Mag-log in*Aria's POV*We stood there, gasping, the sound of our breathing loud in the small space. The temperature inside was barely warmer than outside, but the wind was gone."Check for blankets," Lucian ordered, his voice hoarse. "Anything."I fumbled in the dark, my hands numb. I found a pile of musty canvas tarps in the corner and an old sleeping bag on a cot."I found something!"I dragged the sleeping bag over to the center of the room. Lucian was checking his gun. He had two magazines left."Lucian, your arm," I said, my voice catching.I hadn't seen it in the dark, but in the faint light filtering through the cracks in the boards, I could see the dark stain spreading on his sleeve."It's a graze," he said dismissively. He sat down heavily on the floor, leaning against the wall. "Aria, come here."I knelt beside him. I unzipped the sleeping bag and wrapped it around his shoulders, then pulled the canvas tarp over both of us.We huddled together, shivering violently. The cold was inside
*Aria’s POV*The peace didn't break; it shattered.It wasn't a sound that woke me–Lucian had trained me better than that. It was a smell. Acrid and sharp, cutting through the scent of pine wood and burning embers.Cordite.My eyes snapped open. The room was dark, the fire having died down to a faint orange glow in the hearth. Beside me, Lucian was already moving. He wasn't reaching for me; he was reaching under the pillow."Get down," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the howling wind outside.I didn't argue. I rolled off the mattress, hitting the cold floorboards just as the window exploded inward.It wasn't the wind.A hail of bullets tore through the room, shredding the duvet I had been sleeping under seconds ago. The sound was deafening–a rhythmic, tearing noise that vibrated in my teeth. Glass sprayed across the room like shrapnel.Lucian returned fire three times, the muzzle flash blinding in the darkness. He moved with terrifying speed, grabbing my arm and hauling me
*Aria's POV*I woke up to a world of blinding white.Snow was piled high against the floor-to-ceiling windows, nearly reaching the middle of the glass. The sky was a pale, washed-out grey, blending seamlessly with the landscape so that it felt like we were floating inside a cloud.I rolled over, reaching for Lucian, but the space beside me was cold.Panic, sharp and instinctive, seized my chest. I sat up, the duvet falling away."Lucian?""I'm here."He was standing by the window, shirtless, holding a mug of coffee. He looked out at the expanse of white, his posture relaxed. The tension that usually coiled in his muscles seemed to have dissipated overnight. He looked like a different man–younger, lighter.I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "You scared me."He turned, a soft smile touching his lips. "Sorry. I didn't want to wake you. You were sleeping so deeply."I crawled to the edge of the bed, wrapping the fur throw around my shoulders. "What time is it?""Almost noon,"
*Aria’s POV*The private jet touched down in Geneva just as the Alpine dawn began to bleed purple and gold across the horizon. From there, a helicopter waited – whisking us away from the civilization of the city, climbing higher and higher into the jagged teeth of the Swiss Alps.The transition was jarring but cleansing. One moment, we were in a world of concrete and stress; the next, we were suspended in a crystalline silence, flying over peaks that looked like frozen waves.The chalet was nestled in a valley near Zermatt, accessible only by air or a single, treacherous road that wound up the mountainside. It was an architectural masterpiece of old stone and dark timber, built into the side of the cliff, looking out at the majestic, jagged peak of the Matterhorn.It looked less like a holiday home and more like a sanctuary carved by gods.As the helicopter rotors slowed, the silence descended. It was heavy, absolute, and profoundly peaceful. No sirens. No traffic. No distant hum of th
*Aria’s POV*The morning of the wedding arrived wrapped in a pale, misty fog that clung to the estate grounds like a secret. By noon, however, the sun had burned through, revealing a sky of sharp, piercing blue – a perfect, crystalline day that felt like a promise.I stood in the bridal suite, surrounded by a whirlwind of silk and lace. The dress fit perfectly, hugging my waist and cascading into a pool of intricate embroidery. Elena stood behind me, securing the cathedral veil."Turn," she commanded.I turned to the mirror. The woman staring back was no longer the scared runaway or the hostage. I looked like a queen. The emerald brooch was pinned at my shoulder, a flash of dark green against the white."Lucian will not be able to breathe when he sees you," Elena said, her voice unusually soft. She adjusted a stray tendril of hair. "Remember, chin up. Shoulders back. You are walking into a dynasty today.""I'm walking toward Lucian," I corrected gently.Elena’s lips twitched. "Same th
*Aria’s POV*The days leading up to the wedding were a blur of final fittings, seating charts, and security protocols. The estate, usually a mausoleum of stone and silence, was alive with the sound of chopping knives from the catering team and the murmur of florists arranging thousands of white roses.But tonight, the chaos paused.The rehearsal dinner was held in the winter garden, a glass-enclosed sanctuary attached to the east wing. It was intimate by Drakov standards – only fifty guests. The Council members, a few politicians, and the core family.I stood by the open glass doors, watching the sunset paint the sky in bruises of purple and gold. I smoothed the silk of my emerald cocktail dress – the one Elena had approved of – and tried to steady my breathing."You look like you're waiting for a verdict, not a dinner."I turned. Rylan was walking over, looking dapper in a tuxedo, though his eyes were still scanning the room out of habit. He had been promoted to Head of Personal Secu
*Aria’s POV*Lucian’s room was the only place no one entered without permission. That what Nikolai told me.Not Rylan, and not even Alex, his half-brother that lived abroad.So when Lucian left to the underground I went there.Lucian’s room felt like a boundary I had already crossed once in my life
*Aria's POV* (Back to the present)The mansion did not prepare for a gala. It transformed. Chrystal chandeliers bloomed overhead like frozen fire. Marble floors were polished until they reflected a thousand versions of myself - none of them quite real. Men in tailored black moved like shadows with
*Aria's POV*I didn’t go back to my room.If I do, I might sit. If I sit, I might think. And if I think too long, I might break.So I walked.The mansion stretched endlessly around me – stone corridors, vaulted ceilings, doors that led to rooms I will never be allowed to claim as mine. This place w
*Lucian's POV*Power isn't loud. It doesn't shout orders or demand attention. It settles. It waits. It lets everyone in the room feel it pressing against their spine until obedience becomes instinct. That's how I rule. I stood at the head of the long table in the lower room, hands resting flat a







