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I head back to my table, a hollow sensation spreading, my mind already drifting away.
Somewhere in the club, glass shatters. My head snaps toward the sound, my body tensing. But it's just some drunk fool dropping his drink. I catch the eye of Matteo, one of my security team members, and nod once. He moves smoothly through the crowd to handle it.
Everything in my world runs on precision and control now. The wild boy who once promised to chase a girl to the ends of the earth is gone, replaced by a man who rules Chicago's underworld with ruthless efficiency. I've built an empire on the foundations of that control.
But she...she made me want to burn it all down. Even if it’s just to see her one more time.
The lights blur as the memory takes hold, dragging me back to that last summer, before everything changed. Before she vanished like smoke through my fingers.
Ava.
Even thinking her name feels dangerous, like playing with fire. Like inviting chaos back into my carefully ordered world.
I welcome the burn.
The memory sweeps over me like a tide, drowning out the pulsing music of the club.
* * *
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO
The summer air hangs heavy with the scent of jasmine as I pull her deeper into the shadows of the Venere gardens. Ava's hand is small in mine, but there's nothing delicate about her grip. Even at sixteen, she moves like a predator—graceful, dangerous, completely aware of her own power.
"We shouldn't be here, Stefano." Her whisper carries a hint of that smart mouth that drives me crazy. "Your father would kill you if he knew you were sneaking around with a D'Amato."
I back her against the aged stone wall, caging her between my arms. "Let him try."
The moonlight catches in her eyes—dark as sin and twice as tempting. I'd started noticing her that spring, watching the way she'd changed from the scrappy kid who used to follow me around into something wild and beautiful. She is the daughter of con artists, raised on secrets and lies, but God help me, I'd never wanted anything more.
"Always so sure of yourself," she teases, but there's an edge to her tone. Her fingers trace the collar of my shirt, and the simple touch sets my blood on fire. "The great Stefano Rega, third son of the family. What would you do if someone tried to stop you from getting what you want?"
I lean in close enough to feel her breath catch. "Burn the whole fucking world down."
I kiss her and her hands fist in my hair, pulling me closer with a need that matches my own. I've kissed other girls before, but this—this is different. This is gasoline meeting flame.
"I'll follow you anywhere," I promise against her mouth. "To the ends of the earth, Ava. Just say the word."
She goes still in my arms, and something dark flickers across her face. For a moment, she looks older, weighed down by secrets I don't understand. Her hand comes up to cup my cheek, and the tenderness in the gesture makes my chest ache.
"Oh, Stefano." Her smile is sad now, full of shadows. "You should run as far from me and my family as you can. We destroy everything we touch. It's what we do."
I try to argue, to tell her I don't care about our families or their rules, but she silences me with another kiss. This one tastes like a goodbye, though I don't know it yet.
Her body melds against mine, her soft curves and sharp edges fitting perfectly in my arms. When she pulls away, there are tears in her eyes that she won't let fall.
"Promise me something?" she whispers.
"Anything."
"Remember me like this—just like this."
A week later, she disappears. No goodbye, no explanation. The D'Amatos vanish into thin air, leaving nothing but whispers and speculation behind.
I spend months searching, calling in every favor I can, but it's like she never existed.
And soon, my whole world changed, too.
* * *