Perfect Villain (Dark Lies Duet 1)

1

CHRISTIAN

Darkness is a constant that’ll never die.

Many are afraid of it and the things that lurk within.

But then again, many aren’t me.

I thrive on living in the shadows, the corruption, even the immortality of it all. I enjoy only two things more than the blackness: the fear I evoke in others and Siân Giuliani.

She’s the product of my obsession, and her fear feeds my soul the most. It’s a drug, an addiction I’ll never shake. So, you’ll understand why I watch her.

There she is, walking away from the campus with a friend in tow. She looks nothing like she did before, nothing like the first time I watched her. Her skin is still as smooth as silk and blemish-free, but she’s a shade darker now, her olive complexion a gift from the Florida sun.

Her hair is different, longer, and dyed back to her natural brown. I like her with darker hair. It suits her better than the blond she previously wore.

From where I sit, parked in a Ferrari that’s as black as my soul, I can see the shade of red that paints her lips, and I like that too. My dick twitches at the thought of her wrapping that pretty mouth around my shaft. It’s a never-ending fantasy, really, one that’s long past due to become a reality.

Usually, all I do is watch, but tonight, that changes.

Tonight, I’ll make good on the promise I made to her all those years ago and let her know I’m back.

She belongs to me, was promised to me as a boy, and meant to be my wife the moment she came of age. The first time I saw her face, we were kids. She was ten, and I was fourteen. The sweet, innocent girl who had no idea about the life she was fated to live.

The Russos and the Giulianis are two of Italy’s most ruthless families. We were born to hate each other, cursed by an age-old rivalry carried out by our fathers—a feud set to be squashed by the promise of an alliance. To put an end to the war between our families and strengthen their territories, Giuliani gifted me his only daughter with the promise of an heir. Together, we were supposed to reign over Italy, bringing the lifelong dispute to an end with our bond.

I knew then we were different. Unlike me, she was pure and oblivious to the world around her. I was raised to be my father’s son, exposed to blood, carnage, and murder early on. By my fifteenth birthday, I’d already taken a life, and by the age of seventeen, I discovered my need to observe.

Before we had a chance to meet, at least the way we were supposed to, she was ripped away from me. Marco reneged on our deal, denying me what was mine. My father is a greedy man, and he doesn’t take well to broken contracts. I learned another valuable lesson that night. Every alliance comes with secrets. And the skeletons buried beneath the pact our families made proved to be the worst of them all.

Marco never saw it coming, never smelled the deceit that brewed right under his nose. The saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Well, what does one do when the friend is the enemy? Or when the woman you love sentences you to death and sells your daughter to the highest bidder?

He gave his last breath to save his precious daughter. For years, I searched until I found her—five years ago on her twentieth birthday. Far away from Italy in a small town in the northeast region of the United States is where I discovered her, protected and tucked away in one of the least likely of places.

For months, I surveyed her, and right when we were getting to know each other, my father called me home, dragging me away from her with his orders. Leaving was the last thing I wanted to do. After all, I’d spent time and many resources trying to find her. But if my father knew where I was and what I was doing, or that Siân Giuliani was indeed alive, shit would have turned south...quick.

I couldn’t have that. My father couldn’t know she was still alive because I led him to believe she perished in that fire with her family. I also get a thrill out of defying him every chance I get. She’s mine, and I’ll claim her on my own terms.

Yes, I could have taken her five years ago, and that was the initial plan, but where is the fun in ending the chase so soon? I like to hunt, to watch—and knowing I can turn her world upside down in the blink of an eye makes the wait all that more delicious. But she also mesmerized me, and the more I followed her, the more I learned about her. I quickly realized that to have her the way I wanted, I’d need to win her trust.