로그인Aurora POVI sit in the lecture hall with my notebook open and my pen resting uselessly between my fingers.The professor’s voice washes over me without meaning. Words drift past but my gaze keeps sliding to the window toward the outside world where everything that matters is happening without me.D
My chest tightens.“There you are,” he says as his gaze instantly finds me.“Here I am,” I smile as I cross the room to him, feeling drab in my school clothes next to him. “Where else would I be?”His hand comes to my waist like it belongs there—because it does. When he looks at me, the weight of ev
Aurora POV The hotel room smells faintly of oud and sandalwood, the most trendy and expensive perfume of the moment. This is the kind of place that knows it’s expensive and doesn’t let you forget it.I sit cross-legged on the edge of the bed in jeans and a sweatshirt, my dress hung carefully so it
Aurora POVThe coffeehouse smells like burnt espresso and pastries, like safety in the form of routine.I sit in my usual corner between classes, my back to the brick wall, the small round table pressed close enough that no one, not even my usual friends, can slide in uninvited. I am too distracted
Then she looks past Dominic and the body to the other older man standing waiting, his face full of resigned dignity so unlike what had been Francesco’s final moments.“Can Gianna’s father live?” she asks hoarsely, her soft voice barely reaching him across the empty space of the warehouse.The words
Aurora POVGianna is finally still.The pill I offered her dissolved beneath her tongue, and within minutes the sharp edges of her panic soften. Her lashes flutter as she slumps against the pillow, breath evening out, the fight draining from her limbs.I brush her hair back from her face with shakin
Dominic POVThe warehouse loomed ahead like a rotting carcass, its rust-stained walls and shattered windows a perfect setting for a back-alley deal.Dominic guided their black SUV down the cracked asphalt road, the tires crunching over broken pieces of rubble as they went. This wasn’t just a neutral
Aurora POVOh fuck.The walls are closing in.I need to do something to distract them, get them off my trail before they barge their way into this room and snoop around and find something that will absolutely get me into deeper shit than I already am with them.This is my one shot to get Gianna and
I’m pulled up from the ground and pressed against a hard chest. A heartbeat echoes against my ear, thumping loudly.“Fucking Christ, Aurora.” Dominic’s voice breaks against my hair.I don’t mean to, but a relieved sob escapes me.“You’re okay.” His voice grows gentler now. “You’re okay.”I let him h
Dominic POVDominic stirred awake to the faintest weight shifting against his side.For a moment, his instincts kept him still, eyes half-lidded and body heavy with sleep. Then his senses caught up, a familiar perfume and the soft brush of hair against his bare arm. There was a subtle chill of the m







