A few days later

"Amore, you look like a perfect mess." Johnny gently lifts an inebriated Nova of the floor and lays her on his bed.

"I see you've made yourself comfortable in my room." He looks around, seeing remnants of the model all around him.

"Your room is a lot nicer than mine." She sits up on her knees, barely being able to keep balance.

"So if I'm being forced to share amore, don't you think I should get something I return?" He lifts Nova's chin, holding her attention while licking his lips.

"What do you want Johnny?"

"Open your mouth."

Nova does as told while watching Johnny remove something from his pocket.

"Now swallow." He prompts after placing a small pill at the back of her throat.

"That's my good girl."

"Hmm what was that?" Nova collapses on the bed, stretching out across it.

"Just a little something I brought back from my trip. Now clean yourself up, we're going out tonight."

Nova peaked at the idea of leaving the property, it had been almost a week since her fashion show and the heartbreak that followed it. Although she had been drowning herself in an endless supply of drugs and alcohol, nothing could remove the image of Kaiden from her memory.

Kaiden's penthouse

Vicious knocks on the front door had Kaiden standing to attention, ready to swear whomever thought it was a good idea to show up unannounced.

"Dad?" He answers the door in surprise.

"What the hell were you thinking, sleeping with your best friends girl?"

"Dad." Kaiden tries to respond but was soon cut off.

"And as for this." Dante shoved a newspaper against his son's chest.

"You're behaving like an irresponsible college frat boy instead of the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company." Kaiden picks the paper off the ground and looks at it in despair.

'Kaiden Romano- just another entitled playboy.' - The headline read along with photos of his latest 'wild child' shenanigans.

"Did you ever stop to think about how this will affect the company's image? The stock price is already dropping."

"Dad please, I can't listen to any more of this. Do you honestly think this is the kind of person I want to be?" Kaiden's voice had a childlike innocence to it, much different to when he would command someone's attention and respect.

"Why don't you start telling me everything from the beginning?" Dante responded kindly, offering comfort to his son.

Kaiden explained everything to his father, only leaving out some of the more intimate details of his and Nova's relationship.

"Well that was your first mistake, I love Nikoli as if he was one of my own children but that boy has no idea what he's talking about. My biggest regret was not fighting for your mother when I had the chance and because of that I missed out on the first few months of your brother's life. You're a better man than I ever was, you don't need to back down from this fight."

Kaiden listened intently to his father's words but something kept playing on the back of his mind...

"How did you find out about Nova and I?"

"Your sister told us everything, she's really worried about you."

"Sure she is."

"Do I even want to know?" Dante picked up on the sarcasm in Kaiden's voice.

"It's nothing, she is the least of my concerns right now."

"Very well then, now do you want to hear my plan or not."

"I'm listening."

La Capannina

Johnny basked in the attention of whispers and shy glances as he and Nova- the most beautiful woman in the room walked hand in hand across the floor.

"What are you having to drink amore?"

"Dance with me Johnny." Nova begged, the high from earlier still running through her veins.

"Do I look like someone who dances?"

"Please." Nova places Johnny's hands on her hips before lightly swaying them.

"Nova, I need you to be a good girl and sit here quietly until my business associates arrive, then you can go and dance." He placed a kiss against her neck, causing both of their heartbeats to accelerate.

"Fine." Nova pouts, waving the bartender over before taking a seat next to Johnny.

"No, that's not close enough." Johnny orders the model to stand up and proceeds to pull her on top of him, in response Nova snaked an arm around his neck.

"Better?" She whispered in his ear.

Before answering, the sound of glass shattering interrupted their moment. Kaiden stood a few meters away from the pair, ready to shatter Johnny's neck just as he did the glass in his hand. Dante tried to urge his son not to do anything reckless but Kaiden was ready for war.

The sight of her former lover managed to snap Nova away from Johnny's grasp, both physically and emotionally but it might have already been too late.

Kaiden's p.o.v

I stood in watch, unnoticed as the girl I was clearly ready to fight for snuggled up in another man's arms. Maybe I had all this wrong, maybe she wasn't his prisoner- clearly she looked happy, maybe Jerome was right - she was sent to destroy us and fuck she almost did.

About to lose hope and walk away from the monstrosity in front of me, I saw Nova reach out, her face riddled in concern - she must have noticed the blood pouring from my hand. Johnny was quick to stop her, grabbing her arm and whispering something that had my star sitting down quietly not even daring to look my way.

The bastard then smiled at me, clearly enjoying my reaction.

"Today's not the day you win this war." My father advised me, knowing I was about to do something that could possibly get me killed.

"You're right father, but I need to get a moment alone with Nova." I say, wrapping a handkerchief around my bleeding hand.

"Well then, there's your chance." My father discreetly gestured towards Johnny who was sending Nova away with one of his men.

"I'll distract the guard, make this time count." His words rang in my head as I readied myself to steal her away.

"Kaiden, what the hell are you doing?" She greeted me in protest.

"Something I haven't done in far too long." I gripped each side of Nova's face and kissed her deeply, allowing all my emotions to be exchanged between us. The way she melted in my arms told me exactly what I needed to know - I could trust this woman with my life.

"What, now you miss me? You didn't seem to care when you were partying it up in Japan." God this woman looked so sexy when she was angry - I had a million things to say to her, apologies, excuses, sweet little lies, the truth but not enough time to utter them.

Nova pulled away from my embrace and left me longing for her touch, but that's when I noticed them - injection marks all over her skin.

"Fucking hell Nova, are you using again?" I shouted in urgency, watching as Johnny's goon made his way towards us.

"It's nothing, I have it under control." She murmured and I began to notice her slight tremble.

"Fuck, just hold on for me star - everything is going to be okay." I promised before leaving her and couldn't help but blame myself for the mess we were in.