_Amelie’s POV_I didn’t speak as we walked back to the table.And neither did Luca.Our silence was… thick. Like, “you-just-licked-whipped-cream-off-each-other-and-now-you-have-to-face-your-family” kind of thick.Liana walked next to me, calm as a damn monk, not even commenting on what she just walked in on. She just kept sipping her coffee like she hadn’t just seen me half-naked on a kitchen counter.But I could see the smug look on her face from the corner of my eye. “I’m never looking at that countertop the same way again,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.I glared at her. “You swore you weren’t going to bring it up.”It was already embarrassing as it was, she didn't have to talk about it. “I’m not,” she said. “That wasn’t me bringing it up. That was me mentally preparing to burn my eyeballs.”I rolled my eyes as I walked past her, ignoring her snickers and Luca’s gaze burning into my back. We arrived back at the table, where Victor was already sipping his espresso
Amelie’s POVI didn’t move right away. Luca’s voice still rang in my ears. “Follow me.”“Why?” I asked as I watched him walk away. Who did he think he was to order me around and expect me to follow?“Don’t make me repeat myself,” he warned, not even looking back as he walked away, but his shoulders were tense, stiff, like he was barely keeping himself in check. And yet, I followed. because I was curious. Because I was stupid. Because part of me wanted to know what the hell that look in his eyes meant.The kitchen was empty when I stepped inside. Cold sunlight spilled across the marble countertops. Coffee still steamed in a half-full cup on the island. Someone had been here recently—but now, it was just me and Luca.I opened my mouth to ask what the hell was going on, but before a single word could escape, he turned and slammed the door shut behind me.I jumped at the sound.“Luca—”And then he kissed me.Hard. Hot. Desperate.I wasn’t expecting it.His mouth crashed into mine like
_Amelie’s POV_An alarm rang off for what seemed like the tenth time in a few minutes and I let out a pained groan, searching for the cursed piece of metal.“Who set this frigging thing?” I moaned into my pillow, my hand smacking against the table as I tried to put it off. I blindly flung my hand in different directions, and each passing second felt like an hour in hell as the alarm blared loudly. My hand smacked the bedside table, knocking over what was probably a very expensive lamp. Still no alarm clockInstead of an alarm clock, my fingers collided with something warm and moving. What the— I immediately pushed off the bed, rolling off the edge. I let out a groan when my head collided with the floor, eyes wide as my eyes frantically searched for what the heck I had just touched. My eyes met a pair of familiar ones, staring down at me with a brow up.“What are you doing here?” I hissed at Luca, my earlier fear gone and replaced by something else entirely.“Your alarm kept ring
Amelie’s POVI woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and a suspiciously uncomfortable position that screamed, “You fell asleep like a dead body.” And I felt like one. My sheets were wrapped around me like I’d fought off a demon in my sleep. Or maybe just guilt. Hard to say.I kicked them off dramatically—like the main character I clearly was—and sat up.Why had I woken up in the first place? Did I need to pee?Nope. Someone trying to kill me?I looked around the room to be met with emptiness.Nope. Oh right. My throat felt like I’d swallowed a bag of sand. Dry. Scratchy. Possibly cursed.I needed water.I slipped out of bed, tiptoeing past the fancy wardrobe that held more secrets than actual clothing. The mansion was dead quiet. Which, in this house, didn’t mean safe. It meant the monsters were resting.I stepped into the hallway like a burglar, trying to remember where the hell the kitchen was. Left? Right? Straight? Through the Room of Eternal Suspicion? Past th
_Amelie’s POV_I stayed standing, staring at the triplets as I waited for them to speak.The room was too quiet. The triplets each looked like they wanted to say something, but no one knew who to start.Matteo finally moved first, dropping onto a long leather couch with all the grace of a prince who’d fought a war and won. Luca stayed standing near the door, watching everyone—me most of all. And Nico… he didn’t move either.Of course, he didn’t.He just watched. Like he always did. Like he was trying to decide if I was something to study or something to extinguish.I crossed my arms.They weren’t going to speak first. I could tell.“Where do I sleep?” I asked, finally.Because someone had to say something. Luca nodded once at one of the guards lingering outside the room. A silent gesture. Orders passed with barely a blink.“There’s a guest wing,” he said. “East side. Away from the offices.”“Translation,” I said flatly, “keep the crazy girl far from important things.”It wasn’t hard
Amelie’s POVI froze.Not from fear.But from memory.For some reason, I had remembered the time I had burnt them.The match had been so small. The ash, weightless. I’d watched it catch with a whisper, a flicker—and then everything went red. My hands had trembled. My lungs had filled with smoke before I even realized I’d done it.I didn’t speak. Couldn’t.I walked forward instead, each step heavy like I was dragging something behind me. Like part of me had been left back in the fire all those years ago and was still burning.None of them said anything as they followed. Not Nico, not Luca, not Matteo.For once, the monsters stayed quiet.There was a car waiting for us at a point.We drove through the tarmac, past the silent guards, and toward the estate that now rose in the distance like some kind of stone tomb.It was massive. Cold. Modern European, the kind that screamed wealth and menace in equal measure. I didn’t need to be told this place had cameras on every wall and blood in its