Chapter 4: Rafael
Raffaele pov
The warehouse reeked of sweat, blood, and stale smoke and the scent of violence.
My fists were stained red, not just from the last round, but from every one before it. I wasn’t just a fighter. I was Rafael De Rossi, Don of the Lupa Nera, the most feared mafia in all of Southern Italy if not the world.
But here, in the shadows, in the pit, I was only a fighter,a wolf among wolves and I needed the pain.
“Ultimo round, Don,” Dante grunted, tossing a bloodied towel to the side. He was my cousin and second-in-command. I nodded once.
“Let’s finish this.”
The bell rang as I faced Matteo. He threw a wide hook, but I ducked, slamming a left punch into his gut. He coughed blood, his eyes wide.
“Vaffanculo,” I muttered, grabbing his neck and slamming him down. (Fuck!)
The crowd roared people threw money to me. I didn’t hear it. I only felt my knuckles crack against his jaw again and again until they pulled me off him.
Here in the underground pit,I was unknown fighter. Nobody knew my real identify as a Mafia don,I was just a nameless thug.
“Enough, Don!” someone shouted. “You’ll kill him!”
Good. That was the point.
I didn’t fight for sport. I fought to feel something anything that could numb the monster inside. The one who ruled with fear. The one who smiled as enemies bled.
After the fight, I walked outside into the cold night, breathing in the air like it could cleanse me but It didn’t.
Then I remembered her.
Raelyn.
The girl with quiet eyes and a voice like rain. A soft,gentle woman. Nothing like this world.
She shouldn’t be in my life. But she already was.
I’d first seen her behind that flower shop window, placing black roses ...my roses into a vase. She didn’t flinch when I walked in, covered in bruises. Her eyes met mine but didn’t waver.
She saw me,not the Don,not the fighter.
Just a man.
I remember the day when I returned to her shop, I drove my matte black Maserati through narrow Naples streets, stopping in front of her shop. I didn’t care what time it was,I just needed to see her.
The bell chimed as I entered,she looked up, startled, then softened.
“Back again?” she asked,her voice was low and soothing. Just like a sweet melody.
I nodded. “I need black roses.”
She blinked. “Again?”
“Every day,” I said, stepping closer. “Until I forget the red.”
She didn’t ask what I meant,she never did. That’s why I came back. I went to a lot of florists and they all wanted to know too much about my obsession with black roses but not her,she didn't ask me anything, that is what made her different.
As she turned to wrap the bouquet, I watched her. The curve of her neck,the way her small hands moved,the faint tremble when I stood too close. Not from fear but something else.
Desire.
“Gattina,” I murmured, testing the word.
She looked up. “What?”
“Nothing.” I smirked. “Just suits you.”
She frowned slightly, handing me the flowers. “You’re bleeding.”
I looked down,my knuckles were split.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said.
“It does.” She grabbed a cloth from under the counter. “Let me...”
I flinched when she touched me,not from pain but from the heat of her hands.
No one touched me without permission. No one... except her.
She dabbed at the blood, unaware she was undoing me.
“Why do you fight?” she whispered.
“Because I can’t kill everyone who pisses me off,” I said flatly.
She flinched but didn’t run.
“Bastardo,” I muttered under my breath.
Her eyes flicked up. “That means something bad, doesn’t it?”
I smirked. “Yeah,but it fits.”
She shook her head, amused and afraid all at once. And I...
I wanted to drag her into the dark with me.
Later that night, back at the villa, Dante waited with news.
“Another shipment hit,someone’s testing you.”
“Figlio di puttana,” I spat, slamming my hand on the table.
“Want me to find out who?”
I nodded. “And bury him.”
“Before or after we cut off his tongue?”
I smiled coldly. “After.”
This was my world.
Violence. Loyalty. Blood.
And somewhere in it, a girl named Raelyn, who smelled like flowers and stared at me like I wasn’t damned.
That night, I dreamt of her. My luce mia. My light.
And when I woke, I craved her more than air.
Even devils need angels to worship even monsters dream of love.
And I would burn the world to keep her safe...Even from me.
I don't care if she sees me as a bad person for kidnapping her,I just want her close to me and I'll do everything in my power to make her mine.
"Ti farò mio, gattino "
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