LOGINIsla’s POVBANG.The gun fired. Zayne jerked violently backward, the force spinning him half-around, his grip on me tearing away as he stumbled. Pain cracked across his face—real, sharp, uncontrolled.“ZAYNE!” I screamed again, sprinting toward him.His hand clutched his shoulder, blood seeping between his fingers, his dark shirt quickly became saturated with blood. He staggered, knees buckling—And I caught him before he hit the ground.“Stay with me,” I whispered, voice trembling.His breath left him in a sharp groan. “Fuck—Isla—get down—”But another burst of gunfire erupted, too close, too loud. We dove behind a walkway pillar just as bullets ripped through the vines overhead.My heart felt like it was breaking through my chest. Zayne’s body was heavy against mine, warm, trembling, and wounded.I pressed my hand over his. “It’s okay, it’s okay—just stay with me—”His eyes snapped to mine, wild with pain and something else. Fear. But not for himself.“For once,” he hissed through c
Isla’s POVAurora’s warning kept replaying in my head long after she disappeared into the crowd.Be ready. Ready for what? Ready for who?The wedding hall suddenly felt too loud, too bright, too full of people I didn’t trust. I forced my breathing to slow, but my pulse was sprinting ahead of me. I went back inside, scanning the hall again, searching for Zayne among the polished suits and glittering dresses.Nothing. Just a blur of faces and a rising pressure beneath my ribs.I needed him. Not because of Aurora’s cryptic warning.Because something in my body was screaming at me—find him now.I pushed through a cluster of laughing women, stepped past Nico and Teo without stopping. I didn’t care if I looked rude. My mind was fixed forward, pounding through the noise.I slipped out of the front hall doors and into the dim corridor, heels clicking fast against marble. The silence out here was deafening compared to the hall.“Zayne…” I murmured, tasting his name like a compass.The corridor
Isla’s POVI stepped into the hallway, the soft glow of the chandeliers above catching the shimmer of Sienna’s dress as she walked behind me. Music swelled, a smooth, luxurious undertone that tried to mask the tension coiling in my chest. The sound of clinking cutlery and polite chatter floated past, but I barely noticed. My eyes scanned the edges of the room, my mind entirely fixed on one person—Zayne.Through the throng of guests, I spotted Sienna, graceful and radiant, moving back into the room as if nothing had happened. Her smile was tight, professional, but her eyes flicked toward me for a moment. A quiet signal, a reassurance. I nodded subtly and moved on, ignoring the music, the laughter, the lights.Rico and Teo were engaged in conversation near one of the buffet tables. I moved past them quickly, head down, searching. My pulse quickened as I calculated every possibility, every angle. The chaos of earlier—the sniper, the hitman, Silas, Isabella still lingered in my thoughts.
Isla’s POVThe door clicked shut behind Zayne, and the silence he left behind felt louder than the argument itself.For a moment, Sienna just stood there—still in her wedding gown, fists trembling at her sides, chest rising and falling like she’d sprinted a mile. Her eyes were glossy with something she’d never admit to feeling.I swallowed, stepping closer.“Sienna,” I said softly.“No,” she breathed, shaking her head hard. “Don’t. Don’t tell me I was wrong. Don’t tell me I shouldn’t have said anything. Don’t turn on me too.”Her voice cracked on the last word. God.They were both hurting, but she… she looked breakable.I reached out and gently touched her arm. “I’m not turning on you. I’m here. I’ve always been here.”Her breathing slowed for a second, but her shoulders stayed stiff.“But you need to calm down,” I continued. “At least long enough to see what’s actually going on.”Sienna blinked at me, tears hovering but refusing to fall.“Zayne isn’t okay,” I said.That made her flin
Isla’s POVSienna’s face didn’t match the soft romantic glow of a newly married bride. It was thunderous.Sharp, vibrating, ready to split the walls of the hall open.She stood stiffly for exactly three seconds after the photographer dismissed us. Then she leaned to Vincenzo, whispered something I didn’t catch, and turned sharply toward me.Her eyes locked on mine. A signal: Come.Before I could process anything, her fingers wrapped around my wrist with familiar urgency, and she pulled—hard. With her other hand, she grabbed Zayne by the sleeve.“Move,” she hissed at him.Zayne blinked, clearly annoyed but following anyway. Rico cast me a worried look, but I mouthed, I’m fine. Even though I wasn’t sure I was.The three of us slipped out of the hall, past the murmuring guests and the humming lights, down a quieter corridor with polished marble floors and framed portraits. The moment Sienna found an empty side room, she pushed the door open and stormed in.“Inside,” she snapped.Zayne wa
Isla’s POVEvery instinct in my body screamed to look again, to wait, to see. But the fear—The fear that something might’ve already happened to Sienna burned through me stronger than curiosity ever could. I couldn’t waste another second staring into the dark when someone’s life might still be at risk.I spun around and bolted inside.The hallway swallowed me again, warm light replacing the cold air outside. My breath came in ragged bursts as I pushed through the double doors and reentered the main hall.And instantly, my heart slowed. Just slightly. Everything was still intact.The decorations untouched. Guests laughing, dancing, and drinking.Music still humming faintly under the chaos buzzing in my chest. Nothing was destroyed. Nothing was disrupted. And—thank God—no screaming.But Zayne—Still nowhere.My eyes scanned the hall desperately while my brain spun. My pulse throbbed against my ribs. Every face I saw wasn’t the one I needed. Every second felt like another chance lost.A
Isla’s POVMy phone screen had gone dark for the third time. I stared down at the screen again, thumb hovering where her name glowed faintly.We’re almost there, I had texted her earlier.Seen. No reply.I tossed the phone back in my clutch and exhaled slowly as I leaned back into the seat, watchin
Isla’s POVThe evening air flowed against my feet as I hurried down the stairs, heart hammering like a warning drum. I had overslept, of course—classic me—and now I was late for Sienna’s wedding. Rico was waiting by the sleek black car, his posture sharp, eyes scanning the surroundings like a preda
IslaTHE NEXT DAY~D-DAYThe house feels like it’s breathing. In and out.Voices echo down the hallway, doors opening and closing, the fast rhythm of preparations filling every corner of the estate. Makeup artists arrived an hour ago. Dress bags line the corridor like silent sentinels. The scent of
Isla’s POVIn the evening…..The house was loud.Not loud in the way parties were loud, but in the way families got when they tried too hard to act normal. Silverware clinked too often. Chairs scraped. Too many voices overlapped in the dining room, all of it forced into cheerfulness like it could e







