Chapter 6 The Bite Before The Kiss

POV: Fiore

I didn't break his ashtray out of anger.

I broke it... because I could.

I wanted to.

I needed to feel something... something that wasn't him bossing around.

I honestly couldn't handle whatever punishment he had planned for me. But I couldn't handle obedience either.

Need someone to follow rules?

Not Fiore.

Not the girl they tried to leash and failed.

Not the girl Matteo thinks he's protecting.

The rain had started to fall just as I opened the last door.

I didn't even feel the cold at first.

It was only the slap of wind on my face as I stepped barefoot into the night... I was breathless, drenched, half-naked in nothing but that silk robe.

I didn't give a damn where I was going. All in my head was "Out now!" I hated confinement.

The mansion didn't stop me.

No alarms.

No guards shouting.

Just silence, like the house was watching.

Like it wanted to see how far I'd get before he found me.

I hadn't meant to lie to Gianni. But I'd done worse than lie before. And I'd do worse again.

"The Don said I could take a walk," I whispered.

He hesitated.

Good.

I tilted my head. Let my robe slip just enough to expose a shoulder. Not on purpose, but maybe it was.

He looked. His eyes dropped. He swallowed.

He fucking fell for it.

He unlocked the door.

I didn't thank him.

The mansion was felt asleep, or maybe... only pretending to be.

"Don't tell anyone," I said softly. "It's our little secret."

He nodded.

He's probably regretting that now.

No... he's probably not even thinking at all.

I ran!

Oh...my... I ran like my life depended on it, lowkey, it does.

Although, part of me knew I wouldn't get far no matter how fast my legs were. Not in this place. Not in his house.

But hope is the cruelest drug. It makes you believe the impossible.

My feet slapped against the wet tiles, and my lungs burning. I didn't stop until I hit the open courtyard surrounded by black fences too high to climb. I turned to the left, my heart was heart racing.

My lungs begged, but I didn't stop.

Past the corridors. Past the dining hall.

Through the utility exit Emilia once said was sealed shut.

It wasn't.

Cold air met my skin like punishment.

I didn't stop running. Not when the rain kissed my feet. Not when the wind felt like a thousand lashes across my arms.

I didn't stop until I felt it.

Not a voice.

Not a shout.

Just... him.

Behind me.

Somewhere.

I turned. Slowly.

He didn't yell.

Didn't run.

Didn't shoot.

Matteo de Angelio walked toward me like the goddamn night itself had released him. Slow. Inescapable. I backed away, breath hitching.

The rain didn't touch him. It fell around him like he was untouchable. His eyes didn't rage. He didn't shout. He just... watched me, as if I were a child lost in a dream.

"You're barefoot," he said.

Not a question.

"Fuck you," I spat. My wet clothes clung to my skin like shame.

He kept walking towards me, slowly.

I stepped back.

Then, without a word, he pulled off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders.

I recoiled.

He didn't flinch.

"You don't belong to yourself in this house," he said, his voice low enough to cut through me. "Everything you touch, everything that touches you, answers to me."

I didn't move. The cold wasn't from the rain anymore.

"I'll scream," I said, almost laughing at myself.

He leaned in, lips grazing the shell of my ear. "And who exactly do you think will save you, Fiore Ravina Rossetti?"

My spine stiffened. I hated that he knew my full name. I hated that he made it sound like a sin.

His fingers grazed my wrist only to adjust the jacket.

"You think running earns you freedom?" he asked. "Fiore... in this house, you are not even allowed to breathe without me knowing."

"You're an asshole." My lips trembled, but I did forced the words out like I meant it. "You were asked to protect me. Not to creep the life out of me! Monster!"

He leaned in, voice brushing my cheek like a noose. "I want you... Terrified. And obedient."

I jerked away from him, throat tightening. But before I could say another word...

BANG!

Just once.

I jerked.

My soul fucking shattered.

Then a choking groan reached my ears. I turned, slowly. My stomach dropped.

Gianni. The same guard that allowed me pass.

He was on his knees. One hand on his neck.

Blood. So much blood poured between his fingers like water.

I'd seduced him with a shoulder. I didn't mean to. I didn't not mean to, either.

He gasped and trembled as though was drowning. His mouth opened, but nothing came out...

Another shot rang out... Gianni didn't even look.

Gianni's head snapped back.

His body jerked once.

Then fell forward into the mud with a sickening slap.

My hands shook. I swear I felt his blood splatter across my chest but I knew it hadn't touched me...

I don't know.

I screamed. I didn't even realize I had until my throat scraped raw.

My hands covered my mouth. My legs shook. I backed away, my heart was pounding so violently that it hurt.

I felt something warm in my throat. Not bile. Not grief. I think... it was laughter. God help me.

"You didn't have to... he didn't!!! Oh my God!" I choked.

Matteo finally looked at me.

His eyes weren't cold anymore.

They were empty.

"I warned them all," he said. "No one opens a door for you. No one fucking looks at you unless I say so."

I stared at the guard's corpse, bile rising to my throat. The smell of blood mixed with rain. The mud under him slowly darkened.

I couldn't take my eyes off it.

"You're insane," I cursed under my breath.

"No," he said, stepping closer.

I staggered back. I ripped the jacket off my shoulders and threw it at him.

It landed right on his chest, he didn't move.

"Take your jacket. You psycho."

He caught it before it hit the ground.

"I could've chained you to the bed..." he mumbled. "Could've made you crawl back."

"Then why didn't you? Why him?

He inhaled slow and deep, like he was smelling something.

I crawled backward through the mud. My hands trembled. My body shook.

He followed.

Not with noise.

Not with speed.

Just that same calm, bone-chilling pace.

He knelt. Wiped the blood from his boots with the same coat I threw at him.

Then tossed it over Gianni's body like a shroud.

"Clean the body," he barked to the shadows.

I didn't even know someone else had been there.

Matteo stepped toward the house. Then paused.

"One more thing," he said without looking back.

I didn't speak.

"Wear red tomorrow, piccola..."

He turned his head just enough that I saw the edge of his profile stone carved by God's worst thoughts.

"I want to see what sin looks like on your skin."

And just as he reached the door, I heard him murmur,

almost to himself, almost to me...

"Red... so the blood won't show."