Novels by ikeh Chimzaram

POV: AriaPain was the first thing I felt. A dull, persistent ache that radiated through my entire body, like I had been hit by a truck and left on the side of the road to die. The second thing was thirst. My mouth felt like sand, my throat raw.I tried to open my eyes, but even my eyelids felt heavy. When I finally managed it, the harsh light made me wince. I blinked several times, waiting for the world to come into focus. White ceiling. Sterile smell. The steady beep of machines.I turned my head slowly, every movement an effort, and froze.Luca sat slumped in a chair beside my bed, his head tilted at an uncomfortable angle, fast asleep. He looked terrible. His shirt was wrinkled and stained, his usually perfect hair was a mess, and dark circles shadowed his eyes. Stubble covered his jaw, at least two days' worth.He looked human. Vulnerable. Broken. I had never seen him like this. My movement must have made a sound because his eyes snapped open immediately, alert despite his exhaus

POV: LucaThe defibrillator shock brought her back. One moment the monitor screamed its flat note of death, the next Aria's body arched off the table and her heart kicked back into rhythm. Weak, irregular, but beating.I stood there, hands still pressed to her chest, breathing hard, sweat dripping down my face."She's back," Dr. Russo said, checking the monitors. "But barely. Mr. Moretti, without that antidote, we'll be doing this again. And next time, we might not be so lucky."I looked down at Aria's pale face, at the blue tinge still lingering around her lips. Her chest rose and fell in shallow movements, each breath a battle."How long?" My voice came out rough."Twelve hours. Maybe less. Each episode weakens her more."I pulled out my phone and checked the time. The Russo compound was four hours away. That gave me time, but not much."Keep her alive," I told Dr. Russo. "Whatever it takes.""Where are you going?""To make a deal with the devil."+++±++++The drive to the Russo est

POV: LucaThe world narrowed to a single point: Aria's pale face, her lips turning blue, her chest barely moving."Get Dr. Russo on the phone. Now!" I barked at Marco, already lifting Aria into my arms. She weighed nothing, a fragile thing I had caged and broken. "And get the car ready.""Boss, a hospital would be faster," Marco said, his hand already on his phone."No hospitals." I started moving toward the stairs, my arms tight around her limp body. "Too many questions. Too many enemies. Dr. Russo meets us at the mansion."Elena appeared at the top of the stairs, her hand flying to her mouth when she saw Aria. "Dio mio, what happened?""Isabella poisoned her." The words tasted like acid. "Clear the medical room. Everything sterile. Move!"I had built an empire on control, on calculated moves and cold decisions. But control meant nothing when the woman in my arms was dying because of my choices. Because I had brought Isabella into our lives. Because I had been too blind to see the da

POV: AriaI heard the door open and my whole body tensed. He was back. Luca was back, and this time he'd made his decision. This time he'd do whatever he came here to do.I pressed myself harder against the wall, even though I knew it was pointless. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. I was trapped in this stone box with a man who thought I'd betrayed him.But the footsteps that descended the stairs were too light. Too quick.Isabella.She appeared in the doorway, and the smile on her face made my blood freeze. In her hand was a gun, small and silver, pointed directly at me."Hello, Aria," she said sweetly. "Miss me?"I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. This was it. She'd finally come to make good on her threats."Nothing to say? That's unusual for you. You've been so vocal lately. Throwing champagne. Making accusations." She moved closer, the gun never wavering. "But now, when it really matters, you're silent.""Isabella, don't." I barely recognized my own voice. "Please.""Pl

POV: LucaI stood at the window of my office, staring out at nothing, my reflection ghosting in the glass. Behind me, I could hear Isabella pouring herself another drink, the clink of crystal against crystal filling the silence."You did the right thing," she said.I didn't respond. Couldn't. Because I wasn't sure anymore what the right thing was.The room below. I'd sent Aria to the room below. That place where traitors were taken. Where enemies were broken. Where I'd personally interrogated men who'd betrayed my family, who'd stolen from us, who'd tried to kill us. Few of them had walked out. And now Aria was down there. Waiting. Terrified.My wife.The girl in the yellow dress.The woman I'd obsessed over for fifteen years."You're having second thoughts," Isabella observed. "I can see it on your face.""I'm thinking.""About what? About whether the evidence is real? We both saw the footage, Luca. We both know what she did."I closed my eyes, replayed the security footage in my min

POV: AriaI stared at the needle mark on my arm, my mind racing through possibilities, each one worse than the last. What had they given me? How long had I been out? What had happened while I was unconscious?I paced the room, trying to force my brain to remember, to find some fragment of memory from those missing hours. But there was nothing. Just a black hole where time should have been.Think, Aria. Think.I checked my clothes again. The same dress I'd been wearing when Isabella visited. But wait. There was something on the hem. Dirt. Fresh dirt, like I'd been walking outside.But I hadn't been outside. I'd been in my room. Locked in.I moved to the closet, searching for anything out of place. That's when I saw them. A pair of shoes I'd never seen before. Black flats, caked with mud. And next to them, a jacket. Dark blue. Not mine.My hands shook as I picked up the jacket. It smelled like perfume. Not mine. Something heavier, more floral.Isabella's perfume. I dropped it like it bu