Bound By Shadows And Desire

Bound By Shadows And Desire

kessy101

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She was treated like a piece of property, and he was the one with the winning bid. Now, she is at the mercy of a monster. Isla Laurent has always been the dutiful daughter, gentle, and groomed to fit the mold of a perfect high-society lady. However, when her father's gambling debts spiral out of control, she is sold to Dante Valenci, the heartless mafia lord ruling New York's criminal empire. To Dante, Isla is merely a transaction, a way to settle a debt. She is a pawn in his dangerous pursuit of power. Their marriage is devoid of love and steeped in control; she belongs to him, trapped like a bird in a luxurious cage. Yet, Isla is determined not to break. Thrust into a chaotic world of bloodshed, treachery, and violence, she fights to navigate a home filled with peril. She may seem weak in a realm where only the strong endure, a delicate woman among savages. But when an assassination attempt forces her to choose between fleeing and fighting back, Isla discovers the only way to survive is to transform into something greater than the helpless girl she once was. Enemies close in. Betrayals hide in the dark. And at the heart of it all is Dante, the merciless king who possesses her body and soul. She was never intended to break free. But perhaps, just perhaps... she was destined to rise....

Chapter 1 THE DEPT THAT BOUND HER ..

(Isla POV)

The evening was intended to be just like any other.

I wore silk, my golden-brown hair perfectly styled, a glass of wine elegantly held as I exchanged smiles with men who shouldn't have been looking at me that way.

Yet, beneath the glamorous veneer of yet another Laurent gala, something felt amiss.

My father's smile appeared forced, his laughter lacked joy. He drank excessively, his fingers nervously clenching around the crystal glass as if trying to grasp something that was slipping away.

I had witnessed his reckless gambling before, always leaving with a sense of victory, oblivious to the dangers. But tonight, he seemed like a man on the brink of losing it all.

A wave of unease settled in my stomach.

I excused myself and navigated through the sparkling ballroom filled with women adorned in diamonds and men in finely tailored suits, heading towards the dimly lit hallway that led to my father's study. I meant to knock and confront him about the unsettling mood.

Then I heard his voice.

"I have nothing left to offer."

I froze, breath captured in my throat.

It wasn't just him. A second voice calm, low, and menacing responded. "Then you know what must happen next."

I shouldn't have stayed. I should have turned back, dismissed what I had heard. Instead, I pressed closer, ear against the solid wooden door, heart pounding in my chest.

"My fortune is gone," my father's voice trembled with desperation. "My assets, my businesses, everything. Please, Valenci, I need more time."

Valenci.

Dante Valenci.

Just hearing his name sent a chill down my spine.

I had never encountered him, yet I was aware of his notoriety. He was more than a man he was a legend, spoken of in hushed tones across New York, his power derived not solely from wealth but from bloodlines.

"I do not forgive debts," Dante replied smoothly.

My father gasped. "I I have something else. Someone."

Silence followed.

Then came Dante's voice again. "Continue."

I could hardly breathe.

"She's beautiful," my father stammered, his voice quivering. "Well-mannered. The perfect price for what I owe."

No.

A cruel laugh echoed back. "You're offering me your daughter?"

No. No. No.

"She's all I have left."

I recoiled, pressing a hand over my mouth to stifle any sound. The walls felt as though they were closing in, and the air was thick and suffocating. This was impossible; it couldn't be true.

My father had been many things a gambler, a deceiver, a man more devoted to money than ethics but he wouldn't stoop so low. He wouldn't sell me.

Would he?

Before I could process my thoughts, the door swung open.

Dante Valenci stood in the doorway, tall and composed, exuding an almost palpable power. Dressed in a sleek black suit, he seemed to have emerged from the shadows, every aspect of him sharp and unyielding. His face was chiseled-high cheekbones, a strong jaw, lips that seemed out of place on a man so devoid of compassion. But it was his eyes that made my stomach lurch.

Dark, cold, and merciless.

They locked onto mine, rendering me immobile.

My father stuttered behind him. "Isla, I"

"You sold me." The words barely escaped my lips.

My father flinched. "It's not"

But my focus had shifted away from him.

Now I was staring at Dante.

And Dante?

He looked at me as if I were already his.

His gaze roamed over me, deliberate and methodical, assessing me like a new acquisition. An unreadable expression passed over his features but vanished before I could understand it.

Then he advanced.

I retreated.

Another step.

Another retreat.

But the hallway was limited, and soon I was against the wall, breath catching in my throat.

He stopped just before me, close enough that I could detect the faint scent of expensive cologne crisp and intoxicating, with something darker lurking beneath.

"Isla Laurent," he murmured, pronouncing my name like a slow-burning promise. "It seems we have a deal."

I shook my head, trembling all over. "No. No, we don't."

His lips curled slightly, but it wasn't amusement-it was something far more sinister.

"I own you now."

I didn't expect it.

The abrupt sting in my neck.

The blurring of my vision.

The sensation of the world tilting beneath me, my body swaying.

