours, vita. All yours. I am a monster to the rest of the world, but I am completely undone by you. And if my apologies won't mend this-if my blood won't, and my body too-then what will? I want you back, vita. Life is pure torture without you. I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry.

ELENA
You are the quiet dark I keep drowning in. My pull. I loved you Pietro-no rather, I still love you. But you are a wreck, and so am I. You are a bomb, and you've already blown up. You burned our future to save an empire, and now you have the audacity to shiver in the cold. I want you, I desire you. But my heart will not accept you fully, not if I'm always the second‑place calculation. Call me greedy, I agree. Because for you, I need to be the only choice. Are you ready to cool your flames for me, Pietro?

Tormento... Book 2 of the Shield of Hearts series.