LOGINARIELLA "No," I said shaking my head. "I am not doing it anymore." "You barely started," Asher said. "I'm finished." "You ran for three minutes." "It felt like two years." Leon laughed so hard he nearly fell over. "Mom." "No." "Mom." "No. No, no." "You look and sound exactly like Leon wh
ASHER "I think... yeah. I mean, I guess someone who can help me deal with this. Give me ways to deal with this." Ariella explained herself. I tightened my hold on her hands. "I'm here." She looked at me. "Nobody deserves your thoughts. Nobody deserves your truth. Nobody deserves you more than
ASHER Ariella had the right connections to get whatever drugs she could pump into herself if she wanted to. She had the means to do it, and I wasn’t going to let her. “It’s gotta stop,” I told her point-blank without sugar coating it. She narrowed her eyes at me. “I know about your little alcoh
ASHER I stayed patient... or at least I tried. Finding out about the alcohol was the moment that really terrified me. Because Ariella wasn’t like that, she wasn’t reckless and she barely drank unless it was socially, and even then she never lost control of herself. But grief changes people. Loss
ASHER As soon as Leon disappeared, the room became quieter. I slipped my hands into my pockets. “How is he doing?” I asked. Sia’s face softened immediately. “He’s doing great,” she said honestly. “Just as he said himself. If he keeps progressing like this, I’ll contact the school so he can sit
ASHER Luca nodded once. I stood up slowly and walked toward the window overlooking the estate. "We can still pull Fabio in and make him spill everything the hard way." He said. “I want Fabio comfortable,” I responded. “I want him to believe we know nothing. The second he gets nervous, he’ll eith
ASHER “That’s not gonna work for me, I’m afraid,” I told her flatly. Her sobs grew louder, desperate, maybe for effect, maybe for real, but I didn’t care to measure the difference anymore. “I’m tired,” I added, dragging my words like I was done with every piece of her. “I want to go inside, take
ASHER I didn’t want to be here. It was the last place on the planet I wanted to be. These were the last people on Earth I wanted to spend the day....or the night, with. But here I was, sitting in a meeting with my men, the captains, and the leaders of my famiglia. It was necessary. I had to know w
ARIELLA Alan takes a step closer, his eyes darting around the room as if checking we’re truly alone. His hands are clenched slightly at his sides, and there’s a hardness in his jaw I haven’t seen before. “I… I don’t have much time,” he says, his voice low, urgent. “Something’s happening, Ariella..
ARIELLA I rub my temples, trying to push the ache away, but it only grows heavier, pressing against the sides of my skull like it’s trying to split me open. My breathing feels too loud in the silence. I don’t even know why I’m thinking about trusting Alan. Maybe because right now, he’s the only







