Bark For The Don Who’s Been Hunting Me For Ten Years Chapter 01
The drugs my father slipped into my wine are still burning in my veins when he shoves me out of the car and into the arms of the most feared Don in New York, wearing nothing but a white dress and a debt.
The day my own blood finally finds me after ten years missing, this is what they say to my face:
“Ten years gone and you’re still a useless little bitch. You’re worth a billion now. Say thank you.”
Then they throw me in the back of a Don’s Escalade like a bag of trash.
“Don’t take it personal, Sera. Family’s bleeding out. Somebody’s gotta pay.”
“All you gotta do is get delivered to Cassian De Luca’s estate. Let him play house with his dead girl through you. He wires us a billion. Done.”
“Honestly? You should be grateful. That face is the only useful thing you’ve ever had.”
I can’t move. Arms dead. Legs dead. But I look out the window at that estate rising up in the dark—iron gates, stone walls, a cage with teeth—and I laugh.
“Sure. Let me show you how well my dog still heels.”
My father thinks I’ve snapped. He whips around in his seat, voice cold.
“Shut the fuck up and listen. Walk in there, drop to your knees, and bark like a bitch if he tells you to. Embarrass this family and I swear to God. Rottweilers. One finger at a time.”
Replacement.
Cute.
I’m the woman Cassian De Luca has been burning this city down looking for. Ten years.
Wonder what he’s gonna do when he hears my own father drugged me. Dressed me up. Told me to bark like a bitch for a billion dollars.
Wonder how many bodies are going in the Hudson tonight.
1
The sedatives haven’t worn off. My arms feel like jelly. Cold sweat soaks straight through my dress.
Every bump in the road means I’m closer to Cassian.
Up front, my stepmother’s admiring her fresh manicure like we’re heading to brunch.
“Aldo. Tell me you didn’t dose her too hard. She dies before we hand her over, that billion goes with her.”
My father snorts. Greed dripping off every word.
“Relax. She’s not dying.”
“Once that money hits the account, we’re back on top. Bianca’s gonna be the biggest name in the Five Families.”
“Warming the Don’s bed? Honestly, that’s the biggest honor of Sera’s pathetic little life.”
Honor.
I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t laugh in his face.
They have no idea.
That Don they’re so terrified of. The one who can wipe the Marchetti name off the map with one phone call.
He owes me his life. Three times over.
Those ten years I was gone. The ten years they think I was rotting in some ditch. I was somewhere else. Trapped between time. And three times, I crossed back to save him.
He was fourteen. A rival family cut his throat and dumped him in the snow for the strays to finish. I dragged him out with my bare hands. Warmed him back to life with my own body.
He was seventeen. A crew cornered him on a rooftop. About to throw him off. I stepped in front of him.
He was twenty-four. His own uncle put a hit on him. I threw myself in front of the bullet meant for his heart.
I felt my body break apart into light in his arms.
The last thing I saw was him on his knees in the blood. Clawing at empty air. Screaming till his voice gave out.
“Serafina! Don’t you fucking leave me! Take my life. Just come back!”
That half-dead boy I dragged out of hell over and over?
He’s the Don this whole city drops to its knees for now.
Small world.
Bianca sighs like she gives a damn.
“Poor Sera. Just got home and she’s already going somewhere so scary. I hope he’s gentle with her.”
My father snaps back, sharp as glass.
“Poor? She’s been a rotten little bitch since she could walk. She’s lucky we’re not putting a bullet in her ourselves.”
“That’s you, sweetheart. Too soft. Always been your problem.”
Ten years. Ten years and he’s still mad about that.
My mom died when I was seven. I let these two women into my house. Into my heart. Treated them like blood.
Then Bianca got snatched by kidnappers. I ran in. I fought them off. I got her out.
And when one of them yanked me back by the hair, she looked me dead in the eye. And she ran.
Then she went home and told my father I set the whole thing up.
He didn’t ask. Didn’t blink. Locked me in the dark.
That’s the day I fell through the crack in time.
Up front, they’re still fantasizing out loud. Talking about me like I’m cargo. A body. A thing they can move.
They don’t know.
Once, at a party, some rich prick shoved me. Scraped up my hand.
Cassian cut his tendons himself that night. Red-eyed. Silent. Dumped what was left of him in international waters.
For a scraped hand.
So when Cassian finds out my own family drugged me. Kidnapped me. Delivered me to him like a party favor.
Yeah. I really want to see if they’re still smiling when the Marchettis are getting fed to the dogs piece by piece.
I bite my lip. Can barely keep the smirk down.
The car jerks to a stop. We’re here.
The door flies open. Cold wind hits me in the face.
Bianca leans in. Her long red nails dig into my cheek hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes lit up like Christmas.
“Be a good girl in there, Sera. Piss off the Don and the whole family goes down with you.”
My father marches around and looks down at me like I’m something he scraped off his shoe.
“Cut the act, Serafina. His men are on the way. Pull it together.”
“And don’t blame me. We got no choice. It’s about time you did something for this family.”
I stare up at him. Cold.
“Are you even my father?”
Something twitches in his face. Just for a second.
“If I wasn’t your father, you think I’d set you up this good? Not just anybody gets in Cassian De Luca’s bed, sweetheart. One day you’ll be thanking me for this.”
Camilla checks her watch. Snaps her fingers.
“Enough. His people just texted. Get her in the white dress. Now.”
“I did my homework. His dead girl only ever wore white. We put her in white, that billion is ours.”
I almost smile.
Yeah. He always did love me in white.
I don’t fight them. Let them strip me down. Let them pour me into the white silk. The drug’s wearing off. I can feel my fingers again.
I catch my reflection in the tinted window.
And I smile.
Cassian, baby. It’s been a long time.
Let’s see if you still know my face.