LOGINAria’s POV I cried harder than I wanted to admit. Not because I thought Romano had chosen Valentina. Because for one terrible second… I believed he could. The thought hurt more than it should have. I sat curled against the headboard, wiping away another tear before anyone could see it. Unfortunately, someone had already knocked. “Aria.” Romano. I didn’t answer. Another knock followed. “Open the door.” “No.” Silence. “I know what you saw.” “So do I.” “You don’t.” His voice remained calm, which somehow irritated me even more. “I saw enough.” “You saw exactly what she wanted you to see.” I laughed bitterly. “Oh, that’s convenient.” “It happens to be true.” I stood and walked to the door, still refusing to open it. “Then explain it.” “I tried to move away.” “You were still standing there.” “I was.” “You let her touch you.” “I didn’t invite her to.” The conversation stalled. Finally, Romano sighed. “Aria… open the door.” Against my better judgment…I did. T
Aria’s POVI did not like her.The realization came exactly three seconds after meeting her.She was beautiful, annoyingly beautiful.Tall, elegant, effortless.The kind of woman who walked into a room and expected attention without asking for it.The worst part?She got it.Valentina Moreau stood beside Romano in the foyer as though she belonged there.As though she had always belonged there.As though she intended to continue belonging there.I folded my arms.Dante wisely took three steps backward.“You’ve gotten prettier,” Valentina said with a smile as she looked at Romano.Romano looked unimpressed.“You’ve gotten older.”I nearly choked and Dante coughed suspiciously.Valentina laughed as if Romano had told the funniest joke in the world.“I missed that.”“I didn’t.”The smile on her face faltered slightly.Good.Unfortunately, it recovered quickly.Then her attention shifted toward me, those sharp blue eyes studied me carefully.This time the smile looked different, more like
Romano’s POV The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was that I wasn’t in my room. The second thing I noticed was Aria. She was asleep beside me, curled beneath the blanket, her hair scattered across the pillow and half covering her face. Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, painting soft golden lines across the room. For a moment, I simply watched her, just her. She looked so peaceful and warm like her world wasn’t full of so many rocks. A strange calm settled inside my chest. I couldn’t remember the last time waking up had felt peaceful, I wasn’t waking up to my thoughts getting the best of me, or the fear of the unknown. I was just full of peace and calm, one that sets you on a pace that keeps you pushing. Aria is most definitely the change I needed in my life. She shifted slightly, burying her face deeper into the pillow. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, then her eyes opened, immediately narrowing at me, like she had heard my thoughts. “Wh
Romano’s POVThe moment I saw the license plate, I knew exactly who the car belonged to.Moretti, I called Dante into my office and I showed him the license plate. “What are the chances?” Dante asked.“Not a coincidence.”Nothing about tonight felt like a coincidence.The estate had been watched, an intruder had appeared, everything was weird, now a Moretti vehicle was parked in the same mansion that belonged to Aria’s family, it wasn’t adding up.I wasn’t interested in coincidences anymore.I was interested in answers.“Find him,” I said.Dante nodded.It took less than forty minutes.Luca wasn’t difficult to locate.He was sitting alone at a small roadside restaurant near the highway when our men found him.By the time Dante and I arrived, Luca looked thoroughly confused, then he saw me and immediately looked concerned.“Where’s Aria?”That was the first thing he asked.Not hello.Not why am I here.Where’s Aria.Dante folded his arms.“Interesting choice of opening.”Luca frowned.
Romano’s POV The estate had been searched three times. Every hallway. Every staircase. Every security blind spot. Nothing, we couldn’t find the intruder or a body and that just proved whatever it was, wasn’t the best. I stood inside the security room watching camera footage replay for the fourth time. The same section of wall, the same stretch of darkness, the same shadow moving briefly before disappearing and that could’ve been a guard. “Could’ve been a false trigger,” one of the guards said. “No.” The answer left my mouth immediately, because my instincts were rarely wrong and the siren proved someone had been here. The problem was that whoever it was had managed to enter Romano Ciel’s property and leave without being caught. That wasn’t luck, that was proper planning. Dante folded his arms beside me. “Maybe they wanted us distracted.” I looked at him. “From what?” Before he could answer, one of the security officers rushed into the room. His face was very pale, m
Aria’s POV I got the permission I needed to let out the moans, I couldn’t help it. Romano stopped then let me down. “Have you done this before?” “Yes with Luca, he was my first” I saw his jaw tightened as I mentioned Luca. “Do you want to?” I stared at him for a second then pulled his shirt to bring his lips closer to me and I kissed him. I could feel his smile in between. “The Romano I am in bed is not the same Romano you see daily” “Let’s see it then” “I’m very controlling and dominant Aria, if you can’t take it, say the stop word” “What is it.” “Stop” He said rolling his eyes, cocky even in the bedroom. “Okay” “Okay” He walked me to his bed, while standing at the edge of his bed he started taking his night shirt off, he looked so ripped, his abs, biceps, he looked like it was carved into his skin, I was almost drooling. I stared at him and began taking off my night gown too. “No Aria, I’ll do that for you.” He said it in the most sexy way I could ever imagine.
Aria’s POVThe footage was replayed for me to watch for the fourth time. The figure appeared near the Vale estate, paused briefly, then disappeared from view. No face. No name. No answers.Just another reminder that somebody was watching.Somebody had been watching for a long time.The security offi
Aria’s POVThe journal was gone, I searched my room twice before accepting it, then a third time because denial was easier than reality. I scattered every drawer, every shelf, even under the table, inside the wardrobe, the bathroom, nothing. The journal could not have vanished, it was stolen and t
Aria’s POVFor several seconds, I couldn’t breathe, the words stared back at me from the page.I Love My Aria My hands trembled so badly that the journal slipped from my fingers. The room suddenly felt smaller, colder and the air felt heavier somehow. Beside me, Romano reached for the journal on
Aria’s POVThe first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was smiling, the second is that I know is that I’m smiling because of Romano, which was annoying, very very annoying. I stared at the ceiling for several seconds before groaning and burying my face in a pillow, this was exactly why con







