MasukAurora 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
Aurora POVThe room is too cold.Not physically, I’m actually sweating through my shirt, but the atmosphere freezes the air in my lungs. I sit stiffly at the end of the long table, eyes darting between the men surrounding Alek and me—his inner circle.His monsters.They look like soldiers who never
Dominic POVThey stared at each other for a long, stretched moment. The hallway outside the hotel room was silent, save for the dull hum of the distant elevator and the muted shuffle of guests several floors down.As Dominic roamed his eyes over his second’s posture, he noticed the wrinkles in his u
Aurora POVInside the bathroom, I twist the shower handle and let the water thunder against the tile. It’s hot and loud but that’s the point. I slide the lock into place even though it won’t do much against a bratva soldier if they decide to barge in with force. At least it’ll give me time to hide t
None of that could be confused as self-serving. Deep down, he’d done all of that in order to keep her safe.His father’s death relieved her of her mission to help him, yet he’d convinced her to marry him anyway. Not for some grand master plan, but because he wanted to keep her close.He wanted her a







