INICIAR SESIÓNxoxo
QUANThe drive back to the mansion was silent. Dimitri sat at the wheel, one hand gripping it so tight the leather creaked, the other resting on his gun. His jaw hadn’t unclenched once.Lia sat in the backseat, wrapped in one of Dimitri’s coats. The headlights painted her face in flashes. Every time I looked back, she was staring out the window, eyes distant, lost in her memories. By the time we reached the mansion, dawn had started bleeding into the horizon. The guards were already lined up at the gates, tension rolling off them in waves. The minute the car stopped, the front doors opened.Sia ran out barefoot, robe half-tied, eyes wide with worry.“Lia!”She didn’t wait for permission; she pulled her straight into her arms. Lia froze for a second, then melted into the embrace, the sound that escaped her somewhere between a sob and a breath.Sia looked up at me over her shoulder, relief softening her face. “Thank you,” she whispered.I only nodded. There wasn’t much to say.Dimitri
QUANThe door splintered under my boot.The sound of it cracked through the cellar like thunder, and the stench of dust and rust hit me all at once. My gun was already up, finger steady, eyes sweeping the shadows until they locked on her—Lia.She was standing. Bruised. And between us stood him—the man in the porcelain mask.“Step away from her,” I said.He turned towards me, mask tilting. “Ah,” he said lightly. “The knight arrives.”My hand tightened around the trigger. “I’ll put a bullet through that mask before you finish your next sentence.”The Easter Bunny’s laugh was soft, chillingly calm. He didn’t flinch. “Do it, then. But she’ll pay the price.”Before I could blink, he’d grabbed Lia, one arm locked across her throat, a knife glinting at her side.“Let her go,” I snarled.He pressed the blade closer. “We both know you won’t risk her.”From behind me came another voice, smooth and cold like the click of a gun being loaded.“Try me.”Dimitri stepped out of the shadows, a weapon
QUAN The photo hit like a bullet. Lia. Bruised. Bound. Blindfolded. Salve stood at the head of the table, his expression unreadable but his knuckles were white around the edge of the polished wood. Dimitri paced near the windows, smoke curling from the cigarette between his fingers. And me — I couldn’t look away from that photo. The bruises. The faint smear of blood at her lip. The woman who had changed everything we were. The woman they called wife — and I… never dared to call mine. I was supposed to protect her. Dimitri had trusted me with that. Salve had given his silent approval. And still — she was gone. Dimitri’s voice broke through the silence, low and sharp. “They said to come alone. Twelve hours.” His tone was flat, but his eyes burned. Dimitri didn’t raise his voice when he was truly angry — he got calm. That was worse. Salve leaned back slowly, gaze flicking between the message on the phone and me. “You were with her.” It was a fact but it cut just th
LIA “Where is she?” That voice froze the air in my lungs. It wasn’t Quan’s. The door opened, and in walked a woman I never thought I’d see again — her heels slicing through the silence with the same precision she’d once used to cut my life apart. Mother. No — stepmother. Elara Mancini dressed like she’d stepped out of a magazine instead of a kidnapper’s den. Silk blouse. Red lipstick. Diamonds caught the low light and mocked the bruises on my face. She looked out of place in this cellar, and she knew it. That was part of her cruelty. “Well,” she said, her tone lilting. “You look… alive. I suppose that’s a start.” My mouth went dry. “You.” She smiled. “Yes, me. You didn’t think I’d let my little investment vanish without checking in, did you?” Anger crawled up my throat, bitter and sharp. “You sold me.” Elara’s expression didn’t waver. “I saved you,” she corrected smoothly, brushing invisible dust from her sleeve. “You were drowning, darling. No direction, no purpo
LIA Cold stone pressed against my cheek. The smell of metal and old sweat filled my nose. My hands were tied behind my back, wrists raw from the ropes. For a long moment, I simply lay there, listening. The sound of my own pulse was loud enough to fill the small space . I tried to remember how I’d got here. One minute, I had been laughing at the man who sold me sweet corn, his ridiculous hat bobbing with the heat. The next minute, the world had become noise and rubber and the taste of blood in my mouth. Hands had grabbed me; the van had been ready, someone had covered my head, and the city had vanished. Now, there was only this room and the soft scrape of shoes on concrete somewhere beyond the thin wall. Voices. The clink of metal. A radio’s low static. My blindfold was loose enough that when I tipped my head back, I could make the smallest slice of light cross the ceiling. It told me there was at least one crack to the outside. Footsteps. Two sets, approaching. I held my breath un
QUAN Everyone had played their part well—Salve with his cold control, Dimitri with his charm, Lia with her perfect mask. But I could see the strain behind her eyes.She needed an escape from all this ,I mean, she had earned it.And so I dared to test my limits. Dimitri was in the study when I found him, sprawled across the couch, sleeves rolled up, a glass of whiskey in hand. The man could look relaxed even while planning a war. He didn’t look up right away. “You’ve got that look again, cousin. The one that says you’re about to do something noble and stupid.” “I want to take her out,” I said flatly. “Just for a drive. She’s been locked up too long.” That got his attention. He arched an eyebrow, a slow grin tugging at his mouth. “A date, huh? Our little rabbit has charmed you properly.” I ignored the jab. “She needs to breathe, Dimitri. If she breaks, everything you and Salve have built starts to crack with her.” He took a sip, eyes narrowing like he was weighing my words.







