Chapter 12

Raven's pov

Chapter : Honeymoon Lies

Santorini.

That’s where Sienna thinks I should spend my “honeymoon.”

Honeymoon.

A joke wrapped in white silk and gold-dusted lies.

With a man I’ve barely seen since we exchanged rings two weeks ago. Rings that still feel like handcuffs.

“I’m not going to Santorini,” I say flatly.

Sienna groans, tossing the glossy travel pamphlet on the coffee table. It skids across the surface, nearly knocking over her half-empty cup of matcha.

“Why not? It’s stunning. Blue roofs, white buildings, the ocean! You could heal your soul there.”

“Maybe when I have a real wedding. A real marriage,” I mutter, taking a sip of my coffee. It burns my tongue,scalding, bitter, perfect.

“For now,” I continue, “there’s no way in hell I’m flying off to paradise with Leon Vitali.”

Sienna frowns, flipping through a wedding magazine like she’s searching for answers in the folds of a veil. “Do you even want a real marriage?”

Her question lingers in the air like the scent of strong espresso and gunpowder memories. I look out the window, watching the early morning sun fight through gray clouds.

“Maybe.”

Marcus’s gray eyes flash behind my lids,stormy and intense, the kind that unravel you without mercy. His hands on my hips, his breath hot on my throat. That smirk that said he knew.

And his—

“Are you daydreaming?” Sienna’s voice cuts through, dragging me back.

I blink. “Yeah. You ruined it.”

“Who was it about?” she teases, lifting her matcha for another sip.

I pause, keeping my face smooth. This is the part where I lie.

“Some random guy,” I shrug.

Sienna narrows her eyes at me like she’s trying to read a secret coded in my pupils. “Right. And I’m marrying Ryan Reynolds next week.”

“Congrats.” I smirk. “Tell him I said hi.”

She rolls her eyes and tosses a throw pillow at

me. “You’ve been...weird lately. Distant.”

“I’m married now,” I reply with a sarcasm-tinged smile. “You know, playing house. Sharing bathrooms. Living the dream.”

Sienna sighs. “It doesn’t have to be like this. You could try.”

“Try what? Being happy with the butcher?” My voice comes out sharper than I intend.

The air thickens.

She studies me. “Raven... is he hurting you?”

Like anybody can hurt me.

I exhale slowly. “No. He’s just... absent. He married me for politics, not love.”

She hesitates, then says, “Then maybe you deserve something more.”

Is Sienna March hinting that I should start an affair? Is the world ending?

My phone buzzes on the table. I glance at it.

Marcus: Safe room. 30 minutes. Come.

I flip the phone over before she sees.

“Who was that?” she asks.

“Work.” Another lie, easy now. Too easy.

“Riiight,” she says, dragging the word out. “You’re so mysterious these days. Next thing I know, you’ll have a secret lover stashed in the wine cellar.”

I laugh, though it feels like a confession caught in my throat. “Please. The wine cellar’s too cold for that.”

She chuckles, but I see the question still brewing in her eyes.

An hour later, I’m in the back of a black car, fingers drumming against the leather seat, heart beating far too fast for someone so used to danger, I take a deep breathe before I come down and head to the safe house.

Marcus opens the door before I knock.

He doesn’t speak. Just looks at me like he owns me.

Because in these stolen hours,he does.

His hands are on me before I take two steps inside. Rough, demanding, familiar.

“This is a bad idea,” I breathe.

His lips are already at my neck. “Then why are you always showing up?”

He’s right. I hate that he’s right.

Later, I lie on the bed, staring at the cracked ceiling of the safehouse. My body aches in the best way, but my mind is a mess of what-ifs and guilt and twisted pleasure.

Marcus props himself up beside me, brushing a thumb down my bare back.

“You think he suspects?”

I glance at him. “Leon? No. He barely sees me. I don’t think he’d care if he did.”

“He would.” Marcus’s jaw tightens. “He’s still a Vitali.”

I snort. “So what are you saying? You want to fight for me in the ring like some caveman?”

He leans in, presses a kiss to my shoulder. “Maybe I would.”

I roll away from him. “Don’t say things like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I might believe you.”

I dont kid myself into believing that what Marcus and I have is more than a fling, I know Marcus too well.

That night, I return home to an empty mansion that smells like polished wood and nothing else. No warmth. No laughter. Just silence.

The lights are off in Leon’s room.

No surprise there.

I pass it and head to mine, stripping off the stolen scent of Marcus in the shower. I scrub too hard, as if it’ll wash the betrayal off me.

It doesn’t.

The next morning, Sienna is already in the kitchen, flipping through another travel pamphlet.

Ever since I got "married" its been like Sienna moved in with me, shes here almost every day.

“Santorini?” I ask, smirking as I pour my coffee.

“Not anymore. Now I’m thinking Amalfi.”

I shake my head. “You're more excited about my fake honeymoon than I am.”

“Because you deserve something nice.” She looks up. “Even if the marriage sucks, you should take a moment to breathe.”

I sip the coffee, bitter and hot. “You know I can’t afford to breathe.”

“You’re not a soldier anymore, Raven.”

“Yes, I am.” My eyes meet hers. “Only now, my battlefield’s dressed in silk and diamonds.”

She doesn’t respond.

A maid entering the room fumbles, and a glass bottle slips from her hands, crashing to the tile. Champagne spills across the floor.

“Shit!” she yelps, kneeling to clean it.

Sienna and I exchange a glance.

“Careful,” I say. “Don’t cut yourself.”

The maid apologizes profusely. I wave her off. As she finishes, she places another bottle,unbroken,on the counter and retreats.

Sienna pops the cork. “Well, looks like we’re drinking now.”

She pours into two flutes and hands one to me.

I lift the glass, about to drink,then pause.

I sniff it. There’s something… off. A sharp undertone beneath the bubbles.

Sienna notices. “What?”

“Smell this.”

She takes the glass from me, frowns, and sniffs.

Her eyes widen. “That’s not just champagne.”

My spine goes stiff.

Dammit, not again.

“Get the maid back in here,” I say.

Sienna nods and runs after her.

I stare at the glass,

Someone tried to poison me, again.

The honeymoon’s over before it ever began.