Sexting the Ruthless Don

3

Azeelia Cole

The red string on my wall map traced a path straight into the heart of the city’s darkness.

I spent the entire morning digging through archived public records and underground business registries. Gabriel Marchetti was a phantom in official documents, but his shadow was everywhere. Ports, high-end real estate, logistics firms, private security—he controlled them all through shell companies. The press whispered about his ruthless punishments, his deep political connections, and the terrifyingly long list of enemies who had simply ceased to exist.

Then I found the ledger entry that made my breath hitch.

Six months before he died, Ethan had visited a commercial property in the industrial district three times. The property belonged to a logistics company directly tied to Marchetti’s umbrella firm. Ethan was an auditor, but that building had no public financial records.

He had been there. He had seen something. And Gabriel Marchetti was the head of the house.

This wasn't just a hunch anymore. Gabriel knew what happened to Ethan. He had to.

My phone chimed on the desk, the distinctive sound of the encrypted app cutting through the quiet room. My heart did a sudden, traitorous flip.

Viper_00: You’re quiet tonight, Scarlet. Did I scare you off?

He messaged me first. I took a deep breath, forcing my hands to stop shaking. I needed him hooked. I needed him to drop his guard, to get emotionally invested until he trusted Scarlet enough to let slip something real about his business.

Scarlet: Scared? Hardly. I was just wondering if you were as dangerous as everyone says.

Viper_00: Dangerous is a matter of perspective. To my enemies, yes. To a woman who knows how to ask nicely... I can be quite accommodating.

I leaned back against my chair, typing deliberately.

Scarlet: Is that so? What if I like a man who takes control? What if I don't want to ask nicely?

Viper_00: Then you had better be prepared for the consequences of handing over the reins. Tell me, Scarlet... what drives a woman like you to seek out a villain in the dark? Is it excitement? Or are you running from something?

I froze. He was turning the game back on me, twisting the dynamic so smoothly I barely noticed the shift.

Scarlet: I don't run. I just look for things that feel real.

Viper_00: Real pain makes people seek real distraction. Who did you lose, little shadow?

My throat tightened. The casual accuracy of his words struck a raw nerve. I stared at the blinking cursor, my fingers hovering. I was supposed to lie. Scarlet was a fictional persona, a mask made of smooth silk and clever flirting. But for a split second, the heavy weight of the past three years pressed down on my chest so hard I couldn't breathe.

Scarlet: Someone who mattered. Someone who was taken before his time.

The silence from his end stretched for almost a minute. When the green light flashed again, his response wasn't smooth or teasing. It was strangely grounded.

Viper_00: Grief is a heavy burden to carry alone. It makes people search for villains even when they do not know the whole truth.

My heart stopped. Cold sweat broke out across the back of my neck.

...even when they do not know the whole truth.

Did he know? Was he dropping a hint? Was this his way of telling me he knew exactly who was sitting on the other side of this screen? My hands shook so violently I could barely hold the phone. I read the line three times, searching for hidden threats, but the text sat there, calm and deliberate.

I forced myself to type, trying to keep Scarlet's voice intact.

Scarlet: Sometimes the villain is just a villain, Gabriel.

Viper_00: Sometimes. But people only see what they want to see when they are bleeding.

He was playing with me, shifting effortlessly between dark philosophy and heavy, intimate quiet. And as the night wore on, the tension between us turned hot and thick.

Viper_00: You talk a brave game, Scarlet. But if you were in this room with me right now, I think you'd be trembling.

Scarlet: Trembling from fear? Or from your hands on me?

Viper_00: Both. I wouldn't be gentle with a woman who plays with fire.

Scarlet: I didn't ask for gentle.

A sudden flush of heat rushed through my skin, making my ears ring. I stared at my own message in sudden horror. I wasn't acting anymore. My pulse was racing, my chest rising and falling heavily as I waited for his reply. The flirtation had stopped being a calculated tactic and had turned into something dark, addicting, and real.

I was getting attracted to him.

I pulled my hands away from the keyboard, staring at the screen in absolute shock. He killed your brother, I reminded myself fiercely, biting down on my lip until it hurt. He is a mob boss. He is a murderer.

Yet, as I sat alone in the dark room, the thrill of his words felt like a drug. He was the only person in months who made me feel alive, even if it was built on a web of deadly lies.

The phone buzzed in my palm one last time.

Viper_00: Would you still want me if you knew exactly what kind of man I am?