ARIELLAWith all the medicine and the IVs and everything else.... I think they must have taken me under. Because when I opened my eyes again, it was the next day. Bright sunlight streamed through the thin hospital curtains, too clean, too real. I blinked against it, disoriented.For a moment, when I woke up, I thought I was still in the car with Alan, his gun pressed against my head, the threat alive and burning in his eyes. My chest seized, my throat closed up, and the scream ripped out of me before I could stop it.The sound echoed in the sterile room. A moment later, the door swung open and a nurse rushed in. Her face softened when she saw me, her voice gentle as she hurried to my side. She asked me how I was feeling, if I was okay. My voice shook when I tried to answer, but she didn’t push me.She adjusted the IV line, then leaned closer and asked if I would like some water. I croaked out a “yes,” and she helped me lift the cup, holding it steady until the cool liquid slid down my
ARIELLA"You think I won't kill her? You think I won't hesitate to kill her? You think that I will hesitate? Do you think I went through all of this without having a plan? I know what I'm doing, Asher, and I won't let you threaten me. You think because I'm not from the Mafia world that I'm afraid of you? You think.....?"Alan’s voice was sharp, vibrating with a fury that almost masked the tremor beneath it. His eyes burned with conviction, his finger twitching on the trigger as if he were desperate to prove himself.But Alan didn’t get to finish what he was thinking, what he thought Asher was thinking, because all of a sudden, before I could even blink, before anything else could happen, Asher raised his gun.It was so fast, so smooth, it felt like time had cracked open for a split second. And then....BAM.The sound exploded through the room, rattling my bones. My scream tore out of me, high and raw, because the gun had been pointed at me just a moment ago.For a fraction of a heartb
ARIELLA“Okay, just wait a minute.”Asher’s voice cut through the night. He seemed a lot closer than before, closer than he should have been when I opened my eyes.“So we’re going to kill her because what? Because she’s the reason all of this is happening?” he asked, his words sharp, “ But wait. I thought you said this was all about Dinara. Are you going to kill Dinara after this? Because what......she’s next? You're going to kill Dinara later?”The questions tumbled out of him in a rush. His tone was mocking, but it carried a cold kind of curiosity, the kind that made every word feel dangerous.“I could just pay you the money now.” Asher finished off.“Stop it!” Alan snapped, shoving the gun from my head. My breath caught as he raised it, but this time not towards me, he pointed it straight at Asher.“You think I’m an idiot? You think Alex trusted me, that I made him so much money, helped him hide it all for so long because I’m an idiot?” His voice cracked with fury, but his grip on
ARIELLAAlan laughs sadly, "And that's when… I found out about you, Asher. The resemblance hit me like a punch in the gut. I remember Leon, the way he moved, and I think to myself, what are the odds that Luka’s son would look exactly like you?You have always been like an enigma. Like that… like the devil, the one that’s always there, whispered about, but the person you have never seen, never met. Since I wasn’t involved in the mafia world, just like you pointed out, I wasn’t invited to Dinara's wedding. I wasn’t included in a lot of things because I was an outsider, like their most prized treasure... the woman I loved..."He smiled sadly as he continued, "I made them billions of dollars. But because I wasn’t born into their world, I could never really be part of it. I could never reach the same stature as you, as them. And that’s why I lost her, Dinara. And when I decided, you know what, fine, I’m going to find myself a normal woman… she’s not normal, is she? Because I found out who
ARIELLAAlan didn’t respond.“So why don’t we strike a deal?” Asher continued, his tone measured, but every word carried weight. “I’ve had enough bloodshed today, and I… I want a timeout. So, why don’t you tell me what you really want?" Asher stared at Alan intently, " I know you don’t want her. You didn’t go through all of this for her, did you? Just to kill her? You had a plan. What was the plan? Just tell me what you want, and I’ll let you go.”Alan laughed, shaking his head.“You really think I’m that stupid, Asher?” he snapped. “That I’m going to believe that? I’ll just tell you what you want, and you’ll just let me go? Not very likely.”He tightened his hold on me, and I winced a little.Asher’s smile didn’t falter. “Well, I see why Alex Volkov hired you.”Now my attention sharpened. Alex Volkov hired Alan?Alan turned his head for a moment, his eyes narrowing.“Yes,” Asher said, eyes flicking between Alan and me. “I know who you are. Alan. I’ve heard about you, but never real
ARIELLAWhen I woke up, every joint, every part of my body ached as if I’d been crushed in a hundred places at once. I groaned, trying to move, but a hand immediately clamped over my mouth. That same whisper came again, that word that made my stomach drop."Shhhh....!"I struggled to open my eyes, focusing slowly, painfully, trying to understand where I was. My hands were no longer tied. I realized I was sitting down, my weight leaning against a tree behind me. Tentatively, I touched the bark, confirming I wasn’t hallucinating. My surroundings were dense with trees, shadowed and silent. We were… in the forest?Before I could form the question, Alan’s face appeared in front of me.“Shut the hell up,” he whispered, sharp and deadly. “If you give them an inkling of our location, I will shoot you on the spot.”Panic tightened my chest as memories rushed back in a brutal wave, being taken from the house, the exchange, the gunfire, the crash. My mind scrambled, trying to piece together the