LOGINThe message came in just after midnight.I was alone in the study, the rest of the penthouse quiet. Nico and Matteo were both asleep down the hall. The bond hummed low and steady between us, soft enough that I could keep my walls up without them noticing the shift. My phone buzzed once on the desk. The secure channel from the small network I had been using for months. The one that never showed up on regular logs.I unlocked it and opened the file.There it was.The final piece.The kill order.Dante’s authorization, clear and dated. My father’s full name listed like he was just another item on a list. The language was careful but unmistakable. Instructions to make it look like an accident. Timing. Confirmation that the problem needed to be removed permanently. Dante’s digital signature at the bottom. Voss’s acknowledgment right under it.I held the phone in both hands and read it once.Then I read it a second time, slower.Then a third time, forcing myself to take in every word, every
The penthouse was quiet when Nico came home later than usual. Matteo had already left for the gym—maybe to clear his head after catching the edge of my anxiety through the bond, or maybe just giving us space. I was waiting in the bedroom, trying to anchor my thoughts, when Nico walked in. He still had his work shirt on with the sleeves rolled up, looking exhausted and razor-sharp all at once.He stopped in the doorway, eyeing me closely. “You’ve been quiet all evening.”“Just thinking,” I said softly.He crossed the room without another word, cupped my face in both hands, and kissed me. It started slow and deep, like he was trying to read everything I was keeping hidden. I kissed him back, and for the first time, I stopped calculating. I didn't measure the distance or weigh what this intimacy meant for the plan. I just focused on him...the warmth of his mouth, the gentle brush of his thumbs against my cheeks, and the low, rough sound he made when I gave in.The clothes came off in a h
I walked back into the penthouse with the folded paper still in my pocket and the full weight of Irina’s words sitting heavy in my chest. The place was quiet. Too quiet. I had hoped for a few minutes alone to breathe and put my face back into something normal, but Matteo was already there. He stood by the big windows in the living room, arms crossed loosely over his chest, watching the door like he had been waiting for a while. The second our eyes met I felt it through the bond... that cold, settled thing he had picked up on while I was gone. It was not sharp panic or hot anger. It was quieter than that. Heavier. Like something inside me had locked into place and he had felt the click from across the city. He didn’t smile. He didn’t move toward me right away. He just looked at me with that quiet, knowing expression that always saw more than I wanted anyone to see. “You’re back,” he said. His voice was calm, but there was a question underneath it. “Yeah.” I set my keys down on the s
I met her in a quiet café three neighborhoods away from the penthouse. Not one of the shiny places the family used for meetings or appearances. Just a small corner spot with scratched wooden tables, faded posters on the walls, and windows that looked out onto a narrow side street where almost no one walked by. I got there early on purpose and chose a table with my back to the wall so I could see the door. My coffee sat untouched in front of me, growing cold. My phone stayed face down on the table. No one knew I was here. Not Nico. Not Matteo. Not even Maria. The whole walk over I kept checking behind me without making it obvious. The document from the study still sat heavy in my chest. The four words Irina had sent still echoed in my head. Now I was about to sit across from the woman who had somehow reached me through a channel that should not have existed. My hands stayed steady on the table, but my pulse was faster than I wanted it to be. Irina walked in ten minutes later. She loo
The message came in the middle of the afternoon, when the penthouse was quiet again and I was alone in the living room with a half-finished cup of coffee that had already gone lukewarm.I had been sitting by the big windows for a while, trying to keep the morning’s perfect performance going even after Nico and Matteo left for their separate things. The document still sat heavy in my chest, solid and sharp, but I was breathing through it the same careful way I had all morning... steady, controlled, no cracks showing on the outside. My phone buzzed once on the cushion beside me. The soft vibration made me glance down without much interest at first. Mom sometimes texted around this time to check in. Jake would message if he needed something small or just wanted to complain about school. I picked it up expecting one of those ordinary, safe messages from the life I still tried to protect.It wasn’t either of them.The number wasn’t saved in my phone. It wasn’t one I recognized from anywher
I woke up before both of them and just lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling in the soft morning light. The document from yesterday sat heavy in my chest like a stone I couldn’t spit out no matter how hard I tried. Dante’s words. Voss’s reply. The date sitting four days before my dad died. The shape of everything was clear now, sharp and ugly, but I had decided last night that crying was for later. So I got up quietly, pulled on a soft t-shirt and some shorts, and went to make breakfast like it was any other normal morning in this penthouse. Maria was already in the kitchen when I got there, humming that old song she liked while flipping bacon in the pan. I smiled at her the way I always did and took over the eggs, cracking them one by one into the hot pan like my hands weren’t still remembering the way the laptop had clicked shut under my fingers. The smell of coffee filled the space, rich and familiar. I poured three mugs and set them carefully on the counter, then lean
Aurora's POV The dress is too tight. That’s the first thing I notice when I look in the mirror... how the white fabric clings to my breasts and hips like it was made to show everyone exactly what they bought. My hands won’t stop shaking. I press them flat against my thighs and suck in a breath th
AURORA'S POV The laptop showed up at six-fifteen. Some staff girl I didn’t know...not Maria, dropped it on the corner desk and bounced without saying shit. I waited till her footsteps disappeared down the hall before I moved. Brand new, still wrapped in that plastic sleeve. Top-of-the-line shit,
I woke up alone in the middle of the enormous bed, sheets tangled around my waist, morning light cutting cold and white through the floor-to-ceiling windows. My body ached. Not just a little soreness...deep, throbbing reminders between my legs, on my hips where fingers had gripped too hard, on my
Nobody moved for what felt like forever. Matteo kept walking toward us, slow and quiet, like he owned the air in the room. I stood there clutching the front of my half-undone dress, heart hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat. “Okay,” I managed, my voice shaking more than I wanted. “Some







