Prologue Raven

I can still remember the sight of his naked body, tanned skin, and toned muscles. And his dick that could pass for a horsewhip.

Even his name sounds sexy, just like the rest of him. He really did make last night unforgettable.

As I walk home after my night shift at the hospital, I’m too consumed in my thoughts of Ezra Marino.

I notice there’s a black SUV across from me, but I don’t think too much about it. The thoughts of all the things Ezra did to me last night are too much of a distraction.

I bring my hands from the pocket of my scrubs to push a strand of hair away from my face.

It’s like I can still see his girth, pulsing with promises of everything unholy. I can still feel him.

The raw hunger in his eyes as his skillful lips parted my drenched pussy and ate me out like no one else ever has. Not even my ex-boyfriend.

Ugh .

Carlos, my first and only idiot boyfriend, was unskilled in more ways than one. I didn’t even know my body was capable of achieving an orgasm until last night.

This stranger I’d known for only a few hours unleashed my hidden desires and made me feel like a woman.

Ezra Marino made me feel wanted.

It still feels surreal.

My core still throbs from the mere thought of our encounter. My breasts still yearn for his warm lips. My thighs want to feel his cum again.

It was just like I read in books.

How the unexpected one-night stand gives the female protagonist the best night of her life. Then, they part ways. To think I’d only ever heard mentions of his name as the owner of the famous Club Serenita until I saw him…

The hospital’s fundraising event at his hotel was where it all began.

Harper, my best friend, forced me to attend the event after claiming I needed to let off steam. Steam, in her words, meant working my ass off and barely getting time for myself. She wasn’t entirely wrong, so I guessed there was no harm in wearing a nice dress for a change.

Though I’d much rather bury my face between the pages of any romance novel. But a part of me knows Harper is right about my over-dedication to my job and career.

Since Carlos decided to have an affair, I had nothing left except my job and grand dreams of becoming a skilled general surgeon someday. If I didn’t have much success with men, I thought I might as well shift my focus to my career.

Yet, a certain green-eyed man has captured my thoughts and refused to let go of them. Without thinking, I’d let him have ownership of my body just for one night. It was very unlike me to let a man fuck my brains out when I’d only just met him. I might’ve taken Harper’s advice of ‘letting off steam’ to the extreme.

There was something irresistible about Ezra Marino I’ll bet every other woman would admit to. He comes with the full package, he’s devilishly handsome, and fucks like it’s his job.

The morning breeze of New York City raises the hair on my spine and whips my hair around. As I make a turn onto an empty street, my apartment comes into view at a distance.

I snap out of my thoughts when I notice the black SUV still following me. Strange. Instinctively, I quicken my steps to get home faster. But before I know it, I hear footsteps walk up to me until they obstruct my path.

Swallowing thickly, I raise my head to see two men wearing masks. They're tall and buff, towering a few good inches above my 5’5” frame as they move quickly towards me.

My throat constricts in fear.

Who are they? Thieves? Or…

“C-can I help you?” I stutter, slowly moving backwards as they both exchange glances, nodding in what I assume to be a silent order. Their heads are turned toward each other for a split second, and in that moment, I think of running.

Clutching my purse tightly, I turn to my side and prepare to make a run for it, but I don't get far. One of the men yanks the ends of my scrubs and pulls me into his vice-like grip. Then I’m suddenly hoisted up over his shoulder.

What the fuck is this?

“What do you want?!” I immediately scream, wasting no time in slamming my fists hard against his back. He doesn't budge. Instead, the hard muscles on his back tense, his grip tightening too, and I hear the other man’s steps quicken. He then tugs the sleek door of the SUV open. The one carrying me mimics his ally's pace and we’re nearing the door of the SUV. This doesn’t look good.

Shit. I’m losing time.

“Let me go! I didn’t do anything! You have the wrong person!” I scream again, but this time, my screams are muffled with a hand over my mouth.

My mind desperately screams for an escape as he roughly shoves me into the backseat of the car amidst my struggles. I don't have time to shuffle up when the men join me on either side.

I’m suddenly sandwiched between both men. There's no way out.

Oh my God! I’m actually being kidnapped .

My heart slams against my ribcage as my eyes dart around the dark car for any means of escape. I can now barely make out the silhouette of the men. I can barely even make out —

“We meet again, Raven.” A voice interrupts my thoughts from the front passenger’s seat. I freeze, a zap of chill working through my ribs at the smoothness.

I know that voice. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

Clenching my fist, I suck in a sharp breath and dare to look. Cold, icy green eyes meet my panicked brown ones. I almost forget how to breathe.

It’s him. It’s Ezra Marino.

“E- Ezra?” I blink when I regain my breath, confusion thickening my voice.

He says nothing but brings a deadpan glare from my trembling hands to my face. Something about him is different. I can feel it.

