Panic floods my system. The kind that makes my vision tunnel and my breath catch.
Because Jino isn't a man who can be manipulated. He's questioning his morals right now. Reassessing the entire operation.
And Giovanni isn't a man who can be manipulated either. He's got a monster inside him—one that killed Rico without hesitation.
What if they both deny me?
What if I'm too broken for Jino's structure and too dangerous for Giovanni's chaos?
What if I end up exactly where I started—alone in a basement, but this time with nowhere left to run?
"Please," I beg. "Don't leave now. Not yet. I'm…" I sigh. "I need you, Jino. I need you to be you so that I can be me. And I know that's very selfish. I understand that I'm being very clingy right now, but if you only understood how much I want this. How much I crave it. And okay, I'll admit it. Giovanni scared me a little. He did. It hurt. I wanted to safeword, I did."
"And you didn't because he made you feel guilty about using it."
"No," I correct him quickly. "I didn't safeword because it started to feel good, Jino. It started to make me want him more. Not… you, know. Emotionally. But…" I sigh.
"He made you wet."
I nod. "Yes. It's embarrassing how wet he made me. How much I wanted him to fuck me in that moment."
"Is that why you just begged me to get you off?"
I shrug a little. "It's not that I don't want you. I do. But the need in me, Jino. It was overwhelming when Giovanni put me to bed. And then, when I woke up to you? Your hard body, your arms around me. Well…"
"You would've taken any one in that moment, and I was just there."
"No. Absolutely not. I knew you'd fulfill me. I knew you'd… take care of me. All my needs are met by my monster and my Master."
He looks at me for a long time, thinking. I'm just about to burst from the suspense, when finally he says, "I'll treat you like every other sub if you do something for me."
Hope flares. Desperate and pathetic and absolutely humiliating.
"What? Anything. I'll do anything."
His hand moves to my chin. Forces my face up until I can't look anywhere but directly into those calculating eyes.
We stare at each other.
The moment stretches. Pulls taut.
"You need to understand the power dynamics here," he says quietly. "Bavga and Moretti—we're related, but we're not equals. Giovanni's family has connections, resources, respect. Mine runs docks and small-time operations. I can defy him only so much before there are repercussions."
I blink. Try to follow the thread. "Okay..."
"I need more freedom." The pause after those words feels weighted. Intentional. His thumb brushes across my lower lip. "With you."
Oh.
Oh.
Understanding crashes over me.
"You want to fuck me."
It's not a question.
Jino nods once. Clean. Precise. The gesture carries the weight of ritual—a benediction of sorts, though one stripped of mercy. "Giovanni has forbidden it," he continues, his voice remaining level and professional, as though we're discussing contract terms rather than the violation of a fundamental rule. The detachment in his tone somehow makes it worse, more real. Like this desire of his exists completely separate from emotion, from impulse—it's a calculated want, catalogued and sanctioned by some internal system only he understands.