"Luca, please…" she cried.

"You need to see who the devil really is. And decide if you want me that way," he said. "Because this is who I am. You either accept it or reject it."

Luca's hand reached for a knife from the array of tools spread meticulously on the desk. "I wanted to prolong his suffering…" he murmured.

"Luca…" she whispered.

"But since this is a show and tell…" Without a pause, he cut the rope holding Inferi's wrists, letting the man drop heavily to the floor with a thud that made the room shudder. Inferi's eyes, wide with terror, flicked to Vee as his body twisted weakly under the weight of his injuries.

"This isn't one of those times when you ask me to let someone go, I am going to kill him right here." 

"You have two choices," he continued. "Walk away right now, and I will accept that you will never accept who I am. Or stay and watch me kill him, to prove to me that you accept all of me, that you want all of me."

"God, please, Luca, don't do this." Behind Luca, Inferi struggled weakly on the floor.

Luca looked only at her. "It's simple, Vee. I am giving you a choice. I don't have a gun to your head, now, do I? Are you ashamed of who I am, or do you accept who I am?"

"It's not so simple!" Vee yelled. "You're asking me to stand here while you take a life."

"I will count to ten." He gestured with the knife toward the steel door behind her. "There is the door. Here is me."

"Jesus!" Vee bit down on her lower lip. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Jesus Christ!"

"One…"

"Two…"

She stepped toward him.

"Three…"

"I'm not running." She moved closer. "I will not run. I will stay."

"Four…"

Vee drew in a shaky breath, steadying herself against the tidal wave inside her. "I meant what I said last night. I said I love you. I meant it. But don't subject me to this. It will not change how I feel about you. It won't." She stepped even closer, until the knife hovered inches from her hip. "But it will most definitely change me."

She swallowed hard. "If you make me stand here and watch this, you are not testing my love. You are reshaping me into something I may never recognize again." Her hands came up slowly and pressed against his chest. "I love the man who protects. The man who terrifies everyone else but holds me like I matter."

Her eyes glistened, but she did not look away. "I know what you are. I accept what you are. But do not ask me to become it."

"Five…" Luca moved behind Inferi now, the knife hovering at his throat. Vee's feet rooted to the floor, the edge of Luca's jacket gripped tightly in her fists. Her eyes, brimming with tears locked onto his, daring him to see, really see, what she was becoming in his presence.

"Six…" he continued. He held the knife steady against Inferi's skin, a cold, absolute line of judgment, waiting. And in that pause, Luca realized a part of him wanted her to run, desperately. He wanted her to bolt, to retreat from this room of blood and fear, because maybe, just maybe, if she ran, he would see the futility of the obsession clawing at him from the inside.

"Seven…" he murmured.

"Eight…" 

"Nine…" 


Synopsis:
She insulted the devil. He decided to own her.

Veronica Scalese walks into New York’s elite club, ‘Commissioned’ by accident—and mouths off to the wrong man; Luciano Genovese popularly known as ‘The Devil’.
 
He grants favours but gets your soul in return.

When Luca comes to collect a debt from her father, the payment demanded is flesh.

Veronica becomes both Luca’s weakness and his obsession.

He burns his empire to the ground to keep her.

Undressed by the Mafia God is a mafia romance story where power is foreplay, love is a liability, and the most terrifying thing a god can do… is fall.

She looked hyped up on coffee and terror. People made mistakes in that state.


"I'll send you a location where you can meet discreetly," Voss said at last. "Probably not in public like the last time."


"Anywhere is okay. I am beginning to lose too much. I cannot let it continue. My family are all I have."


"I need you to calm down. If you would just trust me, this will be over soon." Voss exhaled slowly. "Please consider protective custody."


"I can't do anything to spook Vee yet."


"He won't." Her mouth twisted. "Not until he can use it to destroy me properly."


Voss hated that she might be right. "Of course...But please, Val. Please be careful. I'd hate your blood hanging over my head." Voss had used her, yes. But he did not want her dead.


"Fine," she said, stepping back. "Fine… fine… fine. I can take care of myself." Valentina turned and left the precinct.


Chapter 581 - Anywhere Is Okay