Gunshots erupted downstairs before we even reached the top of the stairs.
“Stay behind me,” I growled at Bianca, pistol already in my hand.
“Like hell,” she snapped, revolver ready. “This is my club. Nobody shoots up my place and walks away.”
We moved fast down the stairs. Chaos had already exploded in the main poker room. Three Rossi enforcers, I recognized two of them, were waving guns and yelling at Victor Lang’s security. One had his weapon pointed at a cowering dealer.
“Where the fuck is he?” the lead guy shouted. “We know Vale was here!”
I didn’t hesitate. I fired twice from the staircase. The first bullet took the lead enforcer in the shoulder. The second dropped the guy next to him. Screams filled the room as people dove for cover.
Bianca moved like liquid fire beside me. She fired once, clean and precise, dropping the third man in the leg. “Get these pieces of shit out of my club!” she barked at her own security.
One of the wounded Rossi guys spotted me. His eyes widened. “Vale… you’re supposed to be dead!”
I walked straight up to him, kicked his gun away, and pressed my pistol under his chin. “Tell Isabella I’m coming for her. Tell her the man she shot is going to fuck her world apart.”
He spat blood at me. “She’ll cut your balls off herself.”
I smashed the butt of my pistol across his face, knocking him out cold. Bianca’s men quickly dragged the bodies toward the back exit while Victor Lang shouted for everyone to stay calm.
Bianca grabbed my arm. “We need to leave. Now. There’ll be more coming.”
We slipped out through a hidden side door into the alley behind the club. Rook was already waiting by a black SUV, engine running.
“Get in!” he yelled.
Bianca slid into the backseat with me. As the car peeled out, she looked at me with a mixture of adrenaline and heat in her eyes.
“You didn’t hold back,” she said, breathing fast. “I like that.”
Rook glanced at us through the rearview mirror. “Safehouse is ready. The one on 9th Street. Fully stocked.”
“Good,” I said, wincing as the car hit a bump. My wounds were screaming again.
The ride was tense and silent except for the city noise outside. Twenty minutes later we pulled into an underground garage beneath a sleek, unassuming apartment building on the edge of neutral territory. Bianca’s building.
We took the private elevator straight up to the penthouse. The moment the doors closed, the tension between Bianca and me ignited.
As soon as we stepped inside the luxurious apartment, she turned on me.
“You think you can just pin me down and finger me like some cheap whore earlier?” she said, voice low and dangerous, stepping closer. “In my own club?”
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her hard against me, ignoring the pain. “You loved every second of it.”
Her eyes flashed. She shoved me back against the wall, but I spun us around, pinning her instead. My mouth crashed down on hers in a brutal kiss. She bit me again, drawing blood, and I responded by grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking her head back.
“You want this partnership?” I growled against her throat. “Then understand one thing ... I’m not your toy. You’re mine now.”
Bianca laughed breathlessly, but there was real fire in it. “Prove it, Damien. Make me believe it.”
I didn’t hold back.
I ripped the zipper of her red dress down in one harsh motion. The fabric pooled at her feet, leaving her in nothing but black lace lingerie and heels. Her body was incredible, full breasts, narrow waist, toned legs that went on forever.
I spun her around and bent her over the back of the expensive leather sofa. She gasped as I yanked her panties down roughly.
“Damien—” she started.
“Shut up.” I kicked her legs apart and freed myself, my cock hard and aching despite everything I’d been through tonight.
I thrust into her in one deep stroke. She was soaking wet. Bianca cried out, gripping the couch as I filled her completely. I didn’t give her time to adjust. I fucked her hard, deep, possessive strokes, one hand fisted in her hair, the other gripping her hip hard enough to bruise.
“Fuck… you’re so tight,” I groaned.
“Harder,” she demanded, pushing back against me. “Is this all you’ve got after Isabella tried to kill you?”
Her words pissed me off in the best way. I slammed into her harder, faster, the sound of our bodies slapping together echoing through the penthouse. I reached around and rubbed her clit roughly while pounding into her.
Bianca moaned loudly, her body shaking. “Yes… like that— fuck!”
I pulled her up by the hair so her back was against my chest, still thrusting deep. My other hand wrapped around her throat, squeezing just enough.
“You belong to me now,” I whispered harshly in her ear. “Say it.”
She laughed, even as she moaned. “Make me.”
I fucked her harder, hitting that perfect spot inside her again and again. Her legs started trembling. I felt her tighten around me.
“Say it, Bianca.”
“I… fuck… I’m yours— oh god!”
She came hard, screaming, her pussy pulsing around my cock. I kept fucking her through it, chasing my own release. A few more brutal thrusts and I buried myself deep, groaning as I came inside her.
We stayed like that for a moment, breathing hard. Then I pulled out and turned her to face me. Her hair was messy, lips swollen, eyes glazed with satisfaction and something deeper.
She smirked, even as my cum dripped down her thigh. “Not bad for a dead man.”
I kissed her again, slower this time. “This is just the beginning.”
We moved to the bedroom. For the next hour we went at it again, her riding me, me taking her against the window overlooking the city, her on her knees with my cock down her throat. She fought for control every time, but I took it back harder. By the end she was exhausted, marked, and looking at me with new respect.
Later, we lay tangled in the sheets. Bianca traced a finger over the bandages on my chest.
“You’re really going to do this,” she said quietly. “Take on the entire Rossi family.”
“I am.” I looked at her. “And you’re with me?”
She was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I’m with you. But Damien… Isabella isn’t going to make this easy. She already knows you’re alive. The bounty is just the start.”
My phone , the new burner Rook gave me,,buzzed on the nightstand. I picked it up.
A text from an unknown number:
“You should’ve stayed dead. Enjoy my sloppy seconds. — Isabella”
Attached was a photo of her in bed with Enzo, smiling at the camera.
Rage boiled up fresh and hot.
Bianca saw the screen and her expression darkened. “She’s taunting you.”
I tossed the phone aside and pulled Bianca on top of me again.
“Then let’s give her something real to be afraid of.”