LOGIN"Then what do you want?" Serena asked, echoing Sienna's earlier question. "Really? Strip away justifications and obligations and noble reasons. What do you actually want?"Luca opened his mouth, but no answer came. Because he didn't know. Or he did know but couldn't admit it, that some terrible part of him wanted exactly what Serena described. He wanted both, wanted fantasy and reality, wanted to be the hero saving the angel while also being the man who chose authentic connection.Wanted to have his obsession validated while claiming to have grown beyond it."You can't answer," Serena observed. "Because the truth is too ugly. You'd rather lose Sienna than admit you're still obsessed with me. You'd rather destroy something real than release something empty. That's who you are, Luca. That's who you've always been.""Get out," Luca said quietly."Why?" Serena asked, not moving. "Because I'm telling you truths you don't want to hear? Because I'm showing you exactly how I've been manipul
Luca didn't sleep that night. He sat in his study, staring at documents he couldn't process, replaying the conversation with Sienna on an endless loop."Prove it by Making her leave."And he couldn't. Even knowing Serena was empty, even understanding he was losing Sienna, he couldn't make the choice.A soft knock interrupted his spiraling thoughts. He knew who it was before she spoke."Luca?" Serena's voice, gentle and concerned. "I saw the light under your door. Are you alright?""Come in," Luca said, too exhausted to maintain distance.Serena entered, wearing a silk robe over nightclothes, her platinum hair loose around her shoulders. She looked ethereal in the dim light exactly like the angel from his fantasies and that similarity made him feel sick."You look terrible," she observed, settling into the chair across from his desk. "What happened?""Sienna's leaving," Luca said flatly. "Tomorrow morning. She's done waiting for me to choose her."Something flickered in Serena's expre
"You're not the wrong twin," Luca said desperately."Then prove it," Sienna challenged, stopping her packing to look at him directly. "Make her leave. Right now. Tell her she has to go, that your obligation to me is greater than your obligation to save her. Prove through actions that I matter more than your fantasy."Luca opened his mouth, but no words came. He stood there, frozen, unable to say what she needed to hear."That's what I thought," Sienna said quietly, the anger draining from her voice, leaving only exhaustion. "You can't. Even now, even knowing she's empty, even claiming you love me, you can't choose me over her. The fantasy wins. It always wins."She finished packing, zipped the bag closed, and picked it up. "I'll be gone by morning. Don't try to stop me. Don't make this harder than it already is.""Sienna..." Luca reached for her but she stepped away."Don't touch me," she said. "Don't make promises you won't keep. Don't tell me you love me while proving you don't. J
Luca found himself standing outside the library where Serena spent most of her afternoons, his hand raised to knock, uncertainty freezing him in place.Three weeks. Serena had been at the estate for three weeks, and something was fundamentally wrong.He knocked."Come in," Serena's voice, soft and welcoming.She sat by the window, afternoon light creating a halo effect around her platinum hair. She looked up from her book with a smile that should have felt like coming home but instead felt like visiting a museum, beautiful, carefully curated, untouchable."Luca," she said, setting down her book. "This is a pleasant surprise. You've been so busy with security arrangements lately.""Things are settling," Luca said, moving into the room but maintaining distance. "Viktor's men pulled back from Naples. Matteo thinks they're following a false lead eastward.""That's good news," Serena said, though something flickered in her expression, disappointment? Relief? Luca couldn't read her the way
"But I am watching," Matteo said. "And I'm telling you, she's dangerous. Not because she's Viktor's enemy, but because she's becoming your obsession again and obsession makes you stupid, Luca. Makes you blind to what you're sacrificing for fantasy." He left before Luca could respond, heading toward the security office to implement the guard changes. Behind him, he heard Luca sit heavily in his chair, the weight of truth or denial settling over him. --- Matteo found Sienna in the art studio an hour later, working on a painting that made his chest tighten. Two figures on opposite sides of a canvas, one reaching toward light, one sinking into darkness. The reaching figure had Luca's features. The sinking one had Sienna's. "That's bleak," Matteo observed from the doorway. "That's honest," Sienna corrected without turning. "How bad is it? The threat from Viktor, I mean. I heard increased security protocols being implemented." So she'd heard the activity but hadn't been briefed. Ex
Matteo noticed it first. Small things, easily dismissed individually but forming a pattern when viewed collectively. The way Serena would touch Luca's arm during conversations brief, seemingly unconscious gestures that nonetheless drew his attention. The way she'd laugh at his observations, making him feel clever and insightful. The way she'd ask his opinion on security matters she clearly already understood, letting him feel needed. Classic manipulation techniques, executed with such subtlety that the target rarely noticed. But Matteo noticed. It was his job to notice. "She's playing you," Matteo said one morning, finding Luca in his study reviewing intelligence reports Serena had provided about Viktor's movements. "Who?" Luca asked without looking up. "You know who," Matteo said. "Serena. She's manipulating you, and you're letting it happen." "She's providing valuable intelligence," Luca said, still focused on the documents. "These reports show Viktor's expanded his sea







