Prologue
CASTELLO
This all started with a well-thought-out plan for revenge. For months, I plotted against the Linscotts, and I vowed to avenge my twin brother’s and father’s deaths. I had Tatum Linscott kidnapped and held her prisoner in a room with nothing but an old bed and a cold cement floor to piss on.
The plan was simple—kidnap the golden girl of the Linscott family then lure her father straight down to the hell I had specially prepared for both of them. And once I had my fun, extracted every last drop of revenge I craved from them, they would pay the ultimate price with their lives.
I wanted to watch them bleed on the tiled floor of my dining hall, witness the life drain out of their bodies. I wanted to slice the blade of my knife through Tatum’s skin, to see her body weep tears of crimson. But little did I know that her blood would feed the monster inside me. That her innocence marred with desires for the darkness would make me want her in ways that were completely forbidden.
She was the daughter of my enemy, and the blood my family demanded flowed through her veins. Yet I couldn’t stop myself from being captivated by the blue eyes that seemed to plead with me to set her free from the prison society had put her in.
Her body called out to me.
The scars on her skin seduced me.
And ultimately…Tatum Linscott ruined me.
TATUM
A few weeks ago, I was kidnapped by an enemy I didn’t even know I had.
I was beaten.
I was starved.
I was humiliated.
My life held no value to my enemy, and death was promised with venomous threats of hate. Every minute that went by was a minute spared. I knew it was only a matter of time before a knife got driven through my heart.
But then something happened, and it changed everything. Somehow the line between captor and prisoner had been crossed, and I found myself in a world I never knew existed. A world where family and loyalty were everything, yet lies and deception were used as weapons against blood.
The Fattores built their hate and their war against me and my family based on lies told by a man I trusted once. A man I welcomed into my life and into my bed. In the end, it almost cost me my life.
While I was held captive, I never could have predicted the outcome. What I never expected to find within the walls of lies that surrounded me was freedom. That was why I had to run…because Castello Fattore freed me.
Chapter 1
TATUM
The second he opened that bedroom door telling me that I had a choice, I knew he was wrong. I didn’t have a choice. I never had a choice.
I had to run. It was my only option, and that was why I rushed out the door before I could convince myself not to. If my time with Castello taught me anything, it was to always expect the unexpected. And every decision had consequences, good and bad. It was up to me to make sure I made the right ones. I’d learned not to underestimate him and to not allow myself to think I knew him. I was no longer the naïve, weak woman he had kidnapped with the intent to kill. I was stronger, wiser, and hopefully, I was learning how to play this game between us…a game of cat and mouse.
We’d been living in his uncle Gino’s home since the day we fled from the Fattore mansion, but I hardly ever left the room. I couldn’t. No matter what happened that fateful day, I was still Castello’s prisoner. The matter of my freedom had not yet been discussed. He owned me, and for that reason, I obeyed and accepted my place.
Even though the bedroom door had never been locked, I chose not to open it, not to set foot out of the room I shared with my captor. Call it cowardly. Call it stupidity. Call it what you want. But I had learned the only thing to fear was the unknown. Outside that bedroom door lay the unknown, and I was too afraid to open it…until Castello opened it for me.
Now, while I ran through the unfamiliar halls with no damn clue where I was going, a part of me wished I was brave enough to have stepped outside those four walls sooner. Then maybe I might have stood a chance to not get caught. But deep down, I knew there was no getting away from him.
My heart was racing at a million miles an hour, the adrenaline swooshing through my veins like angry waves. The thoughts inside my head were too loud, making it impossible for me to think and focus.
The halls were dimly lit by a few antique lamps hanging from the walls. The smell of freshly polished furniture hung in the air, the oak floors guiding me from one hall to another. If Castello caught me, there was no telling what he would do. He might have given me a choice, to decide whether I wanted to run, but I knew him. I could see it in the darkness of his eyes as he stared at me, the way his jaw ticked while he waited for me to decide. Castello wanted me to make my decision based on what would please him. Everything was always about pleasing him. But tonight, I made the decision based on what would please me. Based on what I wanted…and I wanted to run. I needed to feel the adrenaline in my veins as Castello prowled the halls searching for me. Hunting me. It was thrilling to know his determination to find me was fueled by his desire to possess me, to dominate and devour me. Predator versus prey.
With a quick turn to the right, I stumbled and caught myself against the wall. I had no idea how long I’d been running through the maze of halls, but my legs started to feel weak, and my stomach clenched tighter with each passing second. But the fast beating of my heart, the anticipation and excitement that rushed through my veins incited me to move faster, farther, to see how this all would end.
“You can’t hide from me much longer, little mouse.”
The sound of his voice caused me to gasp, and with my hands against the dark walls, I started to move, my chest rapidly rising and falling as I struggled to breathe.