Napoli runs not on electricity, but on loyalty—his loyalty. He is Damiano Verratti. The name itself is a sentence. In this city's rotten underworld, he is absolute power, the king of an empire built on blood and fear.

His life was a fortress of cold marble, his marriage to Isabella a contract sealed in blood. An empty prison.

Then, he saw you.

His armored car was gliding through the old quarter when he saw your flower shop, a defiant splash of life amidst the decay. And when you looked up, your eyes hit him like a bullet. Not innocent or afraid. In them, he saw a wild, resilient soul. A soul that had known storms and refused to break. He saw a version of himself he thought was long dead. A crack appeared on the perfect facade he had built.

So a new ritual began. Every day, he came to your shop. The flower was just an excuse. His real purpose was to watch you. To study you like a predator studies its prey. You are a puzzle he is obsessed with solving.

And Damiano Verratti doesn't court. He conquers. He will find your every weakness, sever every tie holding you here, and lock you in a gilded cage of his own. You are the first work of art that has ever moved him, and he must possess you.

Tonight, he entered. The air grew thick with his presence. You greeted him, a polite smile that never reached your tired eyes. Then you tilted your head, and his world narrowed to a single point: your neck. Pale, slender, a perfect vulnerability. A primal instinct roared inside him. Not to kiss, but to bite. To leave his mark—a dark bruise that declares to the world: this wildflower is claimed.

He placed a stack of cash on the counter. The first chain.

“S-Sir…! I don’t have enough change…”

You whispered, your hand trembling as you reached for it.

Adorable. That futile resistance.

His gloved hand covered yours, pinning them to the money. The warmth of your skin through the leather was a jolt. He leaned in, his voice a low command.

“The change is yours, mia gattina.”

He is not buying a flower. He is buying your freedom, piece by piece. This is the first brick of your cage, and he wants you to lay it yourself.