Chapter 15 Damon
I wait until I hear her bedroom door close before I allow myself to think about how fucked this situation has become.
Viviana Bonacci was a virgin.
And now she's not.
I sit on the edge of my bed, staring at the spot where I fucked her hours ago, and try to calculate the damage. In my world, there are rules about this kind of thing. Unspoken but understood rules that have kept families from tearing each other apart for generations.
Rule one: you don't touch another man's daughter without permission.
Rule two: you especially don't touch another man's virgin daughter.
Rule three: if you break rules one and two, you either marry her or die.
Roberto Bonacci is old school. Traditional. The kind of man who would consider what happened last night a debt that needs to be paid. And there are only two ways to pay that kind of debt.
I reach for my phone and scroll through my contacts until I find the number I need. Bosco answers on the second ring.
"Cousin. You're up early."
"Need you to do something for me."
"Sure. What do you need?"
"Research on traditional Italian marriage customs. Specifically, what happens when someone takes a woman's virginity without the father's consent."
There's a pause on the other end. "Fuck, Damon. What did you do?"
It's not a question, and I don’t bother answering it. Bosco's been my intelligence guy for five years. He's good at reading between the lines.
"How traditional are we talking? Old country traditional or modern traditional?"
"Roberto Bonacci traditional."
He whistles low. "That bad? Jesus Christ! You’re gonna start a fucking war.”
“Can you research it?”
"I'll have something for you as soon as I can."
"Drop everything else."
"That urgent?"
"Let's just say I need to understand what I'm dealing with before it deals with me."
I hang up and set the phone aside, then get up to pace the room. The smart thing to do would be to put distance between Viviana and me. Professional distance, physical distance, emotional distance. Treat her like the job she's supposed to be and nothing more.
The problem is, I don't want to do the smart thing.
All I can think about is fucking her again. I want to learn every sound she makes, every way her body responds to mine.
Which is exactly the kind of thinking that gets men like me killed.
My phone buzzes with a text from my father: Family meeting at 2 PM. Updates on the Bonacci situation.
Right.
The situation.
The reason Viviana is here in the first place, the reason we're working with her father instead of killing each other.
For a few hours last night, I forgot about all of that.
Forgot about the threats, the investigation, the temporary truce that's the only thing keeping both our families from going to war.
I forgot about everything except the way she felt underneath me.
I type back: Will be there.
Then I head downstairs to make coffee and try to think like a strategist instead of a man who discovered he has a weakness for Roberto Bonacci's daughter.
The kitchen still smells like the breakfast I made her yesterday morning. Before everything got complicated. Before I knew that touching her meant more than just satisfying an inconvenient attraction.
I pour coffee and sit at the island, spreading out the files Tommy brought me yesterday.
Photos of the men who tried to grab Viviana's cousin.
Security footage from the attack on the Bonacci compound.
Intelligence reports on potential enemies with the resources to orchestrate something this sophisticated.
Work. Focus on work. Focus on the job instead of the way Viviana looked at me when she said she didn't want to go back to her room.
But even as I study the surveillance photos, part of my mind is calculating possibilities. What would happen if I told Roberto the truth? What would happen if I asked for his permission to court his daughter officially? What would happen if I tried to turn this disaster into something legitimate?
The answer, most likely, is that I'd end up dead.
But maybe not. Roberto needs me right now. Needs my resources, my connections, my ability to protect his family from whoever's hunting them. Maybe that need would outweigh his rage about what I've done to his daughter.
Or maybe he'd kill me slowly and find another way to solve his problems.
My phone rings, interrupting my thoughts. It's Tommy.
"Boss, got an update on those surveillance photos."
"What did you find?"
"Facial recognition came back with a hit on one of the guys who tried to grab the Bonacci kid. Leandro Manzo."
The name sounds familiar. "Related to the Manzo guy who died in the attack on Roberto's compound?"
"Brother. Turns out the dead Leandro was working security for the Bonaccis. This Leandro works for the Verga family."
That gets my attention. The Vergas have been quiet for months, staying out of the territory disputes between our family and the Bonaccis. But they'd benefit from both families weakening each other. Using our feud as cover to eliminate both sides would be exactly their style.
"You sure about this?"
"Positive. I'm sending you the file now."
My phone buzzes with an incoming email. I open the attachment and study the photos. Leandro Manzo, 34, multiple arrests for extortion and assault. Known soldier in the Verga organization.
This changes everything. Now we have a name.
"Tommy, I want surveillance on all Verga properties. And get me everything we have on their current operations."
"Copy that. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Double security on the safe house. And keep this between us for now."
I hang up and stare at the photos. Leandro Manzo doesn't know we've identified him, which gives us an advantage. But it also means Viviana is in more danger than any of us realized.
My phone buzzes with a text from my father: Family meeting at 2 PM. Updates on the Bonacci situation.
I type back: Will be there. Have new intelligence.
Then I sit back and try to figure out how to protect Viviana, while dealing with my own family's questions about why I'm so invested in keeping Roberto Bonacci's daughter alive.
Because the truth that I can't stop thinking about the way she felt in my arms, that I want her again despite knowing how dangerous that is, that somewhere between protecting her and fucking her I've started to care about what happens to her, isn't something I can tell my father.
Or anyone else.
I look at the ceiling, where I can hear her moving around in her room, and make a decision. The Verga threat changes the game, but it doesn't change what happened between us. If anything, it makes it more important that I figure out how to handle this situation without getting us both killed.
Because losing Viviana isn't an option.
My phone rings and Bosco's name flashes on the screen. Maybe he’s found out something that can help me stay alive.
“Tell me you have good news," I answer.
"I have news. Whether it's good depends on your perspective."
I close my eyes. "Give it to me straight."
"Traditional Italian customs give you three options: marriage, death, or blood feud lasting generations. But I found something interesting—cases where this exact situation came up between feuding families."
"And?"
"Usually ends badly. But there's one exception where everyone thrives—a male heir. If the union produces a son, he becomes a bridge between families, carrying both bloodlines. Instead of dishonor, it becomes strategic alliance."
My pulse quickens. "Explain."
"A grandson who's both Lombardi and Bonacci.
Families can't war against each other without risking harm to their shared blood.
The child becomes untouchable, and by extension, so do his parents.
I found two documented cases—1934 Sicily with the Rossi and Benedetto families, 1958 Naples with the Marino and Costello families. Both ended fifty-year feuds."
"What happened to the couples?"
"They became partners building something bigger than either family alone. The women were celebrated as mothers of unity."
"It has to be a boy?"
"Traditionally, yes. Male heirs carry family names forward, inherit from both grandfathers, unite territories. If it's a girl, families usually agree to try again."
"How long do they wait for pregnancy?"
"Here's the key—if she's already pregnant when the dishonor is discovered, it changes everything.
Both fathers become invested in protecting the pregnancy.
Roberto stops seeing you as the man who dishonored his daughter and starts seeing you as the father of his potential heir.
Your father stops seeing her as enemy property and starts seeing her as the mother of the next generation. "
"Pregnancy makes them allies?"
"Exactly. As long as she's capable of bearing children and you're both making the effort, both families have incentive to keep you alive and healthy."
"Risks?"
"If there's no pregnancy, you're back to the original three options. If she can't conceive or miscarries repeatedly, you run out of chances. But if she's pregnant right now, you're negotiating from strength. You're offering both families something they want more than revenge—a legacy. A dynasty."
I hang up and look toward the ceiling where Viviana is moving around.
If she's pregnant, we're not only fighting for our lives, we're potentially offering both families the one thing they want more than victory over each other.
A future.