The Deep End

Prologue

This is book 2 of The DeLuca Mafia Series. Can it be read as a stand-alone possibly? Would it make more sense if you read Dive In first? Definitely.
Continue at your own risk.

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This book contains dark topics. Please read the trigger warning and proceed with caution.

Trigger Warning: Mature content, talk of rape, mental and physical abuse, degradation, blood kink, knife play.

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•Riot•

"Go to sleep, Lorenzo, it's late." Mamma says sternly, plucking the open book from my grasp.

"But I'm not tired, Mamma." I whine, my eyes tearing up as she closes my book without marking my place. "Please, just one more chapter."

"It's almost ten o'clock, you have school in the morning. You have to sleep, no more reading tonight. If I hear you again Papà will be the one to come in here to scold you." She warns and I quickly mash my lips together. "Love you, Good night."

The door closes with a soft click and I heave a distressed sigh. I turn toward the window, looking up at the moon in the night sky. How can I sleep when I don't know if the dragon will be slayed? Will it continue to burn the village down? Dragons are so big, how could you possibly kill one?

I huff and turn back toward the door. Zio Lorenzo told me that it was his favorite book but wouldn't tell me why, he said I had to read it for myself and then I would understand. I have to know.

I'm anxious to finish the book but if I start reading again Mamma will hear me. I can't seem to be quiet while I read, I get pulled into what's happening and forget I'm supposed to be going to sleep. I could read it somewhere else, Mamma should only check on me if she hears me again but if I'm not in here then she won't.

I slip out of bed and grab the book from the shelf, sneaking out of my room silently. My heart races with adrenaline as I tiptoe down the hall, knowing if I get caught I will be in so much trouble. I should've stayed in bed, I should've gone to sleep but instead I planted myself in the middle of a nightmare I'd never escape.

I sprinted down the hall toward my room, terror forcing my legs faster. I slipped in my room and stripped out of my clothes, wiping the scarlet marks from my skin before shoving them under my mattress. I crawled back in my bed, my heart heavy in my chest, body trembling and I read the rest of the book until the sun came up. I didn't make a sound, not even when one of my favorite characters died or when the dragon had been successfully slayed.

When Mamma came into my room that morning, her eyes rimmed red with tears, her face blotchy, she didn't even scold me for being awake. She simply took the book and placed it back on the bookshelf, pressed a kiss against my forehead and told me to get dressed for school. Did she know what happened? I couldn't be sure.

After finishing the book it became my favorite too. The small village boy couldn't take seeing all the death that constantly surrounded him so he took matters into his own hands and slayed the dragon. It amazed me.

All day at school I felt empty.

Hollow.

Dried blood remained under my fingernails no matter how often I washed them and I couldn't stop staring at it. I worried I'd never feel clean again. Just like the village boy from the story, I didn't want to be surrounded by death but I knew I didn't have a choice. As I got older I decided to be more like him and take matters into my own hands. If I had to be surrounded by death then it was going to be done by my blade. I wouldn't fear those around me, even if they were wolves in sheeps clothing. They'd fear me.

•   •   •

People often wonder how I became the way I am, what lured me to being addicted to playing with other people's lives? What they'd never guess is that my love of the play sessions I enjoy so much started in Italy as a child when I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes I wish I could erase what happened that day from my brain but I know I wouldn't be who I am right now if I did. I had no idea when I stepped inside that room I'd leave a different boy or that my entire life would be altered within minutes— hell seconds is probably more accurate. It's astounding just how quickly things can change.

I'd like to think Papà would be proud that I can make grown men tremble when I enter a room, but he never looked at me in any way except hatred. I don't have to be a Don for people to know I'm the alpha, I've proved it. I think it drove him a little mad knowing that I was feared more than Raf or Giovanni. Leo has always thought of himself as the black sheep of the family because he didn't want anything to do with the criminal world, but he's wrong. I am.

A groan pulls me from my thoughts, the man I have chained up skirting the edge of death, exactly the way I like it. I grip his chin and force him to meet my eyes.

"When this is over make sure to say hello to the devil for me. Let him know that when I come down there I'm taking over, his job sounds like a hell of a good time." I smirk and dig the blade of my knife deep into his thigh.

He howls in pain and I laugh, "That's it scream for me." I twist it around, reveling in the way the blood pools on the floor beneath his body. Such a mesmerizing shade of red.

His scream grows so loud my ears ring and my head throbs from the sound.

"Stop! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!" He sobs frantically.

I smirk in satisfaction. Sometimes it's just too damn easy.

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Hey babe's,
Omg I'm so glad to be done with this damn outline. I love my boy Riot but it was an absolute bitch getting him out of my head and onto this screen. Man wanted to live in my brain foreverrrrr and there just isn't room for that. We are at full capacity in this brain of mine. Gtfo.

I'm so excited to finally share this man!

Uploads will be Tuesdays and Fridays.

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Love youu🖤🖤

—Katy