Page 4 of Bound By Honor

The call ends, leaving me with the weight of unspoken orders.Keep her safe. Keep her contained. Keep her in the dark.

Through the window, I spot her in the garden again, pacing like a caged tiger. The sight stirs something I’ve kept buried since Maria’s death—a hunger for more than duty and control. For warmth. For life.

I pull out the worn photograph from my wallet. Maria smiles up at me, frozen in time.

The edges are worn smooth from years of touching, like worry beads marking my guilt. Maria’s smile holds secrets now—warnings I should have seen. Aurora’s laugh earlier had echoed with that same musical quality, the similarity striking me almost physically painfully. Two women, both fierce in their own ways, both representing everything I can’t afford to want.

“Mi dispiace, amore,”I whisper. Five years, and the guilt still cuts fresh. I couldn’t protect her. I won’t fail again.

The garden calls to me. Outside, the cool night air offers a brief respite from the mansion’s suffocating politics. Aurora’s scent lingers here—flowers and rebellion. She’d stood so close earlier, challenge blazing in her eyes. The memory of her nearness makes my hands clench, my willpower slipping as forbidden images flash through my mind. I force them back, but the ache in my chest remains.

Even now, I feel the phantom warmth of her nearness, the slight tremble in her breath when I’d moved closer. Dangerous territory for a man who’s sworn to protect her. Even more dangerous for one who wants to possess her.

“I’d rather burn than suffocate,”she’d said. The words haunt me.

“Dangerous thoughts,fratello.”

I turn sharply. Enzo leans against a column, cigarette smoke curling around him like mist. His ability to move silently rivals mine.

“Just getting some air.”

“Sure.” He takes a long drag. “Nothing to do with our little rebel princess?”

“Watch it, Enzo.”

“Hey, I get it. She’s beautiful, passionate...” His smile turns knowing. “Forbidden.”

“There’s nothing to get.” My voice carries a warning even Enzo won’t ignore.

He raises his hands in mock surrender. “Just saying—she’s not Maria. And you’re allowed to live again.”

“I have responsibilities.”

“To the family? Or to a ghost?”

The question follows me home, echoing through my mind as I ride the elevator to my penthouse. The space greets me with familiar emptiness—clean lines, minimal furnishings, everything in its place. No room for chaos. No space for warmth.

I pour another scotch, letting the city lights hypnotize me through expansive windows. Chicago spreads out below, a maze of shadows and artificial stars. Somewhere out there, the Rossis are moving pieces on a board I can’t fully see. And Aurora...Cristo, I need to stop thinking about her.

The city lights blur as exhaustion creeps in, but something keeps me on edge. Years of survival have taught me to trust these instincts—the prickle at the back of my neck, the subtle shift in the air that precedes danger. Tonight feels different. Wrong.

The phone buzzes, cutting through my thoughts. Nearly midnight—calls at this hour are rarely good news.

“Mr. Vitale?” The security desk’s voice is hesitant. “There’s someone here claiming to be your brother.”

Ice slides down my spine. “My brother?”

“Yes, sir. Alessandro Vitale.”

The name sends a shockwave through me. Alessandro. Five years of questions rush back—the missing shipments, the leaked routes, the way rival families always seemed one step ahead ofus. Dominic and I had traced the betrayals back to him, watching our golden boy sell out his own blood piece by piece. But before we could confront him, he’d disappeared in that Rossi raid. Dead, we’d thought. Or wanted to believe.

“Sir?”

My mind races through possibilities.Had we been wrong about his betrayal?Or worse—had we been right, and now he’s back to finish what he started? The memory of his last night surfaces—the way he’d smiled when I mentioned the upcoming shipment to the docks, how that same cargo ended up in Rossi hands hours later.

“Description?”

“Tall, dark hair, expensive suit. Has a scar above his right eyebrow. Says it’s urgent.”

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