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419 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 12, 2019
“You’ve never been alone with a man and then you were at the mercy of a monster like Remo Falcone. You had nothing to protect yourself. You did what you had to, to survive. The brain is a powerful tool. It can survive the cruelest horrors by creating alternative realities.”
↳ this book starts off right after the second book and because the Outfit (Dante's mafia group) attacked their territory in twisted loyalties, Remo (H and capo of Camorra) planned to kidnap Serafina (h and Dante's niece) before her wedding as revenge against the Outfit. after 3 months of captivity Remo let's her go but Serafina is pregnant with twins and there was 1.5 years separation. so this book has the kidnap/captor, with a little bit of beauty and the beast and a splash of hades/persephone and maybe even add in a little bit of rhys/feyre vibes.
"You are an angel, and I'm your ruin."
"They'd never let me be anything but the dove with broken wings. They couldn't. But I wanted to fly."
Finally, Serafina screamed, and it was so fucking real that my body reacted to the sound, but not in a way it usually did, not with excitement and the thrill of the hunt. There was something close to revulsion filling my body, hearing her agonized cries and imagining they were real.
My hands curled to fists, my muscles tensing because a deeply buried instinct wanted me to protect her from whatever caused those screams. Unfortunately for her, nothing could protect her from me.
Serafina’s eyes snapped open. They searched my face, and a second too late I realized she got deeper than anyone was allowed. “Enough,” I repeated, my voice shaking with rage and confusion.
“Enough?” she whispered so softly. The sound was like a fucking caress.
Remo took the spoon and lifted it toward Nevio’s face, but he didn’t restrain his arms. Before I could warn him, Nevio snatched at the spoon and catapulted sweet potato puree through the room. Most of it landed square on Remo’s shirt. The rest in Nino’s face.
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop laughter.
Kiara didn’t show the same restraint. She burst out laughing. Nino wiped his face with a napkin, his eyes on his laughing wife—and softer than I’d ever seen them.
Nevio rocked excitedly in his chair, a toothless grin on his face. Remo glanced down at himself, then at his son, and his lips twitched.
Savio and Adamo looked as if they were having a stroke. I got it. Remo was one of the most feared men of the country, and here he cradled his baby girl in his arms, patient and careful. Nino was rocking Nevio on his thigh, and my son let out delighted screeches.
There are whores to fuck, Outfit bastards to kill, and the fucking Bratva to piss off.”
“Do as I say.”
“Or what?” I said harshly. “What could you possibly do to me? You have taken everything from me that mattered. There’s nothing left for you to take, to break.”
the whore regarded me with that fucking submissiveness, that disgusting reverence. No pride, no honor. They all got a choice and chose the easy way, never the hard painful one. They would never understand that nothing could be gained without pain. Weak. Disgusting.
“Don’t waste your energy on another thought of that girl. She’s worthless. There are many more girls out there. She used you. Maybe now you’ll start using them as well.”
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Remo said in a British accent, all posh and sophisticated.
This is supposed to bring the Outfit down. Don’t forget that, Remo.”
My mouth pulled wide. “It will crush them. They will bleed out slowly, painfully, without ever feeling my blade. This will destroy them.”
“My family and fiancé will tear down Las Vegas if you hurt me.”
“Oh, I hope they do, so I can bathe in their blood,”
“Oh, Remo, I will be your first angel. Patience is a virtue, and you will be rewarded for it.”
“When will you set me free?” I asked.
“Soon,” Remo murmured but didn’t elaborate. For some reason I heard the echo of the word “never.”
Never. Never. Never.
“She rested her palm against my chest, over my heart.
“Is there something in there capable of love?” My fucking chest constricted.
“Whatever’s in there, it’s yours. Whatever love I’m capable of, it’s yours, too.”
She cupped my face, her eyes fierce, almost brutal in their intensity. “You are beyond redemption, Remo,” she whispered, and I smiled bitterly because I knew it.
She shook her head. “But so am I because even free to do as I please, I choose you. I’m no angel. An angel wouldn’t love a man like you, but I do. I love you.”
“Your pride will be your downfall,” I said.
“And your fury will be yours.”
“Then we’ll fall together. Isn’t that the beginning of every tragic love story?”
“Whatever’s in there, it’s yours. Whatever love I’m capable of, it’s yours too.”
She cupped my face, her eyes fierce, almost brutal in their intensity. “You are beyond redemption, Remo,” she whispered, and I smiled bitterly because I knew it.
She shook her head. “But so am I because even free to do as I please, I choose you. I’m no angel. An angel wouldn’t love a man like you, but I do. I love you.”
Pride was the only weapon I had, and I would hold on to it until the very end.