ログインALESSANDRO I watched her back as she hurried down the dimly lit corridor of the basement. When I reached for her, my hands hovered near her shoulders to steady her. I noticed her flinching. It was a small movement, almost imperceptible, but it hit me like a punch to the chest."Cara mia, what did she say? Whatever lies she spat at you, you have to know–""I’m tired, Alessandro," she cut my words off without looking at me. Her gaze was fixed on the stone floor and her fingers were twisting the silk of her robe. "I just... I need to sleep. It’s too much."I opened my mouth to demand the truth, to explain that Airra was a master of manipulation who would use her own suffering as a weapon. But the wall Sierra had built in the last five minutes was higher and thicker than the one she tried to climb in the garden."Sierra, talk to me," I pleaded, reaching out for her hand again.But she moved her hands away. "Not tonight,"She walked past me, ascending the stairs without a backward gl
SIERRAThe air grew colder with every step as I headed down with Alessandro. Every time I glanced back, he was there, his silhouette tall and imposing on the narrow stairs. His eyes were fixed on me, dark with a protective fury he was clearly struggling to contain. I saw his hand twitch toward me, wanting to reach out and steady me as I stumbled on a slick step, but he held back. He was honoring my request, even if it was killing him.When we reached the bottom, he gestured toward a steel door at the end of the corridor."I’ll be right here," he said, almost a gravelly warning. "One scream, Sierra. Just one, and I’m coming through that door."I nodded, as my throat was too tight to speak. I felt a desperate urge to turn back and bury my face in his chest, to let him carry me back upstairs and hide me from the truth. But I couldn't live in a cage of amnesia anymore.I took a deep breath and stepped toward the door. I could feel Alessandro watching my back intently. I stopped at t
SIERRAThe hallway was dark and silent, illuminated only by the pale glow of the moon bleeding through the high arched windows. I held my breath and my heart thumped inside me as I crept past Alessandro’s bedroom door.But I stopped. My hand trembled as I gripped the handle. I told myself I was checking to see if the coast was clear, but as the door opened a mere inch, my reasons evaporated.The curtains were open, bathing the room in blue light. Alessandro was sprawled across the expansive bed and the silk sheets were tangled around his waist. He was… half-naked. My breath caught in my throat at the sight.The moonlight traced the hard ridges of his abs and the powerful swell of his shoulders, the same shoulders that had carried me out of the fire.Damn… he was so damn fine.My gaze lingered on the dusting of dark hair that disappeared beneath the sheets, and I felt a sudden, sharp heat rise to my cheeks. I bit my lower lip as my mouth went bone-dry.He’s a monster. A dangerous
SIERRAThe sun had long gone below the horizon, and the golden warmth of the mansion had turned into a series of long, flickering shadows. My anxiety was pacing alongside me. Alessandro had promised the doctor would be here today, but the clock had ticked past six, then seven, and now the moon was high.I needed to know. I couldn't breathe properly until I knew if the life he claimed was inside me was a reality or just another thread in the web he was spinning.He's not on the first floor, which was searched the whole afternoon because of how vast it was. I ran upstairs and searched every room. He's not in his bedroom or library, and my last stop is his office.I swung the door open only to reveal a silent room of leather and maps and his scent lingering around.He was here. But not anymore.He's a big man, but so hard to find.I was about to turn back, frustration bubbling in my throat, when I heard a mechanical hum.I froze at the doorway.In the center of the office, the rug ha
ALESSANDROThe way to the basement felt like walking into a tomb. The air was cooler here, smelling of damp stone and the faint, metallic tang of the ventilation system. I reached the steel door, the only thing separating my wife’s sanity from the physical manifestation of her trauma.I signaled the guards to step back. When the door groaned open, the light from the hallway spilled into the cell, illuminating the woman huddled on the cot.For a split second, my heart betrayed me and my breath hitched as the silhouette of her head, the curve of her shoulder, and the fall of her hair screamed Sierra. But when she looked up, the illusion shattered. Her eyes were the same shape, the same color, but they lacked the warmth and the defiant spark that made my wife who she was. Airra’s eyes were pits of bitterness."Back so soon, Alessandro?" she rasped.Her clothes were tattered and her skin sallow, but she still managed a smirk that tasted of venom. It's only been two weeks since Carlo t
ALESSANDROI couldn’t focus. The ledgers on my desk were just blurred lines of ink, and the report on our shipping territories might as well have been written in a dead language. My mind was stuck in a loop, replaying the look in Sierra’s eyes from last night.’Did I really love you, Alessandro?’The question had cut deeper than any blade my enemies had ever swung at me. I hadn't answered her. How could I? I knew I loved her, a bone-deep, obsessive devotion that had turned a cold-blooded killer into a man who stayed awake just to watch her breathe. But did she love me? Or did she just love the safety I provided? Or worse, did she love the man she thought I was before she realized how much blood was on my hands?The argument in the mall in Germany flashed in my mind again. Damn… was she really tired of me?I growled, slamming my fist onto the desk. I had to focus. Logan was still out there, hiding in the shadows of the city he had tried to burn down around us. I wanted him to rot







