LOGINChapter 223ElowenI watched Matteo's face carefully, searching for any sign that would tell me I wasn't losing my mind."Is it possible?" I asked again when he didn't answer right away.He shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "Elowen, you've been under a lot of stress. You haven't been sleeping properly, you've barely eaten...""Don't." I cut him off. "Don't do that. Don't treat me like I'm fragile or hysterical. I know what I heard.""What you think you heard," he corrected gently. "But telepathy? Reading minds? That's not real. It's not possible.""Then how do you explain what happened?"Matteo leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "I think Kian probably muttered something under his breath. You were sitting close to him, you caught it, and in the stress of the moment, it felt different than it was." I shook my head. "Then why did he deny saying anything. Kain is everything but a liar.""Or maybe he didn't know he muttered it.""Matteo...""Look," he interrupted,
Chapter 222Matteo"She heard your thoughts?" I repeated slowly, trying to wrap my head around the impossibility of it.Kian ran a hand through his hair, his eyes scanning the road but seeing something else entirely. "I didn't say a word, Matteo. I was just thinking it. But she heard me. She repeated my exact words back to me like I’d shouted them.""That shouldn't be possible.""I know that," Kian snapped, his voice tight. "But it happened."I leaned back, my mind racing. Humans weren't wired this way. The telepathic link was a wolf thing....a mate thing. "Is she your mate?" I asked.Kian went rigid. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel, the leather creaking under the pressure. He didn't answer, but his silence was loud enough."Kian," I pressed, leaning toward him. "Is Elowen your mate?" "Does it matter?" He sounded raw, like the words were being torn out of him."Yes. It damn well matters. Answer me."The car was silent for a long moment, the engine's hum th
Chapter 221MatteoI made it all the way to the parking garage before I finally stopped.I stood between two cars like an idiot, keys gripped in my hand, unable to remember which vehicle was mine. My mind was a mess. I’d thought I was going to lose my daughter when I saw her seizing that day. Everything in me had frozen at that taunting sight, and even though it had been days, I still saw it every time I closed my eyes.And I’d left her. I knew I needed to rest, but I realized then that even if I headed home, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.So, I did the only thing my mind told me to. I turned around and headed back inside.The elevator took forever. I stood there staring at my disheveled reflection as I watched the numbers climb. Three. Four. Five. Elowen was right when she said I looked like shit, but going home felt wrong.I walked down the hallway toward Giuliana’s room, but as I reached for the handle, the door swung open.I froze.Kain had Elowen pressed against the wall, stari
Chapter 220ElowenThree days in the hospital turned into five. The anti-seizure medication made Giuliana drowsy. She slept through most of the first two days, waking only to vomit or mumble something incoherent before sliding back under.Marco came every afternoon after school. He'd do his homework at the foot of her bed, occasionally looking up to check if she was still breathing. Sometimes he'd talk to her even though she was asleep. About his day. About kids at school. About nothing.I lived in the chair by her bed. Matteo brought me food I didn't eat. Kian brought me coffee I drank too much of. On day four, Giuliana woke up lucid."Marco's here," she said. Her voice was scratchy.Marco's head shot up from his math textbook. "You're awake!""Unfortunately." She tried to sit up. Failed. "I feel like garbage.""You look like garbage," Marco said.I opened my mouth to scold him but Giuliana laughed, weak and wheezy but real."Thanks," she said. "You really know how to make a girl fe
Chapter 219Elowen"I didn't answer him," I said."I know that too." Kian glanced at me. "But you were going to say yes. I could see it on your face.""I don't know what I was going to say," I admitted. "Everything is so complicated and...""It's not complicated," Kian said. "Not really. You love him. He loves you. Giuliana loves you both. The only complicated part is me.""You're my friend and I...""I'm your fake husband in the presence of Giuliana," he corrected. "And I think it's time we stop pretending otherwise. For all our sakes."I stared at him. "What are you saying?""I'm saying that when this is over, when Giuliana is stable and healthy and home, we need to end this charade. Properly. We need to tell Giuliana the truth... though I suspect she already knows... and we need to let you and Matteo be what you clearly want to be."Of course she knows, she's too smart not to know."And you?" I asked. "What do you want?"Kian was quiet for a long moment. "I want Giuliana to be happ
Chapter 218ElowenTime fractured.One moment I was running, the next I was at Giuliana's bedside, the next Matteo was shouting into his phone for an ambulance, the next Kian was trying to turn her on her side to keep her airway clear.Everything was happening too fast and too slow at the same time."How long has she been seizing?" Matteo was asking Kian, but his voice sounded like it was coming from underwater."I don't know. I heard a noise from her room. I came in and she was already..."Giuliana's body jerked violently.A sound came from her throat that didn't sound human."No, no, no," I heard myself saying. "Please, no, not now. Not when she's doing better. Please."I reached for her hand but Kian caught my wrist."Don't," he said gently. "You can't. Just let her body do what it needs to do.""What it needs to do?" I nearly screamed. "It needs to stop! She needs to stop!"But she didn't stop.The seizure went on and on.Thirty seconds.A minute.More."Where's the fucking ambula
Chapter 65Matteo "Facciamo una pausa, sì?" I suggested, wheeling her toward a shaded area. Let's take a break, yes? "You've been going strong for hours, principessa, even healthy children would be tired by now.""Ma non voglio fermarmi," " But I don't want to stop." she protested, but I could hea
Chapter 64MatteoThe morning sun streamed through Giuliana's bedroom windows and painted everything in shades of gold that made her dark hair shine like silk where it spread across her pillow.And I sat in the chair beside her bed watching her sleep while drinking the espresso Marco had brought up
Chapter 57Matteo Even though I knew she'd think I was lieing and probably speaking with my dick."Cristo, bella, I haven't stopped wanting you since the first night, since before I even touched you, since I first saw you in that red dress Adrian made you wear."I kissed down to her breasts, my mo
Chapter 56Matteo"We're doing this for our twisted desires, our pleasures," Elowen said, and there was something hard in her voice, something brittle that hadn't been there before. "It's just sex and I'll make sure I have the best of it these few days remaining. So let's skip the questions becaus







