excelloveday9

Elena Romano thought she had left the criminal underworld behind. But when a deadly ambush forces her back into the life she swore to forget, she finds herself entangled with Luca DeLuca, the cold, calculating heir to a powerful mafia family.

Their uneasy alliance is built on survival—both hunted by an unknown enemy who seems to know their every move. As danger closes in, old betrayals resurface, secrets unravel, and the undeniable tension between them ignites into something just as dangerous as the world they live in.

But when the enemy reveals himself, Elena comes face to face with a past she thought was buried—a ghost she never expected to see again.

Now, the real game begins. And in a world where power is everything, trusting the wrong person could be deadly.

Blood and Drawn Desire

Elena's hands clenched into fists beneath the table, her nails digging into her palms to keep from reacting. She could feel Luca's gaze on her, assessing, weighing every twitch of her expression.

She hadn't heard those words spoken aloud in years.

And yet, Riccardo Bianchi said them so casually—like he was testing her, waiting for her to break.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said evenly, meeting his gaze.

Riccardo chuckled, slow and knowing. "You don't?" He leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on the table. "Now, I find that hard to believe."

Luca's voice cut through the tension, smooth but laced with something lethal. "Why are you here, Riccardo?"

Riccardo turned to Luca, his smirk unfazed. "To do what I always do—talk business."

Matteo made a sound of disbelief from his place near the door. No one believed for a second that Riccardo Bianchi came here just to talk.

But Luca didn't move, didn't react. Instead, he slowly set his coffee cup down, his fingers tapping against the table in a slow, deliberate rhythm.

"Then let's get to the point," Luca said. "What do you want?"

Riccardo's eyes flicked to Elena again before he finally answered.

Elena stiffened. Luca's jaw tightened. Matteo took a slow, measured step forward, his hand hovering near the gun at his hip.

Luca let out a quiet laugh. "You must be joking."

Riccardo shrugged. "Not at all. We both know war is coming. I'd rather be aligned than on opposite ends of a battlefield."

Luca tilted his head slightly, studying him. "You don't align with people. You consume them."

Riccardo grinned. "Only the weak ones."

Something in the air shifted—sharp, dangerous.

Luca leaned back in his chair, his gaze flicking to Elena for just a moment before settling back on Riccardo.

"And what does she have to do with this?" Luca asked, his tone deceptively calm.

Riccardo exhaled a laugh. "Oh, she's just a bonus."

"Her bloodline is valuable, after all," Riccardo mused. "And if she remembers what really happened to her family, well…" His smirk deepened. "She might be even more valuable than you realize."

Luca's hand twitched—almost unnoticeable, but Elena saw it. He was two seconds away from killing Riccardo where he sat.

And he was enjoying every second of it.

He stood smoothly, adjusting his cufflinks. "Think it over," he said, tossing a few bills onto the table like it was his club, his territory. "I'll be in touch."

And then, just before he walked out, he looked at Elena one last time.

Because that was a name she hadn't heard since the night her family died.

The door closed behind Riccardo, leaving a suffocating silence in his wake.

Luca finally turned to her, his expression unreadable but his voice ice-cold.

"Elena," he said slowly, deliberately. "What the hell aren't you telling me?"

And just like that, she knew—there was no running from her past anymore.

Bloodline and Betrayal