Page 109 of Massimo

"Watch your back with your syndicate," he warns, and the line goes dead.

I consider what Rurik shared. Besides the information on the 'Ndrangheta Dons, I didn't learn much new that I could use to formulate a plan of attack against Mancini. However, what I did learn reinforces my plans to protect Nova in every way I can, as it adds more weight to my theory that Vincenzo, Camillo, Achille, and Gastone are conspiring directly with Mancini.

I flip through the emails on my phone to pull up the blood work report Jerome's friend ran on Nova after she collapsed in the basement room. A sharp pang of regret hits me as I remember my actions and our tumultuous start, but I push it aside as I scroll through the report, searching for what I need.

I reread the results, a slow smile curling my lips. This is perfect timing—almost as if the universe is giving its blessing.

According to the report, Nova should be ovulating right now. Filling her with my cum isn't a problem; I just pray nature quickly takes its course.

The biggest problem is the marriage. Both for it to be done in a way so it's legally binding but not severely disappointing for my bride.

My cunning mind whirls as I strategize and plot. Any guilt for the underhandedness of my actions is eclipsed by my excitement of what's to come.

Chapter 44

Nova

It'sbeenoveraweek since I gave Massimo my virginity, but it feels like months in some ways. Not in a bad way, but in the sense of my progress in unlearning some of my hard-learned lessons from the past.

It's amazing how your mind and psyche can begin to heal when not living in constant fear.

I'm by no means 'recovered,' and I know I’ll never be; not completely.

However, I'm able to eat when Massimo isn't around. It still takes considerable effort and mental gymnastics to do so, but I'm making progress. Of course, whenever he can, he feeds me, and I love to feed him. My favorite is when we're alone in the private sunroom or our bedroom with me perched on his lap, warming his cock, as we do so. Then, afterward for his dessert, he eatsme, then fills me with his cum.

I still need to have a nightlight on if Massimo isn't in bed with me. I still panic if I look out the window and see a guard outside who looks like a combat soldier rather than a made-man. However, the six guards who are inside the house with me are in suits with their weapons hidden, so they don't trigger me.

Sometimes, I feel weak and ridiculous—that something as trivial as what the guards are wearing can send me spiraling. Other times, I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude for Massimo's tenderness and patience that I can hardly breathe, and my chest tightens with a mix of something dangerous and forbidden.

Something that I don't dare acknowledge.

Because Ican'tbe falling in love with my captor, I just can't.

I'm a Mancini, his enemy. The daughter of the man who has tried to do terrible things to his family. I had asked Massimo about Sophie; he was reluctant, but he told me her story. Afterward, even I hated myself because of the Mancini blood coursing through my veins.

I'm the snake's spawn.

And Massimo doesn't want me. Yes, hewantsme. But every morning, he pops my birth control pill into my mouth with breakfast. And every morning, I take it, closing a piece of myself off and hiding it from him because his small action tells me everything I need to know.

He doesn't want a future with me, one where he's tied to me because of a child.

My heart twists as I look out the window in the library, staring but not seeing the beautiful and tranquil garden maze.

And I don't want that, either. I want a life away from this world and all the monsters in it.

That was what my mother was trying to do all those years ago when she tried to run with me.

If Massimo is successful in his mission to destroy my father, my biggest threat will be gone, and that peaceful life is more possible than ever before. It's not just a wishful dream of someone trapped in a hellish prison.

"A dollar for your thoughts."

I startle, turning away from the window. Gemma walks toward me, her long, sky-blue skirt swishing around her legs. A sliver of skin peeks out between the hem of her cream sweater and the waistband of her skirt. Her dark hair is sleek and pushed back from her strikingly beautiful face.

"Isn't it a penny for your thoughts?" I shift and make room for her on the cushioned seat in the window.

"You know, inflation and all that." She smirks as she sits down, sitting cross-legged and arranging her skirt. She leans back against the window, and I turn so I'm mirroring her position.

Her eyes flicker over me.

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