Heart of Stone Read online

  © Copyright C. K. Bennett 2021

  © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  C. K. Bennett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

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  First edition

  ISBN: ePub: 978-82-93952-02-2

  HB: 978-82-93952-01-5

  PB: 978-82-93952-00-8

  Find out more about the author and their books at https://ckbennettauthor.com.

  Connect with the author on Instagram: @ck.bennett

  Content warnings

  Mentions of sexual abuse

  Acts of murder

  Drug trafficking & money laundering

  Mentions of human trafficking

  Mentions of child prostitution

  Graphic descriptions of violence

  Sexually explicit scenes

  Morally grey characters

  Profane language

  This book contains scenes, dialogues and characters that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  To the readers who purchased this book, thank you so much. Since this is my only source of income, I rely on your financial support to continue my authorship.

  CHAPTERS

  1. Engagement Party

  2. First Kiss

  3. Thought that Counts?

  4. Declaration of War

  5. Dead Weight

  6. Brava

  7. Sogni D’oro, Cara

  8. Poison

  9. In the Void

  10. Deal with the Devil

  11. I Beg Your Pardon?

  12. Never Forget That

  13. Puppeteer

  14. In My Blood

  15. The Fallen Angel

  16. Compliment

  17. Lucifer

  18. Word of Advice

  19. Tesoro

  20. Hard Time

  21. Heart of Stone

  22. Great Expectations

  23. Hold Me Close

  24. Kill Switch

  25. Could You Stay?

  26. Jester

  27. Anchor

  28. Eclipse

  29. Purpose

  30. I Need You to Know

  31. Dead as a Doornail

  32. Say You Believe Me

  33. Homme Fatale

  34. Joker

  35. Nonsensical

  36. You’re Replaceable

  37. Follow Me

  38. Mistake

  39. I Can’t Lose You

  40. Don’t Ever Stop

  41. Taste

  42. All of You

  43. That’s the Spirit

  44. Third Time’s the Charm

  45. I Swear It to You

  46. Give This to Her

  47. Dear Adella

  48. Ti Voglio Bene, Figlio

  49. What Can I Say?

  50. Revenge Is Sweet

  This one is for Emma. Without you this story wouldn’t have existed.

  I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.

  – Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche

  1

  _________________________

  Engagement Party

  I drowned out the incessant droning of the crowd with my thoughts. It was something I had taught myself to do over the years. Being a child of one of the ‘Five Firms’ of London meant growing up in the spotlight with events to attend left, right and centre.

  Today was a bit different, however, because today, the occasion was mine and Leo’s engagement party.

  And he was late.

  ‘I just knew he would do this,’ my future sister-in-law, Donna, said with a sigh after a glance at her diamond-decorated gold wristwatch. Donna had soft, small features, and they radiated sympathy when she looked at me. Her glossy, plump lips protruded, her dark eyes shining with apologies on her eldest brother’s behalf.

  I gave her a reassuring smile. ‘I’d hoped he would. Ferro owes me a hundred quid now.’ I jerked my head to my left at her and Leo’s half-brother, who was younger than my fiancé by one day.

  ‘A hundred quid?’ Ferro echoed. His dark eyebrows curled upward as he sized me up in my golden dress. ‘Like that’s any compensation for his tardiness.’ He shook his head and gazed at the entrance. ‘I swear, that bastard couldn’t detect a diamond even if I shoved one in his face.’

  ‘Are you calling me a diamond?’ I asked, amused.

  ‘I am.’ He grinned. ‘An uncut one, though,’ he teased with a wink.

  I laughed. I didn’t care in the slightest that Leo was late. It equalled fewer seconds to spend with him. Besides, having Ferro here was making me forget all about him, but then Ferro had always done that. He’d treated me like a sister ever since my parents left me in the Cifarelli family’s care when I was two years old.

  I was Leo’s intended, but, sometimes, I genuinely wished I were Ferro’s instead. I wasn’t in love with Ferro either, but at least he had always been a friend to me. Leo, on the other hand, had always excluded me from everything with the preconceived notion that I was unworthy of his time and attention, that I was incorrigibly weak, and that our families’ enterprises would not be in safe hands with me.

  So, if my fate was to be trapped in a marriage without love, I’d have preferred it to be with Ferro – at least our friendship would have filled a portion of the void. With Leo, there was nothing but hostility and scepticism toward each other, which had continued to fester over the years. Our union would only make the absence of love more apparent than ever.

  I was just about to reply to Ferro that only another diamond could polish one, but the sudden pause in the crowd made me acutely aware of my fiancé’s arrival.

  I froze, my senses sharpening. Keenly attuned to his presence, I experienced a strange pull, urging me to come to him.

