LOGINARIELLA Leon leaned closer, practically climbing onto him. “What is it, Daddy? Can I see it?” Asher finally blinked, like he was pulling himself back from somewhere far away. Slowly, carefully, he turned the object in his hand so the faint light could fall over it. It was small. A little wooden
ARIELLA Later that evening, Asher came back earlier than usual, about half an hour before dinner. The moment Leon saw him, he ran straight into his arms. “Daddy! Let’s go! You have to show me the secrets of the stump!” Asher blinked. “I told you to ask Sia. I don’t know any secrets.” “But Sia
ARIELLA My eyes instinctively moved around the table, searching. “Where is Maria?” The question slipped out more naturally than I expected. Not sharp, not loud. Just… there. Maria should have been at the table with Leon. She wasn't but Sia was, why? Sia’s smile didn’t falter, but it softened ju
ARIELLA The next day, Leon and Asher were up bright and early. They went through their morning routine and by the time I woke up, it was already around eight. I took a shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs, wondering why they still weren’t back. They had left at five in the dark of the morni
ARIELLA Her grip tightened slightly around the glass. “He’s the consigliere. His family is powerful. He is powerful. He’s going to marry someone powerful and fly in that circle. Why would he want me?” She let out a breath that sounded almost like a broken laugh. “He is a man that everyone in th
ARIELLA “What the hell is going on here?” Asher asked. Maria dropped the pillow immediately, Like she had just realised we were there. She stepped back quickly, wrapping her arms around herself, her eyes avoiding all of us. “Luca,” Asher said, his voice harder now. “What the hell is going on?”
His grip tightened. With each struggle, with each desperate attempt to push him away, his fingers pressed deeper into my throat. My lungs burned, my vision blurred, and I realized— I was going to die. Here. Like this. Beneath him. Panic seized me. I couldn’t die. I couldn’t. Leon—he needed me.
There was a way that Luca was treating the whole thing. If we were to put him into terms, we would say he was here to kidnap me. But can you even call it kidnapping if you're being forced into doing things? It was the way he was so sure of himself, so certain that I was going to do everything he s
"Then why are you wearing the police uniform? Why did you stop me?" The playful tone evaporated from Luca’s face as his face turned serious. He crouched down to my level, his eyes locking with mine. His voice dropped, low and serious. "Come on, Ari," he said, using the childhood nickname that onl
ARIELLA After getting dressed, I glanced once toward the bathroom door. The water was still running. For a brief second, I considered walking in, wrapping my arms around him again, just to reassure myself he was still here. But I didn’t. If I started doing that every time fear crept in, I would ne






