Lingerie Series

All I have is 20 bucks in my pocket and the clothes on my back. Knuckles threatened to torture me if I ran. He's counting down the days until he'll claim me. But I'm not going to wait around. I'm running like hell to Milan. The greatest lingerie designer in the world is looking for new talent for Barsetti Lingerie. I'm not exactly model material, but maybe I can get a job doing something and get paid under the table. But when I meet the infamous Conway Barsetti, he has other plans for me. Did I just run away from one monster into the arms of another?

Conway Barsetti doesn't want me to be a model anymore. He wants to keep me all to himself. I inspire him in ways no one else does. Now I'm living with him in his beautiful mansion, and I don't feel like a prisoner anymore. I'm free to do what I want, with some limitations. But he treats me so coldly, seeing me as an object rather than a person. His family comes by for lunch and he tells me to stay in my room so they won't see me. But I have a better idea.

I refuse to let this woman have any power over me. She's just my prisoner. But once my Muse is in trouble, I'll do anything to save her. Anything to protect her. She was supposed to inspire me, please me. She was never supposed to care about me. Or make me care about her.

Muse told the world how she felt about me. Instead of feeling joy, I felt terror. This isn't what I want. This isn't how our relationship is supposed to be. I end things because I have no other choice. But I struggle to cope with my misery, to sleep in an empty bed without her beside me.

I'm Vanessa Barsetti, the daughter of the infamous Crow Barsetti. My father taught me how to fight. If a man lays a hand on me, I'll put him in his grave. As a Barsetti, I'm proud, stubborn, and don't take nonsense from anybody. I walk home from a bar and take the wrong path. And witness a brutal crime. The murderer won't let me go. He's handsome, lethal, and terrifying. With tattoos on his forearms and a presence full of threat, he's a shade of evil I've never encountered. And then he tells me the most terrifying thing of all. His name is Bones.

Bones is the son of the man who killed my aunt. He's the descendant of a psychopath, a murderer. His handsome face, blue eyes, and strong physique can fool anyone into believing he's a good man. Including me. My loyalty to my family makes me despise him. But I also can't stop thinking about him. Thinking about his kiss.

Bones is a man I despise. He gives bad blood a whole new definition. But he's not exactly who I thought he was. Maybe men can change. But it doesn't matter how I feel about him. My father would never approve. He'd never let me love a man like him.

I'm not sure how it happened. But I've fallen in love with my family's enemy. I try to move on but I can't. He's the only man I want. Now I have to choose between the man I love. And my family.

My father has made his decision and he won’t change it. I’m about to lose the love of my life. How can I ever go on without him? I’ll never love anyone else the way I love him. Can this really be the end? Carter’s story also begins in this installment.