Chapter 2 2

Alessia POV

Rain hammered the sludge around me, my broken arm throbbing in sync with the poison clawing my gut. Damien Cobb loomed like a shadowed reaper, Colt gleaming under the flickering gas lamp. His thumb flicked the safety-click. Those charming eyes held only death.

No begging. No truth about Falcone's poison. One desperate play.

"Your uncle, Clarence Cobb," I rasped, voice raw over the storm. "Killing a Caporegime here? Witnesses. Messy. You'll show up to him reeking of street blood, late for your cousin's screw-up. Waste of a Don's time, Mr. Cobb."

His grip tightened, eyes boring into my mud-streaked face. Seconds stretched eternal. Pride warred with urgency in that predatory stare. Finally, the barrel dipped. "Pray we don't meet again, Harrington." Venom dripped colder than rain. Not mercy-efficiency. I was trash for later.

He turned to his unscathed Cadillac, Luca hovering. "Boss-"

A glare silenced him. Engine roared. Tires spun, veering precise. Mud exploded from a puddle, icy filth drenching me head to toe. Laughter echoed faint from the car-mocking, aristocratic-before taillights vanished into the night.

Humiliation burned deeper than poison. John Harrington's son, reduced to a gutter rat. Vision blackened as toxin surged. Last thought: family.

...

Fevered darkness shattered. I jolted awake in my bedroom, Harrington manor creaking under relentless rain. Sweat soaked the sheets; left arm splinted by Mr. Peters, who'd dragged me from the wreck. Poison purged, but nightmare lingered.

Rain poured eternal. No Alessandro suit-flowing skirts clung to my skin. Damien strode from shadows, no gun. A blade kissed my throat, cold as his smile. "A woman playing at men's tables? Deceiving a Don, Principessa (Little Princess)? Vendetta demands your Harringtons erased from Chicago."

His whisper slithered like silk over steel, laughter echoing doom.

I gasped awake, heart slamming. Secret teetered eternal. Passive hiding was death. To shield Angela, Eden-family-I needed power. Even unveiled, untouchable. No more prey. Time to hunt.