Chapter 6 Heart lines

Chapter 6

Maya

The Rossi estate looks like a postcard in the morning ligh all white stone and manicured gardens, money and power displayed with tasteful restraint. I grew up here, in this beautiful prison, learning to smile while I bled.

Today, I'm bleeding more than usual.

I pull up to the main house at 8:55 AM early enough to not be late, not so early that Papa thinks I'm eager. The game within the game, the dance I've perfected over twenty-eight years.

Carlos, our head of security, opens my car door. He's been with the family since before I was born, probably buried more bodies than I want to know about. He's also the closest thing I had to a father figure when I was young, when Papa was too busy building empires to notice his daughters.

"Miss Maya.You look tired."

"Rough night."

"The good kind or the bad kind?"

I think about Ryan's hands on my skin, his voice in my ear, the way he made me forget everything but the feeling of being wanted. Really wanted, not for my name or my usefulness, but for me.

"The complicated good kind."

Carlos's expression softens.

"Those are usually the best ones. And the worst ones."

"Yeah. Where is that man I call my father?"

He squeezes my shoulder a small gesture of support that almost undoes me then steps back.

"Your father's in the library. He's... focused this morning."

Translation: Papa's in a mood. Wonderful.

I steel myself and walk through doors I could navigate blindfolded. The house smells like espresso and expensive cologne and old secrets. Home, in the most fucked up sense of the word.

Gabriella intercepts me in the hallway, looking fresh and perfect in designer athleisure wear. . My sister has always been the pretty one, the charming one, the one who inherited Papa's charisma without his cruelty.

"Oh my God, where were you?You look... different."

she hugged me and pulled back

"Different how?"

"I don't know. Softer? Less... murder-y ...You got laid, didn't you?"

My face heats up .

"Gabriella walls have ears "

"Oh my God, you did! Finally!.Was it Jeremy? Please tell me you finally gave that poor man a chance."

Guilt twists in my stomach.

"No. It wasn't Jeremy."

"Then who, Wait, is this why you disappeared last night,You hooked up with some random guy?"

"It's not "

I stop. What can I say? I spent the night with a stranger who made me feel more alive than I have in years, and now I can never see him again because reality is a cruel bitch?

"Maya...You're allowed to have more than one night. You're allowed to be happy."

"Not in this family."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"Is it? When's the last time anyone in this family chose happiness over duty?"

She doesn't have an answer for that... there isn't one.

"Girls!Stop gossiping and get in here. We have work to do."

We exchange a look—Gabriella sympathetic, me resigned and we head into the library.

The room is full. Papa at the head of the table, his lieutenants flanking him. Uncle Giovanni, Papa's brother and Will Webb, our legal counsel, and Jeremy, because of course Papa invited Jeremy.

Jeremy's face lights up when he sees me. He stands, moves toward me with that eager puppy energy that makes me feel like the worst person alive.

"Maya. God, I was so worried." He takes my hands, and I let him, even though his touch feels wrong after Ryan's. "Are you okay? Gabriella said you had a crisis ."

"I'm fine, Jeremy. I'm sorry I worried you."

"You don't have to apologize. I'm just glad you're okay."

Papa clears his throat.

"If we're done with the reunion, perhaps we can focus on the matter at hand?"

Jeremy releases me, chastened. I take a seat as far from him as possible without being obvious about it.

"The Zurris are escalating,"

Papa begins, pulling up a presentation on the screen.

"what?"

"They've submitted a competing bid for the docklands development. Very public, and aggressive. They're trying to humiliate us."

Images flash across the screen. Architectural renderings. Financial projections.

My breath stops...

A photo of Lorenzo Zurri and his executive team...standing beside Lorenzo, looking devastatingly handsome in a perfectly tailored suit, is Ryan.

Ryan Zurri.

Lorenzo's son.

The heir to the Zurri empire.

Oh no.

"Maya are you paying attention?"

Papa's voice pulls me out of my shock.

"Yes. Sorry." I

force myself to look away from Ryan's photo, to breathe.

