Mag-log inANTONIO“You look tense.”I barely looked at Andressa as she spoke beside me. Every single one of my senses remained locked on Aurora upstairs.Even in this state my weird mind couldn’t stop thinking of how attractive she looked. It was obvious she was terrified, but she was trying her best to hide it. For one brief second, our eyes met across the room, and I watched all her emotions hit her all at once, as I shot her a smile; as if telling her that it was all going to be okay. I was here now. I needed to get to her.Now.Andressa seemed satisfied with whatever reaction she had managed to get out of me because she smiled before someone approached her from across the ballroom.“Excuse me for a moment,” she said smoothly. “Don’t go anywhere.”I watched her walk off before immediately reaching for my phone. I had to warn Sebastian and the others that she wasn’t actually in any of the rooms like they thought. She was right here in the middle of the goddamn party. Which meant the ent
ANTONIO“You don’t have to keep apologizing.”Sebastian looked up from where he stood across the study, exhaustion written all over his face as rain hammered against the windows behind him.“I failed you.” He said, “And that is something I can never be proud of.”“You didn’t.”“The hell I didn't," he said. “I knew how much the girl meant to you and I fucking blew it.”I leaned back slowly in the chair, rubbing a hand across my jaw while staring down at the table in front of me. Everything had started blurring together at this point.I had barely slept since this whole ordeal started and it was beginning to tell on me. Every time I tried to, Aurora’s face kept replaying in my head over and over again no matter how much I tried to focus on anything else.And honestly?It was driving me fucking insane.Sebastian had arrived in Italy only a couple of hours ago after coordinating with our people overseas, and the first thing he had done upon walking into this house was apologize.Again, I
Clarissa rang the doorbell. She had thought of calling Seraphina, but then she felt it would be better for her to do this in person. Seraphina deserved to know what was going on with her sister.“Clarissa.” Seraphina said, surprise etched on her face as she opened the door. “This is a pleasant surprise.”She looked around at that moment, no doubt searching to see if Aurora was nearby.“Aurora isn’t with you?” she finally asked after a couple of seconds. “I have been trying to reach her since yesterday, but she hasn’t picked any of my calls.”“Urm…” Clarissa stuttered, trying her best to remain as composed as she could.“Oh come on in.” Seraphina said as she ushered her in. “I can't leave you out in the cold. Can I get you anything?”“That won't be necessary.” Clarissa said as she entered inside.“You know, I was literally saying I might stop by your school soon,” Seraphina muttered while setting her phone down on the table. “Surely art school cannot be taking my sister’s entire life a
ANTONIO“They still haven’t found her”I didn’t look up from the table.The whiskey in my glass had long gone untouched, as I simply watched the two rocks settled at the bottom.It had been two days now since Aurora disappeared and I still didn’t know how to fully react to it all.The Mancini’s had definitely taken her, and somehow, despite all my men and resources at my disposal, I still didn’t know where the fuck she was.The rage sitting inside my chest had become unbearable at this point, as I leaned back in the chair slowly and dragged a hand across my jaw while another man walked into the room.“Boss,” he started carefully, “we scrubbed the entire surveillance from the school district again that Sebastian was able to get but…”“But nothing,” I cut in sharply.Silence immediately followed.Good, because I was dangerously close to snapping at everybody around me right now.The entire house had become tense over the past forty-eight hours. Nobody spoke louder than necessary or did
AURORAIt has been days since I was knocked out and thrown into the back of a van and my captors were yet to say a word to me. They kept me blindfolded and bound most of the time while they transported me from location to location.I had spent the first day when I woke up screaming for help until one of them had slapped me across the face and asked me to shut up or else they would gag me.The other day I had overheard a conversation mentioning putting me on a plane which gave me a glimmer of hope for escape because there was no way nobody would notice a kidnapped girl being dragged through an airport. Right?I had spent nearly an entire night mentally planning how to call for help once we were within rage to other people except my hope was soon dashed when they drove me straight to a private airstrip and shoved me in a private jet.Right now I was being pushed to a parked SUV surrounded by armed men.“Get in the car.”I did as he instructed, not wanting to be knocked over the head aga
ANTONIO“You have outdone yourself this time.”My father’s voice carried through the room with unmistakable satisfaction as he lowered the phone from his ear and looked at me across the study.The old man rarely looked impressed. That was one of the first things I learned growing up under him. Nothing was ever enough.It was like ever since my mothers death I had been fighting for him to even crack a smile at me.Approval from Hector Valera came in scraps.Which was precisely why the look on his face now told me just how much damage we had done to the Mancini’s.He walked toward the liquor cabinet slowly, pouring himself a drink as he looked at me.“That was the fourth call this evening,” he continued. “Fourth.”I stayed leaning against the desk, arms folded across my chest.“People panic when supply chains fail.”“They don’t just panic,” he corrected with amusement. “They migrate.”He lifted his glass toward me slightly.“Four people from Mancini’s camp reached out looking to do busi
“You better have summoned me for a good reason,” Violetta said, the impatience obvious in her tone, as she stepped into Julian’s house.Julian stood near one of the windows overlooking the city with his sleeves rolled up and a half-finished drink resting in his hand.“What better reason than our mu
TRISTAN“We have talked about you walking into my office like this.” I said, as soon as the door opened up.I didn’t bother looking up when I said it, as I already knew it was her. The scent gave her away before the sound of the door clicking shut did, and it certainly didn’t help that she had argu
SERAPHINAI hadn’t realized how much those two days we spent with each other would change things until it was already over. The thought had been circling my mind all morning, refusing to settle. It had been like that for some time now and had only gotten worse after our confrontation in the hallway
“You cannot just walk into my office unannounced, Violetta.” Tristan said,A few days had passed since the conversation in Seraphina’s office, the one where she had dismissed Tristan so coldly. The vibe between them had remained tense ever since and they had barely spoken, even though they were pra