  He felt so much like gravity. He always had.

  But it was a destructive force, like a black hole that would suck me in and crush me completely – not the type that kept me grounded.

  I glanced at the entrance, where dark eyes gleaming with mystery and aloofness instantly trapped my gaze. That
darkness had enveloped me for as long as I could remember, its shadows spreading toward me like greedy arms about to choke my fire.

  His straight eyebrows were furrowed as he analysed me from afar, as if sharply judging my attire – or perhaps my appearance overall – while his full lips were pressed together. It was difficult to decipher his thoughts from his cryptic expression, but I could at least gauge that he wasn’t over the moon to be here, much less to see me.

  ‘There he is,’ Donna said, looking relieved.

  He approached, scanning the room as if he was detecting potential threats. In his black dinner suit, he looked edible. Yes, that was something I couldn’t deny: Leo was sizzling hot. His raven black hair had a side part, and it formed beautiful, glistening waves that were drawn back from his chiselled face. His strong, square jaw was flexed.

  As he moved gracefully through the room, my heart sank. I dreaded this so much. I knew there were lots of women out there who were dying to be in my shoes, dying to be Leo’s prospective wife, but it didn’t help at all. Other women’s envy didn’t give me any satisfaction. After all, it was no reward when taking into account what I was sacrificing – a chance at love.

  Still, I could understand why Leo had so many admirers. Aside from being remarkably intelligent, obscenely rich and strikingly handsome, he was robust and tall. He spent every morning lifting weights or practising martial arts with his personal trainers, and it showed on his toned body. Tattoos covered his bronzed skin in several places, from his chest to his fingers, but they suited him.

  I remembered when he’d got his first one – he’d been sixteen and it was an interesting depiction of an hourglass; a human skull was at the top, and it had the text memento mori. It covered his left pectoral muscle, where his heart rested beneath his skin.

  I’d always liked that tattoo, even if I would never admit it to him. I doubted Leo thought I knew what memento mori even meant.

  ‘Leo. There you are!’ Lauren called. She was one of Leo’s closest female friends and I’d always liked her, even if she’d rarely spoken to me. ‘What kept you?’

  ‘A meeting,’ I heard him vaguely murmur as he halted to greet her.

  ‘But?’

  ‘It went fine.’

  She smiled, stroking his strong arm. ‘I bet it did.’

  ‘If you’ll excuse me, Lauren. I need to apologise to my fiancée.’

  She glanced in my direction with a crooked, almost knowing smile. ‘Of course.’

  He had barely managed three strides when another friend of his called, ‘Leo!’

  I couldn’t fight the smile that stretched my lips when Leo lingered for half a second, clearly weighing up whether to acknowledge his friend. But then he continued toward me.

  Unlike me, Leo had always been popular. I had never understood why. He wasn’t affable, didn’t talk much, nor did he take up much space. I made a little more noise than he did, but only marginally. I supposed the biggest difference between us in that regard was that Leo had charisma. Although he presented it only on the rarest occasions, he had a million-dollar smile that could bewitch any audience. And, while it was sad to admit it, men were usually perceived as mysterious when they were quiet. Women, on the other hand, were often considered boring. Thus, I was boring, and Leo was enthralling.

  ‘Adella,’ he greeted me. Was that an apology in the bottomless darkness of his eyes?

  Reaching forward, his tattooed fingers curled around my hand, squeezing as if he actually cared, but it was all for show. He might have banged a girl in the limousine on his way here for all I knew. It was unlikely, though. I’d known Leo essentially all my life, and while he was certainly one of the most undesirable men I’d ever met, it wasn’t because he was a Casanova. In fact, I had never seen Leo with a woman.

  Leo just wasn’t . . . interested. In anything. Well, I should say anyone. When it came to our families’ business empires and ventures, he was transfixed.

  ‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ he said, lips skimming across my knuckles. I quickly jerked my hand out of his grasp.

  ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I smiled. ‘Ferro’s been keeping me company.’ I reached over and stroked his younger brother’s arm.

  ‘Did you say a meeting kept you?’ Ferro asked.

  ‘Yeah.’ Leo tucked his hands into his pockets.

  ‘The one with Beckett?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  Leo had never been generous with his words.

  ‘Well? How did it go?’ Ferro probed.

  Leo glanced around, and part of me thought he seemed a bit on edge. ‘Well, I think.’ He directed his cavernous eyes to mine. ‘Teso’, where’s Dom?’ he asked, referring to my father.

  I looked up the double staircase in the grand foyer of the Cifarelli mansion. ‘I think I saw him head upstairs with Gio just a minute ago.’

  He immediately turned toward the nearest staircase.

  ‘You should probably join him, Ferro,’ Donna said.

