Chapter 41Diego nodded, shame burning in his chest.Elena was silent for a moment, her mind clearly working.Then she stood and paced to the window, her arms crossed, her expression thoughtful."Diego," she said slowly, "you're acting like you're powerless. Like you're some… victim. But you're not. You're the son of a mafia boss. You have resources. You have men who would kill for you if you asked."Diego looked up at her, confusion and desperation mixing in his eyes. "Elena, you don't understand. This is the Valerio family we're talking about. They've been powerful for generations. They have connections everywhere. Money. Influence. I can't just...""Then use what you have," Elena interrupted, turning to face him. "Go to your father. He has connections, doesn't he? Deep ones."Diego frowned. "My father retired years ago. He doesn't get involved anymore."Elena let out an exasperated sigh. "Diego, you're acting like a frightened child. Your father built an empire on fear and blood. H

CHAPTER 43:Not metaphorically. The walls trembled. Picture frames rattled. The chandelier overhead swayed dangerously.Rafael released the maid and turned back to Adrian, horror dawning on his face.Adrian's face was deathly pale, his lips cracked and bleeding. His entire body was convulsing, his hands clawing at the marble floor so hard his nails were leaving gouges.Rafael moved with purpose, crossing to a small refrigerator hidden in a cabinet. He pulled out a tall glass bottle filled with dark red liquid and poured it into a crystal glass with shaking hands.He knelt beside Adrian and held the glass to his lips."Drink," Rafael commanded.Adrian hesitated. He'd never fully gotten used to drinking blood. The taste, the wrongness of it, still made part of him recoil.But the moment the liquid touched his lips, everything changed.The hunger roared to life, obliterating every other thought.He grabbed the glass and drank, gulping it down in desperate, greedy swallows. The blood was

CHAPTER 45:Carlos stood before Damian's massive mahogany desk, his hands clasped nervously in front of him, his shoulders hunched.The office was oppressively quiet, the kind of silence that made every breath feel too loud."So?" Damian's voice cut through the stillness like a blade. He sat behind his desk, perfectly composed in an expensive charcoal suit, his fingers steepled in front of him. "What did you find?"Carlos swallowed hard. "Sir, I… I've been through every database. Every registry. Every record I could access.""And?" Damian's voice was calm. Too calm."There's nothing, sir. Mr. Valerio is like a ghost."The silence that followed was suffocating.Damian slowly lowered his hands, placing them flat on the desk. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly."Nothing?" he repeated, his voice dangerously soft."I checked every name that starts with 'A' in combination with Valerio," Carlos said quickly, the words tumbling out in a rush. "Birth records, school enrollments, medical hi

CHAPTER 47: Adrian's phone rang, the shrill sound cutting through the quiet of his room like a blade.He groaned softly, his body still heavy with exhaustion. His hand reached out blindly from beneath the silk sheets, fumbling across the nightstand until his fingers found the device.He cracked one eye open and immediately regretted it. Even the dim light filtering through the curtains felt too bright.Blinking slowly, he turned his head toward the wall clock mounted across the room. The ornate hands pointed clearly, 7:00 PM.He'd been asleep all day.Adrian pushed himself up into a sitting position, running a hand through his tousled hair. His body ached in a dull, distant way, like the memory of pain rather than the pain itself.Beside the bed, on the nightstand, sat a small cooler. He didn't need to open it to know what was inside. Blood. His uncle wasn't joking about replenishing himself.The phone rang again, insistent.Adrian picked it up and looked at the screen. Unknown ID.H

CHAPTER 49:Adrian checked his watch for the seventh time in three minutes. Twenty-two minutes had passed since Diego's call. Eight minutes left.His knee bounced involuntarily, a nervous tick he hadn't shown since his old life. Since when he was weak.Rafael's hand settled on his shoulder, firm and grounding. "He wouldn't dare do anything to her. She's worth more to him alive. She'll be fine."Adrian didn't respond. His jaw was clenched so tight his teeth ached.She wouldn't be there if it wasn't for me. Dancing with me. Being seen with me.He was dressed in black cargo pants and a black hoodie, thick, expensive fabric with a built-in face mask that could zip up from the collar to cover everything from his nose down. Right now it hung loose around his neck, but his hand kept reaching for the zipper.Old instincts. The need to hide. To disappear.But he wasn't that man anymore.They were in Rafael's Ferrari, sleek, black, fast. Behind them, a black Mercedes SUV followed, carrying five