Chapter Ten

(Selena's POV)

I laid in the massive bed, wrapped in silk sheets that were colder than the marble floor. I was staring at the ceiling as if it held the answers I was looking for.

My head was spinning.

I saw him. I know I saw him. It wasn’t a trick or my imagination. It was Luca.

One second he was there—wearing a dark suit with an intense gaze piercing through the crowd, and the next, he was gone. He vanished into thin air, like a mirage I had conjured from the deepest part of my mind.

My pulse still raced just thinking about it. That single glance was enough to send my world tilting on its axis. For a moment, everything and everyone around me disappeared.

I wanted to run to him and scream his name. I wish I had clawed my way through the sea of faces to know if it was really him but I was too shocked to move.

I’ve been monitored like a high-profile criminal ever since the wedding. Damien thinks I'll take off at the slightest chance I get since I did that few days to our wedding. He's not wrong though, I wish I could escape this hell hole.

Every room in this mansion is filled with eyes—some are hidden, while others are not. The staff speaks in hushed tones when I enter. There’s a maid who always seems to be “dusting” near my door. Damien has his assistant checking my schedule down to the minute. I couldn’t sneeze without someone writing a report about it. I don't feel free even in my own skin

I've never felt so alone like I did right now so when Sophia called and said she wanted to visit, I nearly burst into tears.

She hasn’t called since the wedding, but I was glad to have her here now. I really need someone to talk to. When I heard her voice on the intercom, I nearly ran down the stairs barefoot. And the moment I saw her, I breathed.

“Sophia,” I whispered as she pulled me into a hug so tight it knocked the wind out of me.

“You look like you’ve been locked in a cage,” she said, pulling back and holding me at arm’s length. “Still gorgeous, but way too pale.”

I laughed, and for the first time in what felt like forever, it wasn’t forced.

We made our way to the sitting room—one of the few spaces not infested with Damien’s spies—and I poured us tea. My hands shook slightly, but Sophia didn’t miss a beat. She took the cup from me, sat down on the plush couch, and gave me that look that said, I know everything, even if you haven’t said a word.

“I missed you,” I said softly.

“I missed you too,” she replied. “Why are there so many people on guard?. Are you a hostage or something?”

I sighed. “It's a long story.” “I'm really happy to see you.” I said honestly.

“I'm happy to see you too.” She smiled and reached out to hold my hand. “How are you holding up? Is Damien treating you badly?”

I told her everything. The silence between Damien and me, the separate rooms and how I felt like a beautifully dressed prisoner. I also told her about Luca.

The moment I said his name, her eyebrows shot up.

“At the gala?” she asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I whispered, gripping her hand tighter. “It was only for a second, but it was him, Soph. I know it was. I felt it in my chest like something cracked open. He looked right at me.”

“And then?”

“He vanished.”

We sat in silence for a moment.

“Maybe he came to see you,” she offered.

I looked down at my hands, trying to calm the pounding in my chest. “Why would he come back?”

Sophia studied me carefully. “Because maybe he isn’t done with you.”

I really wanted to believe that but I couldn't understand why he was back now after leaving the cabin that morning without saying a word.

“I really don't know what to think, Soph. But if he's back for me like you said, he should be bold enough to confront me.”

I don't know what his intentions are, but I hope they aren't bad.

We did some more catching up and after she left, I returned to my room and sat by the window, watching the moonlight stretch across the garden. I opened my journal and added to the pages already inked with memories. This time, I wrote about the gala.

I wrote about the way my heart stopped, how his eyes made everything else vanish only for him to disappear like a ghost too dangerous to hold.

Then I wrote a question.

Was it really you, Luca?

And beneath it, I wrote what has been on my mind ever since I saw him at that gala.

Please come back.