Mag-log in“I wished this meeting was happening under better circumstances.”Tristan Blackwell’s voice was calm as he sat across from Vittorio Mancini inside one of the private lounges of a hotel which was owned by the Mancini’s. Tristan had arranged for this meeting to give Vittorio his proposal in person and there was no way they were going to do it on the Mancini estate again. Especially after what had just happened there.Vittorio leaned back comfortably in his chair before letting out a small laugh now, as he looked at Tristan.“No other circumstances would have brought us together,” he replied smoothly. “Besides, your people said you had a proposal for me.”His eyes sharpened slightly.“And I have to admit… I was surprised.”Tristan remained composed.“When your men reached out and told me you were in Italy asking to do business with me…” Vittorio continued, “…my curiosity got the better of me.”A soft scoff came from Andressa, who sat beside her father looking visibly irritated already.
ANTONIO “I fucking had her!” The second I stepped into the house, I slammed my gun onto the table hard enough for the sound to echo through the entire room. Every inch of my body burned with rage right now, and I couldn’t even properly word how I was feeling. All of the emotions sat so heavily inside my chest that I genuinely felt like I could barely breathe. My father was already waiting for us in the study when we arrived, and one look at his face told me he already knew everything had gone wrong. He slowly stood from his chair and walked over to us. Sebastian shook his head in indication. “She was right there,” I snapped furiously, turning toward Sebastian. “We should have gone after her.” Sebastian looked exhausted. There was blood on his shirt that definitely wasn’t his. “I would have gotten to her.” “You would have gotten yourself killed,” Sebastian replied immediately. That only pissed me off more. “There is no fucking way we were making it through that many armed gu
AURORA“You incompetent fools!”I flinched slightly as Andressa’s voice echoed through the massive hall the second they dragged me back inside the mansion. One of the guards shoved me forward roughly, and I nearly stumbled onto the marble floor before catching myself at the last second.My entire body still felt shaky from the whole event that just took place. I had felt bullets whizz past my head and I had to check myself to be sure that I wasn’t hit anywhere. The fact that I could still see Antonio’s face in my head. I could still feel the panic in his eyes and the desperation from the moment he saw me. He had actually come for me.The thought kept replaying in my head over and over again, refusing to leave no matter how hard I tried to focus on literally anything else.“You told me the estate was secure!” Andressa snapped furiously at one of the men standing nearby. “So how exactly did they get in?”Nobody answered her. Probably because everyone in this house looked terrified of
ANTONIO“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
SERAPHINA“In the event that I need you to talk, you will need to be able to explain things about Requiem.” Tristan said, “How is it coming along now?”The car had just rolled to a stop in front of the Castille estate and I could see the lights from outside already even through the tinted windows.
SERAPHINA “Look who decided to show up.” Naomi’s voice came from across the room as I walked into the club. It was quite unusual for me to be here by this time and I had to admit Velour looked extremely different before opening hours. Those seductive sounds didn’t flow through the speaker yet
TRISTAN“Get dressed,” I said, as I saw Seraphina walk into the house.“Why?” she asked, looking at me with confusion.“We are going shopping.”She stopped and I saw her take a deep breath like she was contemplating exactly what to say next.“Shopping,” she repeated, “Let me humor you for a second
TRISTAN“You need to be more careful with your words.” I immediately scolded Julian as we got to the office. “It would have been really bad if someone had heard you.”“I know I know,” he said, “I am sorry. They are going to find out eventually though.”“And I want to push that for as long as I can.







