ログインElena barely slept. She lay in the dark replaying Sofia's words over and over until they stopped sounding like a child talking and started sounding like evidence, and when the sun finally came through the curtains she gave up on rest and went downstairs.Sofia was already in the kitchen sitting at the counter with a bowl of cereal, swinging her legs and chattering to one of the housekeepers about a butterfly she saw in the garden, and when she spotted Elena her whole face lit up and she waved her over with a spoon still in her hand."Can you sit with me?"Elena sat beside her and poured herself coffee and waited until the housekeeper left the room before she spoke. "Sofia, the lady you told me about last night, the one who used to read you stories, do you remember her name?"Sofia chewed her cereal and thought about it. "Camilla," she said after a second. "She had long brown hair and she smelled like flowers and she let me put stickers on her arm." She looked up at Elena. "Are you goi
Elena's head snapped sideways from the force of the blow and she staggered back on her heels, her hand flying to her face as pain exploded across her cheekbone and the taste of copper flooded her mouth, and before she could blink the stars out of her vision the figure lunged at her again, fisting a hand in her hair and yanking her forward so hard her neck screamed."You think you can just walk into my life and take everything from me?" Vittoria's voice was raw and shrill, cracking on the last word, and she grabbed Elena's arm and swung her sideways into the body of the SUV hard enough to send pain shooting all the way down to her fingertips."He was mine!" Vittoria screamed, lunging again, her nails raking down the side of Elena's neck as she clawed for her throat. "You're nothing, you're just the latest whore he dragged in off the street!"Something Cortez had drilled into her every morning for the past three weeks clicked into place.Use what they give you.Vittoria's hand closed ar
Rodrigo didn't even flinch when Elena collided directly with his chest, his hands simply sliding out of his tailored tuxedo pockets to catch her smoothly by the elbows to steady her, and before Elena could even try to stumble over an excuse or pull away from his firm grip the heavy mahogany door clicked open right behind her, revealing Dante stepping out into the quiet corridor.Rodrigo immediately pulled Elena flush against his side, wrapping his arm securely around her waist in a tight, possessive hold that left absolutely no room for her to pull away, and Elena held her breath, her chest tight with absolute panic as she braced herself, praying desperately that Dante wouldn't lose his temper and scream out exactly what they had just been doing in the dark.To her absolute surprise Dante didn't say a single word, his face completely blank and his posture rigidly still as Rodrigo guided her right past him, not even bothering to give Dante a second glance or a single word of greeting a
The kiss was still burning on Elena’s lips when a familiar voice cut through the quiet corridor, instantly shattering the small, private bubble they had built in the shadows."What the hell do you think you're doing, Dante?"Isabella stood at the end of the hallway, her fingers gripping her designer clutch so tightly her knuckles were white, and her perfect, heavily made-up face was twisted in a mixture of disbelief and pure rage. She took a step forward, her high heels clicking loudly against the marble floor, and she looked ready to scream loud enough to bring the entire gala security team down on them.Dante didn’t even flinch, but his grip on Elena’s hand tightened, and he slowly turned his head to look at Isabella with a cold, flat expression that made the hallway feel instantly freezing."Go back to the ballroom, Isabella," Dante said, his voice quiet, steady, and completely empty of any warmth, but there was a hard edge underneath it that made Isabella freeze in her tracks."Y
By the fifth day Elena had stopped thinking about it. The hospital room, the warmth she thought she had held, the sound she thought she had heard, all of it had quietly stopped feeling like a memory and started feeling like something her exhausted brain had put together out of nothing. She had been running on no sleep and too much fear and her mind had filled in the gaps the way minds do when you push them too hard. That was what she told herself and it worked well enough that she stopped checking.Sofia was a different matter entirely.Sofia showed up at her door every morning without knocking. She would just stand there in the hallway with her rabbit under her arm, waiting, her curls going in six different directions, staring at Elena with those big serious eyes like she had every right to be there and was simply waiting for Elena to catch up."I already read you this one," Elena said on the third morning."I know," Sofia said.She said it like that settled it. Elena moved over, Sof
The word landed like a slap"Go to your room"Rodrigo did not shout it. He did not need to. He said it the way a man says something he is only going to say once, his eyes locked on Elena, unblinking, unwavering. That steel gray stare said everything his mouth was not sayingEvery part of Elena wanted to argue. She wanted to plant her feet on that terrace and demand answers because she was the one standing in a stolen dress between a man she barely knew and a woman radiating enough fury to set the whole villa on fire. She had rights. She had questionsBut then Rodrigo looked at her. Really looked at herThere was something in that look she could not name. Not anger, not a warning but something that said this situation was bigger and more dangerous than anything she was equipped to handle right now. Her mouth closed, her feet moved, she hated herself for itElena walked back through the glass doors without a word and climbed the stairs with her hands pressed flat against her thighs to s
The gallery smelled like home, old paint, varnish, and the faint mustiness of centuries-old canvas. Elena breathed it in deeply, trying to let the familiar scent calm her racing heart. But even here, in the place she loved most, she couldn't escape him.Franco and Giuseppe stood like silent shadows
The confrontation was interrupted by the arrival of Marco, Dante's younger brother. Unlike Dante's cold demeanor, Marco's danger was masked by charm and easy smiles."Ladies," he said, his eyes taking in their tense postures. "Not playing nice, are we?"Victoria immediately transformed, her grip loo
Elena woke disoriented, sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows. For a moment, she forgot where she was, then reality crashed back. Castellano's auction. Dante's intervention. This gilded cage.She sat up in the king-sized bed of the connecting bedroom, taking stock. Someone had unpacked her
The boy she'd loved. The friend she'd lost. Her first heartbreak break when her father spirited her away without explanation or goodbye.Now a man, harder, colder, dangerous in ways the teenage Dante had only hinted at becoming."Mr. Valenti," Castellano said, surprise evident in his voice. "We wer