"I was saying that we need to destroy their credibility. Systematically dismantle their public image everything. I want you to lead that effort."

"Me?"

"You're the best we have at crafting narratives. At taking the truth and bending it to our needs." I need you to dig into the Zurri's. Find their weaknesses. Their secrets. The skeletons in their closets. Then I need you to weaponize that information."

I can't breathe. Can't think. All I can see is Ryan's face on that screen.

Ryan, who held me like I was precious.

Ryan, who made me feel free.

Ryan, who is Lorenzo Zurri's son and therefore my family's greatest enemy.

"The son is particularly vulnerable." Uncle Giovanni adds. "Ryan Zurri. He's young, arrogant, thinks he's invincible,everyone has secrets, Maya. Everyone has something they don't want the world to see."

I think about last night. About Ryan's hands on my body, his mouth on mine, the way he whispered my name my false name like a prayer.

Those are his secrets now. Papa wants me to find them, exploit them, use them to destroy him.

"Maya Are you with us?"

I look up .

"Yes.I'm with you."

"Good. I want a full dossier on Ryan Zurri by the end of the week. Everything. Where he goes, who he sees, what he cares about.Find his weakness, cara. Then we'll exploit it until he breaks."

Jeremy leans forward.

"I can help with that, Antonio. I have contacts who..."

"No."

Papa cuts him off.

"Yes sir."

"This is Maya's project. She's proven she can handle sensitive matters with discretion."

Translation: This is dirty work, and Papa trusts me to do it without flinching.

If only he knew.

The accusation stings, probably because part of me knows it's true.

"I'm not soft."

"Prove it." He slides a folder across the desk.

"Ryan Zurri. Start here. These are the basics his education, his business dealings, his known associates. I want you to go deeper. Find what he's hiding."

I take the folder with shaking hands, careful not to let Papa see.

"Maya? If you find anything particularly... useful. Anything personal. Bring it to me first."

"Of course."

" Good." He dismisses me with a wave.

"Noted ."

"Oh, and one more thing. Jeremy Reeves is a good man. His family is loyal. You could do much worse."

"Papa."

"I'm not pressuring you, cara. Just... think about it. An alliance with the Reeves family would strengthen our position considerably. Especially now."

I flee before he can say more, clutching the folder like it's burning me.

In the hallway, I nearly collide with Gabriella.

"Hey.You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

She steers me into an empty sitting room, closes the door.

"What happened in there? Did Papa say something?"

I think about telling her. About confessing the whole impossible mess. Gabriella loves drama, loves secrets, and she loves Papa more than she loves discretion.

"Nothing. Just the usual pressure."

"The Zurri thing?"

"Yeah."

She makes a face.

"I don't get the obsession. So they're competition for some development deal. Why does it have to be war?"

"That's what we've always done."

"It's exhausting."

" I concur

She flops onto a sofa.

"Don't you ever just want to... I don't know. Live? Do something because you want to, not because Papa wants you to?"

I think about last night. About choosing desire over duty, even just for a few hours.

"All the time."

"Then why don't you?"

" We're Rossis, Ella. We don't get to choose ourselves."

"That's such bullshit."

"Rules."

She sits up, intense.

"Maya, you're twenty-eight years old. You're brilliant, you're beautiful, you could do anything, be anything. Why are you letting Papa turn you into his weapon?"

"Someone has to be...you."

I stop myself.

"I what? I'm too soft? Too useless?"

"No. You're too good. Too pure. I don't want Papa to ruin that."

Her expression softens.

"So you let him ruin you instead?"

The question hangs in the air between us.

"I should go,I have work to do."

"Maya don't "

"I'll see you later, Ella."

I escape before she can push further, before I break down and tell her everything.

In my car, alone, I finally open the folder.

I start my car and drive away from the estate, I make a decision.

I'll do what Papa wants. I'll investigate Ryan, compile the dossier, play my part in this war.

I won't use last night against him. I won't weaponize his vulnerability, his honesty, the moments when he let me see his truth.

That's mine. Ours. The one thing I can protect, even if it destroys me.

Even if I never see him again.

Even if it breaks my heart.