Chapter 2 The Choice

The silence was sharp thick and suffocating as Luca stared at the man in the doorway.

Angelo Navarro his father, filled the room like a storm that is crying before a heavy downpour. The years had never been soft for him. His presence alone could silence an entire room, but it was the fucking gun in his hand that did all the talking now.

Valentina didn't flinch or twitch not even a bit.

She turned slowly, casually and flaunting her nicely shaped figure one could die for as if this was a game she was already winning no she has won already and it's fact. "Well, well," she said, lips curling into a dangerous smile. "The king finally comes out of his hiding to grace us with his presence".

"Put the gun down," Luca whispered, his voice breaking the tension. His body was stiff, caught between two forces that had defined his life: the man who made him feel worthless and shitty, and the woman who just claimed ownership of his soul.

Angelo's eyes flicked to his son. "You think I came here for her?" he spat. "She's not the threat here. You are the damn threat.

Luca blinked. Huh ? "Me?"

"You opened the door to her. You let her in. Into our business. Into our blood and into our privacy." He stepped further into the room, gun unwavering. "Do you even realize who she is? What she's done to families like ours? Do you ? Of course you worthless piece of shit who knows nothing, useless son"

Valentina let out a low laugh. "Families like yours?" She took a slow step forward, her heels clicking in rhythm. "You mean the families that prey on the weak, silence the brave, and bury their sons in shadows?" , haha this is so of you.

"You're not here to fix him," Angelo snapped. "You're here to use him."

She didn't deny it. Luca thought so this might be true because why will she not even make an attempt to deny his father's accusations and defend herself.

Instead, she looked back at Luca, her expression unreadable. "Everyone uses everyone in this world, Luca. But I never promised to lie about it." I'm not like the others with a hint of mockery.

His knees weakened. All the oxygen seemed to vanish from the room. He had spent years trying to escape his father's control of his disappointment. And now Valentina, as intoxicating as she was terrifying, offered him... what? Power? Purpose?Freedom ?Chains of a different kind?Fuck ! Just how far is his life going to live in this filthy mess.

"I came here to break you," Angelo said, lifting the gun toward his son. "Before she does."

"Don't," Luca whispered.

But the click of the safety being released rang louder than his voice.

Valentina moved in a blur , fast and swift that no one noticed.

One moment, she was at his side. The next, Angelo's gun was on the floor, and her heel was crushing his wrist into the marble.

"I said, and i repeat vividly" she hissed, crouching beside the older man, "He's mine, mine to tame , mine to torture and mine to use" she said looking deeply into Luca's eyes.

Luca stood frozen, heart pounding as his father groaned beneath Valentina's heel , he could not think straighgt just what this woman is saying. This was outrageous, if not that hw couldn't stand a chance, how dare she say something like this ?.

She looked up at him with eyes blazing, a mixture of fury and something else entirely.

"Choose, Luca," she said calmly. "Right here. Right now. Him..."

She pressed down harder.

"...or me?"