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Chapter 21: Provocations

Author: Fallenwild
last update Last Updated: 2025-03-12 04:48:33

But even through the thick wood, I could hear his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hallway. Each step felt like a countdown to my doom.

"Shit, shit, shit," I muttered under my breath, frantically looking around the room for something—anything—to barricade the door. The dresser was too heavy to move alone. The chair would barely slow him down.

The footsteps stopped outside my door. The silence that followed was somehow worse than the approaching thunder of his stride.

Three sharp knocks broke the quiet.

"Aria." I could hear the underlying current of rage. "Open the door."

I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to remain calm. "Go away, Cassian. I think we've both said enough for one night."

"I disagree," he replied. "We've only just begun this conversation. Open the door."

"The conversation is over," I called back, edging away from the door and toward the bed. "Go back to your evening. I'm sure you can find another...companion...on short notice."

I heard a sharp intake of
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  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 111: Almost Normal

    Aria "We can't keep wearing the same clothes," I said, eyeing Cassian's wrinkled shirt that he'd slept in. "And the fridge is completely empty."Cassian ran a hand through his disheveled hair, looking around the barren living room. "Yeah, I wasn't exactly thinking about groceries when I got this place."I walked over to him, looping my arms around his neck. "Look at us. Domestic problems." I smiled, trying to lighten the mood after yesterday's heaviness. "Just... needing to go shopping."His arms encircled my waist, pulling me closer. "Almost normal," he murmured against my hair."Almost." I pulled back slightly, meeting his eyes. "So... mall?"Twenty minutes later, we were walking through automatic doors of the nearest mall."Where first?" Cassian asked, his hand finding mine as if by instinct."Clothes," I decided, tugging him toward a department store. "I'm not spending another day in jeans."Shopping with Cassian was an experience. He trailed behind me through racks of women's cl

  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 110: Somewhere to Start

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  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 109: Yours, Not Hers

    "How is he?"Cassian pulled back just enough to look at me, his hands cupping my face as if he needed to assure himself I was real. "Not good. The doctors say..." He swallowed hard. "They're not optimistic."I nodded, blinking back tears. "Can I see him?""He's sleeping now." Cassian's thumb traced the curve of my cheek, his eyes never leaving mine. "Aria, about what happened—""Later," I interrupted gently. "We'll talk about everything later. Right now, I just need..."I didn't finish the sentence, but I didn't have to. Cassian understood. His hand found mine, fingers intertwining as he led me down the corridor, away from Viktor's room and the nursing station."Where are we going?" I asked as he pushed open the door to what looked like a small consultation room.He didn't answer, just pulled me inside and locked the door behind us. The room was furnished with only a small desk and two chairs, a window overlooking the city.Before I could say another word, Cassian's mouth was on mine.

  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 108: The Promise He Kept

    I turned, surprised by the hardness in his tone."I love you more than I've ever loved anything in this life," he continued. "But I can't keep doing this dance. I can't keep watching you run away when things get hard.""Things get hard?" I echoed incredulously. "We were kidnapped, Cassian. Tortured." "And I'm still here," he said fiercely. "Standing right in front of you, asking you to stay and fight for us instead of running away."His words hit their mark. Was that what I was doing? Running away when I should be fighting?"I don't know how to fight this toxicity," I admitted, my voice small.Cassian took a step toward me, careful, like I was a wounded animal that might bolt. "Together," he said simply. "We fight it together."I shook my head, tears flowing freely now. "It's not that simple.""It is," he insisted. "It's the simplest thing in the world, Aria. I love you. You love me. Everything else, we figure out as we go.""And what happens the next time someone comes for us? The n

  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 107: If You Walk Out That Door…

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    Aria's POVI couldn’t sleep so I sit on the balcony, knees pulled to my chest.I know it wasn't entirely his fault. I know that. But the memory—it replays in endless, torturous loops. Each time it feels like another piece of my heart shatters.I stare out at the city, wondering if love is supposed to feel this way—so heavy and suffocating at times that you're unsure if you can breathe. I love Cassian. My love for him runs deep, twisting through every part of me. He's my other half, my anchor. But with that love always comes something darker. Something I can't shake. A bad omen, hanging over us like a shadow. Could we ever escape it?Could we ever live a normal life?I remember once asking him that very question, if we could ever be normal. His answer was distant, almost resigned, as if the idea of "normal" wasn't in the cards for us. Maybe it never had been.Is this my new normal? Constantly afraid, constantly in danger, watching the man I love be violated while I'm forced to watch?T

  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 105: The Night Love Wasn’t Enough

    Cassian's POV"Keep your hands to yourself. Don’t touch me." she says, her voice flat. "I'm done with you and your fucked up lifestyle."I stand frozen in the middle of the room, blood still warm on my knuckles, watching as she places the gun in my hands. Her fingers are ice against mine. There's something vacant in her eyes—something I've never seen before. Not fear or shock, but something worse: emptiness.The rejection hits harder than any of Dom's blows. My throat constricts, words dying before they form. What the fuck am I supposed to say? That I'm sorry she had to watch Charlie violate me? That I'm sorry I couldn't protect her from seeing that?"Aria—""No." She cuts me off, wrapping her arms around herself. "I need space. I need... not this." Her eyes dart around the basement, on Charlie's body sprawled in a pool of crimson, on Dom's unconscious form. "I can't breathe down here."She turns abruptly, stumbling toward the stairs. I follow, each step sending pain shooting through

  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 104: Anything for Love II

    Aria's POVCharlie continues her assault, making obscene noises as she works, and I feel my stomach rolling in nausea. My vision blurs as tears well up, and I choke back a sob. I want to scream, to fight, to do anything to stop this, but I'm helpless, trapped in this nightmare.Cassian's eyes are on me the whole time, as if he's trying to communicate something, some silent message of strength, of endurance. But I can see the pain in his gaze, the torment of being unable to stop what's happening.And then, suddenly. Cassian's hand shoots out out of his restraints, grabbing Charlie's hair in a grip so tight it must be painful.Charlie's eyes widen in shock and fear as his grip tightens. Dom lurches forward with a shout, but he's too late. Cassian has already flung Charlie across the room. She crashes into the wine rack, bottles shattering around her as she falls.Dom moved like a snake, delivering a brutal kick to Cassian's ribs that sends him crashing to the ground. The sound of his bo

  • The Mafia Debt   Chapter 103: Anything for Love

    Aria's POVI sit rigidly in the basement they let us into—our own basement, turned prison—my heart hammering against my ribcage so violently I fear it might shatter. Across from me sits Cassian. He's tense, every muscle in his body coiled tight like a spring ready to snap, eyes darting between me and Dom, calculating, always calculating.Dom stands between us. "We're going to play a game," he announces. "It's called Anything for Love." He smirks, savoring each syllable. "I want to see just how far the great Cassian Romano will go to protect his precious Aria.""If you touch her—""Ah, ah, ah," Dom interrupts, wagging a finger like he's scolding a child. "No threats, Cassian. Remember who holds the power now." His gaze slides to me, making my skin crawl. "And if you don't comply..." He lets the threat hang in the air, but it's clear—if Cassian doesn't play along, I'm the one who'll suffer.The basement feels smaller suddenly, the air thicker."Cassian," I start, trying to sound brave,

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