The drive back to the villa was a blur of adrenaline and pure, unadulterated hate.

When Giovanni’s phone pinged with Vivienne’s frantic text—the confirmation he had been waiting for—his blood turned to ice. The Moretti family. Sebastian.

"Stay here," Giovanni barked at the handpicked bodyguards he had brought from the hospital. "If anyone—and I mean anyone—comes within ten feet of that room, I want them dead before they draw a second breath. Do not leave her side."

He didn't wait for their confirmation. He jumped into the driver's seat of his own vehicle, his fingers white-knuckling the steering wheel. The hospital was close to the estate, but in his rage,...