LOGINAria POVThe door closes. I don’t hear it. Not really. It’s like the sound happens somewhere far away, underwater.My room. My bed. My hoodie. His hoodie. I’m still wearing it. I should take it off. I can’t make my arms move.9:31am. He walked in with her hand in his. 9:35am. She kissed his cheek. And he let her._Is it real?_ _Of course it’s real._My phone is on the nightstand. It’s buzzing. Marco. Nico. Probably all of them. _are you okay_ _come with us_ _don’t stay there_ I don’t pick it up.The walls feel too close. The air feels too thin. I sit on the edge of the bed because if I don’t, I’ll fall.Two days ago he was here. In this room. He’d pulled me into him and said _I’m not letting anyone hurt you._ He’d taken off this hoodie and given it to me when I was cold. He’d looked at me like I was the only thing in the room.Today he looked at me like I was a stranger. And then he said nothing.That’s what hurts. Not the kiss. Not her arm in his. The nothing. He chose silence. He ch
Luca POVThe door to Vale Tower closes behind us and the air dies. It’s quiet. Too quiet. Like the whole apartment heard us come in and decided to hold its breath.Victoria’s hand is still in mine. Warm. Deliberate. She squeezes once. _Remember._ I don’t look at her. I can’t. Because standing in the middle of the living room is Marco. He’s in sweats. Hair a mess. Like he hasn’t slept. His jaw is tight. His fists are at his sides. And his eyes are locked on our hands.Behind him, on the couch: Aria. She’s wearing my hoodie from two nights ago. The one I left here. Her hair is down. Her face is bare. She looks up when we walk in. And freezes.Nico is by the window. Enzo is leaning against the kitchen counter. Dante is sitting on the floor, phone in his hand. All of them. All of them staring.6:07am I was running. 9:31am I’m standing in their home with my wife.“Luca,” Marco says. Just my name. Flat. Dangerous.Victoria steps forward before I can. She lets go of my hand. And then she sli
Luca POV6:07am. Outside. Running.Cold air. Empty streets. I’m three miles in and my chest still feels like it’s caving.Victoria took the hair tie. Said _I own you now._ Said _act like it if you want her alive._I nodded. Because that’s what you do when they have a gun to her head.My phone is in my pocket buzzing. I don’t check it.At 6:02am I was in the guest room of my dad’s penthouse with her standing over me. At 6:10am I was out the door. At 6:07am I’m running because if I stop I’ll run straight to Vale Tower. To Aria.I can’t.My watch buzzes. 6:09am. I’m turning onto the last block before Moretti Tower when I hear it.Glass breaking. Shouting. Tires screeching.I stop. Look up.Black SUVs. Not ours. Men in masks. The front doors of my dad’s building are already busted open.Moretti Tower. My last name is on that building.My phone rings. Unknown number. I answer.“Mr. Moretti?”“Who is this.”“Security. We’ve got a breach. 43rd floor. Your father’s gone. Mrs. Moretti is insid
Victoria POVI don’t sleep in other people’s houses.Especially not when the husband I married yesterday is sleeping on the floor in the guest room with a hair tie on his wrist.6:02am. Caruso Penthouse.I woke up at 5:30 in the master bedroom. Alone. The bed was cold. The house was quiet. Too quiet.I checked the guest room at 5:45. The door was closed. The light was off. I heard nothing. No breathing. No movement. That’s when I knew. Luca doesn’t do quiet. Luca does control. Luca does anger. Luca does 3am phone calls.I went to the kitchen and made coffee I won’t drink. Then I scrolled my own posts. _Chapter 1 #MrsMoretti. I posted all night and tagged him in all of them. He didn’t like any of them.At 5:58am I checked his phone location. Still here. Still in the guest room.So I went back. Knocked once. No answer. I opened the door.He was on the floor with his back against the wall. Phone in his hand. Eyes closed. Hair tie on his wrist. He looked wrecked. Good.“Luca.”He jerked a
Luca POV 3:14am. Caruso Penthouse. Guest room. I’m not in bed. I’m on the floor with my back against the wall. Suit jacket off. Shirt still on. The city is quiet from up here. Too quiet. Victoria went to bed at 11. Master bedroom. Door closed. She didn’t try to come in here. Probably because she knows I wouldn’t let her. My phone is on the floor next to me. 89 notifications. I haven’t read any of them. Except one. 11:49pm. _Marco: you alive?_ Delivered. I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Because if I answered him I’d have to say it out loud. I chose her. I chose Aria. And it still feels like I lost her. 6:14am keeps replaying. _“Or that girl dies.”_ I signed the paper at 9:03am. I let Victoria kiss my cheek at 1:17pm. I came home to this white room at 1:31pm. And now it’s 3:14am and I can’t breathe. I pick up the hair tie from the nightstand. Black. Small. I wrap it around my wrist. It’s too tight. Everything is too tight. On TV, muted, they’re still running the wedding ph
Macro POVThe house is too quiet.It’s 11:47pm in Vale Tower and I’m sitting on the floor of my room with my back against the bed. There’s an unopened bottle of water next to me. I haven’t had anything to drink since 6pm.Isabella went home at 9. Nico, Enzo, and Dante went to their rooms an hour ago. No one said goodnight. Because what is there to say?I keep seeing it on loop. 1pm. The press conference. Luca standing next to Victoria in that black suit, saying _no comment_ while cameras flashed in his face. Then Victoria leaning in and kissing his cheek like she owned him. By 1:18pm the photo was already up with the caption _Chapter 1 #MrsMoretti_.My phone buzzes on the floor beside me. I don’t look. It’s probably her. Victoria’s been texting all of us from unknown numbers all night. I saw Enzo block her at 11:55 when I walked past his room. The notification popped up and then disappeared.I should sleep. I can’t.At 10pm I checked on Aria. She wasn’t in her room. She was on the cou