“Why–” I start, but he cuts me off.

“Don’t.”

I wince at the thickness of his words. This has to be a joke. Some sort of prank, right? I glance at every corner of the car again, my heart dropping when I realize there's no way out. Maybe this is what fuels my confidence.

“Look,” I release a breath, batting the sweat on my palm against my pants. “First, I have the right to talk. And, second, what in God's name is going on?”

He doesn't look too entertained by my words. I vaguely make out the smooth structure of his clenched jaw. He’s angry, that much I can tell. But so am I.

“I think you have the wrong girl here.” I raise my hands to both sides of my ears to stop this nonsense. “I'm a doctor and have nothing to do with any of this.”

“ Falla tacere (Silence her),” he replies almost immediately.

“What?”

Before I can say anything else, Ezra returns his attention to the road. The two men start to close in on me. Suddenly, fear turns into panic.

I open my mouth wide and scream like a banshee, the sound tearing through the stillness of the car. The car lurches forward as the driver increases speed. A pit forms in my stomach.

“You won’t get away with this. My friend will find you…”

“ Ho detto falla tacer! Maledizione! (I said shut her up! Dammit!)”

“Let me go!” I screech.

The two men pin me down in an instant with hands like iron. I try to flail my arm and raise my legs, but it’s no use. They are too strong.

One of them pulls out a roll of tape. I know what he wants to do, so I immediately fling my head from side to side. Another man grunts and clamps my head in place before pressing the tape over my mouth. As if that isn’t enough, he proceeds to bind my hands behind my back and then ransacks my small handbag for my phone.

Tears of frustration and fear blur my vision until it’s totally obstructed. I feel a sack over my head, and that's when I lose all hope.

The reality dawns on me. I’m being kidnapped by my one-night stand.

I don't know how much time passes, but after what feels like forever, the car finally comes to a stop. My heart thunders in my chest as the men drag me out of the vehicle.

I stumble, struggling to keep my balance as they haul me on both sides. Suddenly we come to a stop, and the blindfold is lifted off my face. I’m in an old, decrepit building.

The smell hits me first—dust, mold, and something metallic… blood.

Oh, fuck.

I notice the walls are stained with crimson, reinforced by the peeling paint that looks to be a light grey color. The floor is a vast expanse of concrete— concrete with rough finishing, also enmeshed in streaks of blood and....a white powdery substance. I don't know what they are, but bile rises in my throat as I resist the urge to gag.

Brown cartons litter almost every inch of the floor as we continue to walk in the dim, barely existent light. Every turn we take has walls smeared in blood or white substance.

This place is terrible. It reeks of blood, cleaning supplies, and worse, death.

So this is it. This is how I die.

Finally, we get to a stop when the men shove me roughly inside a room. I hit the floor hard, pain shooting through my body as I lay there, gasping for breath. Tears burn my eyes, but I try to hold them back when I hear them exchange a few words.

The words are curt and in, what I can only guess, Italian before they leave. The heavy door creaks shut behind them, leaving me alone with Ezra…. in whatever this room is.

The room has a dim bulb in the center. Shadows play tricks on my eyes as the light doesn’t reach my position. I can barely make out his silhouette, but I can see enough to know he’s different—those eyes, so cold and devoid of the warmth I’d seen in them the night before.

It’s like a different person is standing in front of me.

The room is filled with the sounds of light footsteps as he approaches slowly. My heart’s pacing thick with trepidation. When he reaches me, he crouches down to my eye level.

My breath catches in my throat when he stretches an arm and rips the tape from my mouth. The sting is sharp against my skin.

“Don’t scream,” he says, his voice low and annoyingly calm. “No one will hear you. You’ll only piss me off.”

My chest tightens with fear. I search his face, looking for some sign of the man who took me to heaven and back last night, but there is nothing. Just cold, unfeeling eyes staring back at me.

“What do you want from me?” I whisper, my voice shaky.

Ezra’s gaze bores into mine.

“That’s not the right question.” His tone is as icy as his stare. “You should be asking yourself what you’ve done to deserve this.”

His words make my head spin. I wish the frown on his lips would widen into a smile and he’d yell ‘April Fools’.

What have I done?

I rack my brain, trying to make sense of this nightmare, but nothing adds up. He's simply a one-night stand I'm starting to regret.

“I…I swear I don’t understand,” I stammer. “I haven’t done anything.”

A cold, humorless smile twists his lips. “Haven’t you?” His hand shoots out to grip my chin tightly. I shiver at his cold grip as I try to hold his gaze.

“Think, Raven. Think hard.”

I try, but my mind is a mess. Nothing comes to me. “I don’t know,” my voice breaks.

This is a mess…a mistake. All of it.

“Please, Ezra… just let me go.”

The statement seems to piss him off. His grip tightens, eyes narrowing into slits.

“Not until you give me what I want.”