Strong arms caught me before I could fall, and in my last moments of consciousness, Dante Valenci's face loomed over me, watching me succumb.

Detached.

Unfeeling.

As if he had simply claimed another piece in a game he controlled.

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I died on a Tuesday. It wasn't a quick death. It was slow, cold, and meticulously planned by the man who called himself my father. I was twenty years old. He needed my kidney to save my sister. The spare part for the golden child. I remember the blinding lights of the operating theater, the sterile smell of betrayal, and the phantom pain of a surgeon's scalpel carving into my flesh while my screams echoed unheard. I remember looking through the observation glass and seeing him-my father, Giovanni Vitiello, the Don of the Chicago Outfit-watching me die with the same detached expression he used when signing a death warrant. He chose her. He always chose her. And then, I woke up. Not in heaven. Not in hell. But in my own bed, a year before my scheduled execution. My body was whole, unscarred. The timeline had reset, a glitch in the cruel matrix of my existence, giving me a second chance I never asked for. This time, when my father handed me a one-way ticket to London-an exile disguised as a severance package-I didn't cry. I didn't beg. My heart, once a bleeding wound, was now a block of ice. He didn't know he was talking to a ghost. He didn't know I had already lived through his ultimate betrayal. He also didn't know that six months ago, during the city's brutal territory wars, I was the one who saved his most valuable asset. In a secret safe house, I stitched up the wounds of a blinded soldier, a man whose life hung by a thread. He never saw my face. He only knew my voice, the scent of vanilla, and the steady touch of my hands. He called me Sette. Seven. For the seven stitches I put in his shoulder. That man was Dante Moretti. The Ruthless Capo. The man my sister, Isabella, is now set to marry. She stole my story. She claimed my actions, my voice, my scent. And Dante, the man who could spot a lie from a mile away, believed the beautiful deception because he wanted it to be true. He wanted the golden girl to be his savior, not the invisible sister who was only ever good for her spare parts. So I took the ticket. In my past life, I fought them, and they silenced me on an operating table. This time, I will let them have their perfect, gilded lie. I will go to London. I will disappear. I will let Seraphina Vitiello die on that plane. But I will not be a victim. This time, I will not be the lamb led to slaughter. This time, from the shadows of my exile, I will be the one holding the match. And I will wait, with the patience of the dead, to watch their entire world burn. Because a ghost has nothing to lose, and a queen of ashes has an empire to gain.

Chapters
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Bound By Shadows And Desire
1

Chapter 1 THE DEPT THAT BOUND HER ..

13/03/2025

2

Chapter 2 HIS PROPERTY NOT HIS SPOUSE

13/03/2025

3

Chapter 3 THE INITIAL ESCAPE PLAN

13/03/2025

4

Chapter 4 THE PRICE OF A DEADLY GAME

13/03/2025

5

Chapter 5 SACRIFICE FOR A BEAST

13/03/2025

6

Chapter 6 FLAMES AND COLDNESS

13/03/2025

7

Chapter 7 DEVIL IN HUMAN CLOTHING

13/03/2025

8

Chapter 8 A GAME OF SIN

13/03/2025

9

Chapter 9 SECRET

13/03/2025

10

Chapter 10 THE ENEMY YOU DON'T SEE

13/03/2025

11

Chapter 11 ALL LIES

22/03/2025

12

Chapter 12 THE GIRL WHO FIRES BACK

22/03/2025

13

Chapter 13 THE PRICE OF LOYALTY

22/03/2025

14

Chapter 14 BLOOD AND BETRAYAL

22/03/2025

15

Chapter 15 A QUEEN'S REVENGE

22/03/2025

16

Chapter 16 EMBRACING THE STORM

22/03/2025

17

Chapter 17 BLOOD TIES

22/03/2025

18

Chapter 18 VENGEANCE AWAKENS WITHIN ME

22/03/2025

19

Chapter 19 THE ONE WHO FALLS

22/03/2025

20

Chapter 20 WAR AT DOOR STEP

22/03/2025

21

Chapter 21 THE QUEEN OF FIRE

22/03/2025

22

Chapter 22 THE GHOST WHO BREATH

22/03/2025

23

Chapter 23 BLOOD FOR BLOOD

22/03/2025

24

Chapter 24 MERCY OR BLOOD

22/03/2025

25

Chapter 25 THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING

22/03/2025

26

Chapter 26 SHADOWS OF SURVIVAL

31/03/2025

27

Chapter 27 THE SECRET OF THE HARD DRIVE

31/03/2025

28

Chapter 28 Shattered Flame

05/04/2025

29

Chapter 29 Echo of His Name

05/04/2025

30

Chapter 30 Trap of Love

14/04/2025

31

Chapter 31 MORE WORSE THAN PAIN

14/04/2025

32

Chapter 32 Breaking Point

15/04/2025

33

Chapter 33 A Love Rekindled

23/04/2025

34

Chapter 34 Shadows at the Gate

23/04/2025

35

Chapter 35 Fragile Bonds

24/04/2025