Chapter 1: Raelyn
The Man Without a Name
Raelyn pov
Rain had a way of muting the world outside, .
But tonight, it didn’t silence the sound of a man being dragged into the alley across from my flower shop. I heard yelling from outside and unmistakable sounds of a man crying in agony.
I shouldn't have looked, everything in me warned never to look...
But I did.
The flowers I'd been arranging slipped through my fingers as I pressed myself against the window, peering through the droplets of rain.
A group of men stood in the alley, their shadows merged with the night. One of them was tall, and he looked furious even in the darkness and he had a hand around the throat of another man, slamming him against the brick wall.
It was him.
The man with the Blue colored eyes. The one who liked black roses and left money yesterday. The one whose name I still didn’t know.
His shirt was soaked in the rain , clinging to his frame that looked fit built for war. He wasn’t calm at all, his movements were sharp. The man they’d dragged in tried to fight back until something flashed in the stranger’s hand.
A blade.
He was carrying a blade! And he Stabbed the other man mercilessly and the man dropped down, blood sprayed across the wall.
I gasped loudly,My knees hit the floor before I even realized I was falling. My heart thundered in my ears.
Run.
Hide.
Call someone or anyone.
But I didn’t move,I just couldn’t. I stood up and peered in the window when he looked up straight at me.
Our eyes locked through the storm.
He didn’t flinch or panic.Just a dark stillness like he had expected that I would eavesdrop whatever was going on.
I scrambled back from the window, my chest heaving, I put a hand over my mouth and planned to run for it but the door below slammed open.
Footsteps echoed around the house getting closer to where I was, I didn’t have time to hide when the door bursted open before I could even reach the lock.
He walked in like he owned the house.
His white shirt was bloodstained,his chest rose and fell with each breath, but his face was unreadable,I couldn't tell if he was furious or not.
Behind him came another man who was more broader and slightly shorter than him. His hand went straight to his holster and picked up his gun.
"She saw us," the second man growled. "We can't let her—"
"No," the man with the blue eyes said sharply. “Don’t touch her.”
The other man looked stunned like he didn't believe what he was hearing. “She’s a witness.”
“I said no.” His tone left no room for argument. He turned his gaze to me. “Get your coat.”
My voice barely came out. “What?”
He stepped forward, so close I could smell the faint smell of cologne mixed with blood on him. “Get. Your. coat. You're coming with me”
“I—I don’t even know your name.”
His jaw ticked. “You don’t need to. Just do what I say, don't test my patience picolo”
The other man scoffed. “ Rafaelle!You’re gonna risk the entire operation for a florist?”
That made the stranger pause. Then, very softly, he said, “She’s not just a florist. And it's Capo to you, Dante”
I didn’t understand what he meant.
He grabbed my coat himself and tossed it at me. “Now.”
Trembling, I obeyed.
They ushered me out the back, through the alley, past the body I tried not to see. The scent of blood clung to the air making my stomach sick .
A black SUV was waiting outside and the second man who I came to know his name, Dante pushed me inside the car.
I didn’t ask where we were going,I didn’t even scream because even if I had the courage to run I knew I wouldn’t get far.
We reached his place and his apartment was on the 43rd floor of a high-rise with skycrapper. The penthouse, of course. The elevator ride was silent, except for the quiet click of Dante’s gun being checked.
I stood in the center of a living room that looked more like a billionaire mansion. Black leather sofas , Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a city that had no idea the kind of monster it housed.
He handed me a towel but he didn’t say a word.
I didn’t touch it,my mind was going through a million of thoughts at one time.
“I won’t talk,” I said quietly.
He didn’t look at me just removed his bloodstained shirt and tossed it aside.
“I won’t tell anyone. I don’t even know what I saw.”
“You know enough.”
He sat on the arm of the couch, rubbing his knuckles, smearing blood across his skin like a paint “Your name?”
“Um…Raelyn.”
A second passed before he spoke again
“I’m not going to hurt you, Raelyn,” he said finally. “But I can’t let you go.”
My stomach twisted. “ What do you mean?Are you kidnapping me?”
“No.” His voice dropped to a low hum. “I’m keeping you alive.”
Something about the way he said it made my knees weak.
Dante groaned. “This is insane. Let me take care of it—”
“I said no,” he barked,his eyes never left mine. “She’s mine now.”
Mine?.
The word rang in my head like thunder.
What does he mean?
That night, Rafaelle took me to the guest room and warned me to never escape, because he'll kno and there are guards outside. I stayed in a guest room which was larger than my entire apartment.
I didn’t sleep , I couldn’t. Everytime my mind kept replaying the scene where the man was murdered. I was afraid if I even blink,he might murder me in my sleep.