  ‘Yes.’ Leo halted abruptly. Turning slightly, he locked eyes with Ferro. ‘You should come, Ferro. Donna will look after Ade.’

  ‘Shouldn’t you be looking after Ade? It’s your bloody engagement party, Leo.’

  Leo’s eyes swivelled toward me. ‘I don’t think she minds.’

  I smiled. ‘Of course not. Take all the time you need. I’ll be spending the rest of my life with you, after all. We’ll have a whole lifetime to look after one another.’ And ignore each other.

  To any eavesdropping guests, I sounded loving, but Leo, Ferro and Donna would have picked up on the searing sarcasm.

  I thought I caught a glint of emotion in Leo’s eyes – resentment, perhaps? – but it vanished too quickly for me to be sure. Turning, he continued up the stairs.

  Ferro sighed next to me. ‘Should have been born with a dick, Ade,’ he joked.

  ‘You think Leo would like it up the arse?’ I replied. Donna gasped and Ferro burst into laughter.

  ‘That wasn’t what I was getting at, but I love the turn it took!’ Ferro chuckled.

  Humour aside, Ferro was right. Then again, I would probably have had to marry Donna if I’d been born a man, so, in the end, there was no escape. As the only living child of the Valentino family, I was bound to marry a Cifarelli.

  Now I just had to make the best of it.

  2

  _________________________

  First Kiss

  While Leo and Ferro attended to business upstairs, Donna and I discussed the details of the upcoming wedding, which was to be held on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, where Leo’s family had roots. I wanted to get married by Lake Garda, but Isabella, Leo’s mother, had denied me the pleasure.

  Just as I thought of her, she climbed the stairs to the second floor, her wide hips swaying from side to side in her crimson mermaid gown. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, swinging with her smooth and attractive movements.

  Ten years her husband’s junior, Isabella Cifarelli had always been an intriguing woman. She exuded a unique sense of maternalism – I’d always experienced it as something conditional, like she would only treat me favourably if I obeyed her every command.

  However, considering how she’d always treated Ferro, perhaps I was wrong. When Ferro’s mother, Rosetta, had disappeared a decade ago, Isabella had taken Ferro under her wing as though he were her own son, and I’d always appreciated her for that. Still, I couldn’t help but feel that the same love didn’t extend to me. I’d always felt as though she viewed me as her pupil, not as her daughter.

  I was still admiring her poise and curvaceous figure when she glanced at me over her shoulder. A crooked smile crept over her lips.

  ‘Adella.’ She paused on the stairs, turning somewhat, and extended her hand toward me. ‘Cara mia, please.’ She beckoned to me.

  I looked at Donna, who nodded repeatedly.


  ‘Will you be alright by yourself?’ I asked.

  Tucking a lock of her dyed blonde mane behind her ear, Donna gazed around. ‘Yeah.’ She met my eyes. ‘I’ll go talk to Roman,’ she said, referring to their cousin who also happened to be Leo’s best friend.

  Nodding, I gripped my gown, lifted it slightly, and made my way toward Isabella. I took her extended hand. Her cold, slender fingers clenched around mine and she smiled.

  ‘You look marvellous tonight, dear.’

  ‘Well, of course I do. You picked my dress.’ My compliment didn’t seem to reach her. She merely scanned the crowd before meeting my eyes again.

  ‘Leo’s finally arrived, so it’s time we welcomed the guests properly.’ She guided me up the remaining steps and down the corridor, to an area of the mansion I’d never been allowed to enter. It contained Giovanni’s – Leo’s father’s – office, as well as his and Isabella’s bedchambers.

  She knocked on the office door three times, turned the handle and walked in. My eyes instantly travelled around the room, drinking in the dark shades of the leather furniture, the rich colours of the Persian carpets, and the big Renaissance paintings crowding the walls.

  Apart from Leo, who stood facing the windows, Ferro, Giovanni and Dad sat at a big round table of dark wood, drinking brown spirits from glasses that were adorned with meticulous engravings.

  ‘Isabella,’ Giovanni said sternly but somehow lovingly, looking straight at his wife. His brows were furrowed, his dark grey hair trimmed to perfection, highlighting his chiselled face. Giovanni was a handsome man, especially for his age.

  ‘It’s time we welcomed the guests.’ Isabella raised her chin. ‘You can resume your business later.’

  Isabella had always been preoccupied with façades. In that, she and Giovanni were a great match, because she reminded him to nurture relationships and to treat people as humans rather than as transactions. I’d always considered them a power couple, even if they didn’t outmatch my own parents.

  Unlike Giovanni, my father treated my mother as a partner rather than as just a lover. I doubted Isabella was allowed to be part of Giovanni’s ventures the same way my mother, Victoria, was.