Novels by Zaphyra

I could have signed the Valdés merger weeks ago.It's a clean deal. Fair numbers, a partner I've trusted for fifteen years. Matteo knows it, Valdés knows it, and every lawyer in that boardroom knew it. For weeks I gave them reasons to wait. I had reasons, good ones, and I'm not saying them out loud.At five this morning, one of them stopped mattering.The car is quiet now. Matteo drives and is smart enough not to speak until I do. Outside the glass, the building shrinks in the mirror, and somewhere above those floors Valdés is probably still standing at a window, looking at the door I walked through.Fifteen years, and to his face he is Mr. Valdés and I am Mr. Vieri. The distance keeps us both safe. There are things the two of us agreed never to say out loud, and a first name is where saying them would begin.His daughter got mine in twenty minutes.I noticed the concealer before I noticed anything else.She had done it well. Three layers, I'd guess, blended to the jaw, the kind of wo

"Cancel all of it."That's the only instruction I give Kim, my secretary, when I get to the office. Caterer, florist, venue, dress. No explanation needed. No eye contact.She stares at me like I just asked her to kill Santa, then nods and walks off with her phone already at her ear.I've barely sat down when my dad knocks on my open door. He's in the navy suit, the one that says serious business, and he's holding two coffees like a peace offering."Morning, baby."He hands me one of the cups."You're bringing me coffee now. Maybe I should call off weddings more often," I joke.He laughs, his own cup stopping halfway to his mouth."Too soon?"He nods. "Too soon.""The Vieri merger closes today."Now it's my turn for my coffee to stop halfway."Today? Really? After weeks of 'we'll circle back,' today?""They called at six this morning. Signing is at ten." He rubs his jaw. "Alessandro is coming himself."I put the cup down. Alessandro Vieri doesn't come to signings. His lawyers do. His l

A knock comes, breaking the tension and silence that had brewed in the office.My dad turns toward the sound of the knock. His expression is one of anger and... something else, I can't quite place. He walks out of the office without saying a word, and I can feel that this isn't about to be a completely civil conversation.Vivienne follows, and I'm right behind her. Someone needs to anchor my dad. Maybe more than one person.As we all head downstairs, our footsteps echo one after the other on the grandiose staircase carpet.I hear the door open just before I reach the bottom of the stairs. I don't go straight to the door. I stay back, not because I'm scared, but because I can't look at Leandro without wanting to punch his face in."What are you doing here?" my dad asks, his tone short, cold."Mr. Valdés, I need to speak with Ariadna," Leandro answers, almost like he's scared, his eyes wandering behind my father to where I'm standing. He tries to come closer."You don't get to ask for a

I don't even know how I managed to get to the estate. I remember running at least two red lights I shouldn't have, and drivers honking and cursing at me as I cut across lanes without checking. My hands won't stop shaking on the wheel the entire drive.I pull up the long empty driveway, gravel crunching under the tires, and sit there for a second just staring at the house. Lights on in the foyer. Lights on upstairs. Normal. Untouched. Like my whole world hasn't just ended forty minutes ago.I get out of the car, my eyes scanning the front of the house on instinct, checking for staff. I don't want an audience for this. Whatever is about to come out of me, I need it to happen somewhere where word doesn't get around to anyone about how badly Ariadna Valdés fell apart tonight.The front doors are already open.I step into the entryway, and for a moment it swallows me the way it always does, marble floors polished enough to reflect the chandelier above, the ceiling stretching two stories up

"Leandro, what the fuck?!"My voice cracks embarrassingly on the last word.He shoots up like he's been electrocuted, dragging the sheets with him. It would've been funny in another life.Not mine.Camila doesn't move fast enough. She moves like she has time, like she's searching for an explanation somewhere that could possibly exist."What the fuck is going on?" I demand. "Are you both dumb now? Can't speak?"My eyes land on Camila."Camila?! My wedding is in three weeks. Three weeks!""Ari," Leandro starts."Don't."I put my hand up before Leandro can finish. I don't want to hear my name in his filthy mouth."Don't you even dare."Camila finally moves, dragging the sheets to her chest. There's something insulting about the delay. My presence hadn't been important enough for her to cover herself until now.She has always been the fast one. Always had something to say.But now, watching her fumble for words in bed with my fiancé feels like watching something break that I didn't know c