Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Luciano Moretti, The Saint, is calm, calculating, and dangerously loyal. As the Moretti family’s consigliere, he’s lived in the shadows… until the day he crosses the line.
When Luc steals a rival Don’s bride-to-be from the altar, he doesn’t just shatter an alliance. He sparks a full-blown mafia war.
Valentina Ricci was supposed to be a bargaining chip. Now she’s on the run with the one man who’s always watched from a distance. The one man she was never supposed to love.
He’s older. Untouchable. Obsessed.
And he’s about to lose control
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
LUC
Valentina Ricci is a dangerous obsession. The kind that gnaws at your mind until there's nothing left but reckless desire. She's not mine. She's with another man. Yet, I woke today knowing I had to see her, consequences be damned.
“You’re risking everything,” Alonzo warns, watching me gather my things.
"Vincent won't miss me for a few hours," I reply, ignoring the judgment in his eyes.
He sighs, resigned. "You realize Leonardo Conti won't forgive this."
"Leonardo doesn't scare me," I say coldly. He might be a Don, but beneath his expensive suits. He's just another arrogant prick exerting dominance through fear.
I arrive at Conti’s estate at twilight, slipping effortlessly through the iron gates with practiced lies. His guards, more muscle than brains, let me pass without suspicion. Once inside the grounds, I move silently, guided only by the faint glow from Valentina’s window.
My heart pounds when I throw the pebble. It sharply hits the window frame. Moments later, she appears, breathtaking and startled.
“Luc? You shouldn’t be here!” she whispers urgently.
"Can I come up?" I don't wait for an answer, scaling the tree effortlessly, slipping into her room. The instant we’re face to face, every buried emotion between us flares to life.
"They set the wedding date," she admits softly, sadness heavy in her voice.
"Then don’t marry him," I insist, angered by the hopeless look in her eyes.
"You know it’s not that simple."
Instead of answering, I pull her close, my mouth claiming hers fiercely. Forbidden, reckless—it's exactly what we've both craved for years. Our clothes disappear quickly, passion overtaking caution. Every touch, every gasp is desperate, knowing this stolen moment might be our only chance.
Later, as I reluctantly rise to leave, I see the tears in her eyes.
“You don’t have to do this,” I remind her again, but her resigned expression tells me otherwise.
Before I leave, I place a small box in her hand. Inside, a delicate bracelet with a camera charm, a symbol of the night we first connected.
“You will always have my heart,” I whisper, slipping back into the darkness.
But as I climb down the tree, dread coils tightly in my chest. Tonight, I've crossed a line. I betrayed my family and defied powerful men. The fallout will be swift, merciless, and unstoppable.
As I vanish into the shadows, I realize there’s no turning back. I didn't defy just Vincent tonight. I ignited a war.
CHAPTER 1
VALENTINA
Italy’s deep burnt orange sunset pours through the window of the cathedral’s dressing room as I stand there looking out the window like a caged bird.
Two weeks—it’s been just over two weeks since Luciano climbed through my bedroom window and gave me the most wonderful night of my life. Granted, it was more like the most wonderful few hours rather than a whole night since our time was short together, but to me it felt like my entire life being distilled down into that one, intensely powerful window of time—or at least the life that I want to have, rather than the one that is now being forced upon me.
“You’re so blessed and fortunate to be having a wedding in Italy,” the attendant gushes as she fawns over the lace-covered buttons at the back of my bodice.
They feel more like sutures than buttons, stitching me up into the shell of a bride that I don’t wish to be, wrapping me up in a beautiful dress the same way that they dress up corpses, in order to hide the fact that I’m dying inside.
But this old woman doesn’t even see it. She’s onLeonardo’s staff, so she sees and says only what he wants her to see and speak.
“The Amalfi Coast,” she continues as she looks out the window in front of us. “I’ve never seen such a lucky bride before. Just look at these dramatic cliffs and the sun-soaked romance of it all. This venue is the epitome of vibrant sophistication if I dare say so.”
I wish she wouldn’t say anything at all. I wish that she’d just tend to my dress in silence. It would make it easier for me to pretend that this is all just a bad dream that I will somehow wake up from, instead of the current nightmarish reality that I face. What could be worse than being forced to marry someone you don’t love? There’s no amount of stunning ocean views or colorful Mediterranean glamour that will make up for that injustice. She’s right that this would be my dream wedding destination if I were marrying Luc instead of Leonardo Conti.
All of the most important families are here to attend Leonardo’s wedding and show their respect, all except for the Barones. The Morettis are here, which means at least I will have my friend, Isla, in the church pews as a warm and friendly face to look out at while I walk toward the end of my freedom.