Page 51 of Savage Prince

When this is all over, I’m going straight to hell anyway.

I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and force her mouth to mine. I groan the instant our lips make contact, the sweet strawberry taste more intoxicating than in my wildest dreams. She clenches her teeth for only an instant before her lips part, giving way to my tongue. She gasps as I tilt her head to deepen the kiss and plunder every inch of her mouth. Fire races down to my cock as I imagine that hot, wet mouth not just against my lips but all over me.

Before I lose all common sense, I jerk my mouth off hers and take a measured step back, putting some much-needed space between our heated bodies. My chest heaves, rising and falling in the same erratic pattern as hers.

Her eyes narrow as she regards me, lips parted and panting. Those blazing sapphire orbs rake over me for an instant before a sharp sting registers across my cheek. “Never do that again,” she snarls, her hand still raised in the air.

“No promises,tesoro.”

She opens her mouth likely to hurl a string of curses in my direction, but I leap off the boat before she gets a word out. My shoes sink into the sandy shore, and I’m off running between the thick vegetation of the neighboring villa.

A long minute later, I glance over my shoulder before the boat disappears from view, praying to every god in existence that I’ll find her waiting as I asked. And I’m shocked when I can still make out her familiar form is perched on the seat beside the steering wheel.

With her safety confirmed, I pump my arms faster, disappearing into the vegetation. Serena will be fine. I find myself repeating the phrase over and over as I sprint toward the villa, trees lashing at my face in the thickening smoke.

I reach the edge of our property, the wrought iron gate forced open. Rage courses through my veins, and it takes all my self-control to keep it at bay. Who the fuck came for me? Destroyed my family’s home? I scan the perimeter for the men we’d seen earlier, but the smoke is too dense. Either they’re already gone, or I just can’t see them skulking through the clouds of ominous black.

I reach the entry and the door swings open, hanging from burnt hinges. Flames engulf the foyer, each room a cavern of fire and smoke. My gaze immediately leaps to the portrait on the wall, and my heart sinks. The glass is cracked, the imagesinged and destroyed. The one happy memory of our family is lost forever. Swallowing down the pain, I move past the main hall, coughing, my lungs burning as I search desperately for Mariuccia. The heat is unbearable, the crackling of the fire deafening, but all I can think about is finding her.

“Mariuccia!” I shout, my voice hoarse, barely audible over the roar of the inferno. “Fabi!” I push through the smoke, my eyes stinging, trying to make out either form in the chaos.

The thick, black smoke swirls around me like a living thing, obscuring my vision, choking me. I stumble through the familiar corridors, now transformed into a hellish labyrinth. Each door I fling open reveals another burst of flames, another wave of heat that pushes me back. Desperation claws at me, raw and fierce. I have to find Mariuccia. She's been the only constant in my life, the only reminder of who I once was. I can't let her vanish into the flames; I can't let the fire consume the last piece of my humanity.

Her words from earlier flutter through my mind, her smile as she waved us off from the dock.Nothing lasts forever in this life, but the love you give and receive is what truly endures. Wherever life takes you, whatever dark paths you may walk, never lose sight of the light inside you. That boy who loved so fiercely, laughed so freely, let him guide you back to peace.

Those can’t be the final words she ever says to me. But how fitting they would be…

I push through the kitchen door, one hand covering my mouth, and sink to the floor when I find her. No, them. Two blackened, scorched forms are splayed out across the tile. All the remaining air in my lungs squeezes out in a pained gasp. I’m too damned late. Just like withhim.

A burst of flames erupts from behind me as the fire finds the gas stove.Dio, there’s no time. No way for me to get their remains out. With the blaring heat licking up my spine, I dartacross the kitchen to the French doors that lead out to the terrazzo. My hand closes around the antique knob, and the metal burns my flesh.

Merda!

I take a step back and kick at the thick glass panes. It shatters upon impact, glass raining down in glistening shards. Covering my face, I leap through the doorway, my heart a battering ram against my ribs, my lungs burning from lack of oxygen.

I don’t stop until I reach the edge of the gardens and finally draw in a careful breath. Ash and soot float on the breeze, the blazing fire raging only a few yards away. My heart aches at the sight, but I push it down, allowing the fury to take its place. I’ll find out who dared to murder those poor women, destroy my home, my memories, the one tether to my humanity.

I’ll hunt them down and make every last one of those fuckers pay.

The crackle of footfalls on the singed lawn sends my head spinning over my shoulder, but before I can react, a gunshot echoes through the murky air.

CHAPTER 26

A MORAL DILEMMA

Serena

Shit. Shit. Fuck.

A thick cloud of smoke billows from the rooftop of the villa, blanketing the serene blue sky in a dark haze. Where the hell is the fire department? If we were in Manhattan, a cacophony of sirens would be blaring by now.

I pace the length of the boat, my movements so quick and erratic I’m making myself dizzy. Why am I still here? I should have run by now. But for some insane reason, my feet are planted to the worn wooden floorboards. Yes, my ankle would be a problem, but it’s not like I haven’t tried running with it before.

My spinning thoughts whirl back to a half hour ago, to that scorching kiss. My fingers move to my lips, trailing over my skin. Antonio’s breath still ghosts over my mouth, the overwhelming fire from that single touch permanently branded in my memory.

But that has nothing to do with why I can’t move…

My thoughts swirl to Mariuccia, to the kind woman who tried to make me as comfortable as a prisoner could be, who caredfor the estate, and more than that, clearly still cared for Antonio. Possibly the last person left on this planet who does.

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