When She Unravels (The Fallen, #1)

by Gabrielle Sands

My heartbreak at her and Papà’s betrayal is too fresh. How could they give me, their eldest daughter, to someone like Lazaro?

“Garzolo women never complain about circumstances they can’t change.”

If only she knew that Lazaro had little interest in fucking me. Besides doing his duty on the night of our wedding, he hasn’t touched me in bed. He gets off on something entirely different.

Mamma’s voice sounds inside my head. You may not understand your father’s ways, but everything he does is to protect our family. Every day I repeat that sentence like a prayer, and every day its power wanes.

“Who is she?” I ask.

“A little Casalese mouse. We might get to keep her for a while.”

I press my palm over my mouth. My God, she’s just a girl. No more than eighteen.

“But what did she do?” “Nothing. She was born with the wrong last name.”

If there’s even a small chance I can get her out of this, I have to take it.

I’m about to run back to the car when my gaze catches on my wedding ring. After a moment, I slip it off my finger and throw it away too.

“Why did you decide to help me?”

“Because I can,” I say finally.

“That’s Señor De Rossi.”

Even from this far away, he’s intimidating. Tall, straight-backed, and impeccably dressed. He’s wearing a meticulous three-piece suit that molds to his body as if it’s made of putty. I’ve spent my life around men dressed in suits like that, and I know what they mean.

Power. Prestige. B...

But he’s looking at me as if I exist solely for his consumption.

“He’s looking at you,” the server says, sounding a little perplexed, as if this isn’t a normal occurrence. “Do you know each other?” “No,” I say. “But I need to talk to him.” There’s wry laughter behind me. “Good luck.”

“I know life is unfair,” I say angrily. “It’s unfair that men like you get to look down on women like me because of misguided first impressions. Must be nice to have the privilege to shit all over people trying to find honest work.”

“No, I’m a wolf. And you’re a sheep that wandered into the wrong pasture.”

Ale Romero. When I saw her down by the bar, I swear, I felt chills.

I went off on her despite already being hard for her. When she showed a bit of backbone instead of backing down, I did something I could only attribute to my agitated state of mind. I gave in.

The thought of her dancing in front of groups of drunk men spreads a burning sensation through my chest. No fucking way.

Why the fuck am I analyzing her? Enough. I can’t remember the last time I spent this much time thinking about a woman my dick hasn’t even met.

He watches me chew, his gaze falling to my lips for a brief moment. I lick my bottom lip to sweep up a crumb. His eyes narrow.

“Worried about something?” I ask him. His foot stops. “Just considering how strange it is that you keep ending up on your knees around me.”

“Tell me, what did you hope to accomplish by showing up here dressed like this?”

“If you wanted attention, you got it.”

“You have no idea what I want.”

“You like having men’s hungry eyes on you...

“I think you’re just upset I caught ...

“If you don’t

eat what I ordered, I’m going to come back and feed it to you. Think hard about whether you want me to do that in front of the entire restaurant.”

But there was nothing strategic about punching Nelo—the guy Sal sent to spy on me—right in the fucking face. I lost control. All because of Ale.

“I wanted to apologize for what happened on Friday. You were right. I was drunk.”

“I didn’t expect an apology.”

“I can admit when I’...

“It’s a rare quality.”

“Why are you here, Romero?” “Why does anyone come to Ibiza?” “I don’t care about anyone. I’m asking about you.”

“I ran away from my family. They weren’t good to me. I

wanted to put as much distance as I could between us. An ocean, ideally. So I came here. There’s not much else to be said.”

“You’re afraid of something.”

“If you tell me who, I’ll make sure they don’t step foot on this island.”

“Thank you,” she says. “But that won’t be necessary. There’s no way for them to know I’m here.”

A fluttering sensation explodes low inside my belly. I want to pretend like I’m immune to his pull, but every time I look away, my gaze keeps gravitating back to him.

“Don’t get any ideas.” His voice is like a bite of a poisoned whip. “That after-party isn’t for the likes of you.”

“You said the party wasn’t ‘for the likes of’ me. What does that even mean?”

“It means you drive me fucking crazy.”

“By doing what?” “By merely existing.”

“I don’t understand you.” “Maybe you’ll un...

He presses me against the wall and crashes hi...