Bloodlines and Bullets

What happens when you're in the wrong place at the wrong time?

She is just at the beginning of her year-long world travels when she falls into the hands of him - an Italian mafia Don driven by the thirst for answers and revenge.

When there is something else thrown into the mix - obsession. But is it the healthy kind?

--

"I can see it, you know," he continues, his voice as smooth and dangerous as the edge of a blade. "The fear you're trying so hard to hide. The way your hands tremble ever so slightly, the way your breath catches in your throat when I'm close like this."

My hands instinctively curl into fists at my sides, nails digging into my palms as I struggle to maintain control.

He tilts his head, studying me like a predator sizing up its prey, his proximity suffocating. "You should be scared," he says, the words laced with an unsettling certainty. "Because when I'm done with you, there won't be anything left of that defiance you're so proud of."

A shiver runs down my spine. "I've faced worse than you," I manage to grit out, though my voice is barely above a whisper. "And I'm still standing."

His lips curve into a sinister smile, a glint of something dark and twisted flashing in his eyes. "We'll see how long that lasts."

"Let's go."

"No."

--