Chapter Five: Lines that blur

The bruises on Serena’s palms had already begun to fade, but the ache in her chest hadn’t.

It wasn’t the gunfire. It wasn’t the blood or the knowledge that someone had tried to kill her.

It was Matteo.

The way he’d looked at her when she was bleeding.

The way he’d killed for her—again.

And the way, even now, as she sat in the warm light of the library, she couldn’t stop thinking about the warmth of his hand against hers, or the way his voice had lowered when he said he’d burn the estate down before letting harm touch her again.

He was not a good man.

But he was a dangerous one who was beginning to make her feel something she didn’t know how to name.

And that made her terrified.

---

She didn’t expect to see him that night.

Dinner had passed in silence—delivered by Mara with no explanation. She thought he might have gone to handle the fallout from the attack. Maybe interrogate another informant. Maybe bury another body.

But just after midnight, the door to her chambers opened without warning.

And there he was.

---

Serena stood immediately. “Matteo—”

“You’re awake.” His voice was low. Raspy. Like he hadn’t spoken in hours.

He closed the door behind him and took two steps forward.

She froze.

“I didn’t know you’d come.”

“I didn’t know I would either.”

There was something different in his expression. Less iron. Less command.

More… real.

He wasn’t wearing a suit for once. Just a simple black dress shirt, sleeves pushed up, the top buttons undone. No armor. No mask.

Just Matteo.

And when he looked at her, it was like the rest of the world had vanished.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, her voice too soft.

“I know.” He reached into his coat and pulled something out.

A small, velvet-wrapped box.

She blinked. “What is that?”

He held it out to her, but didn’t answer.

Curious, wary, she took it.

Inside: a thin silver chain. A charm at the center.

A lion, crowned with thorns.

Just like the one in the photograph of her father.

Her breath caught.

“I had it made,” he said. “Based on what you found in the ledger.”

She stared down at it. “Why?”

He shrugged, eyes unreadable. “Because you’re not just a pawn anymore. You're a name. A bloodline. A queen in your own right.”

Serena’s throat tightened. “Why are you really here, Matteo?”

He didn’t answer.

Not with words.

Instead, he stepped closer, his hand lifting to touch the side of her face.

She let him.

Her heart pounded.

His fingers were rough, calloused—evidence of violence. But the way he touched her was almost reverent. Like she was something rare. Something breakable.

“You shouldn’t touch me like that,” she whispered.

“I know.”

But he didn’t stop.

His thumb grazed her cheekbone, his eyes fixed on hers.

“Why did you really marry me?” she asked. “Tell me the whole truth. Not just the political reason. Not the legacy.”

Matteo’s voice was a low rasp. “Because the day I saw your photograph—years ago—I knew who you were.”

Her breath caught. “What?”

“I’ve known you existed since I was twenty-one. I didn’t know your name. Didn’t know where you were hidden. But the second I found you…”

His hand slid to the back of her neck, gently.

“I couldn't let anyone else have you.”

The confession landed like thunder in her chest.

“You didn’t even know me.”

“I didn’t need to.”

“That’s not love.”

“I never said it was,” he said, voice raw. “But it was obsession. And it’s only gotten worse.”

Their bodies were inches apart now. The air between them was hot with tension.

“You terrify me,” she whispered.

He smiled faintly. “Good.”

“Because if I stop being afraid of you, I might start wanting you.”

The smile vanished.

And in the silence that followed, the entire world tilted.

His mouth hovered over hers. Close. Close enough to taste.

But neither moved.

“Then want me,” Matteo said finally. “But understand that if you do… there’s no turning back.”

Serena stared at him, trembling.

And then she turned away.

---

She couldn’t sleep after he left.

She stood by the window for hours, chain in her hand, stormlight flickering across her skin.

She didn’t put it on.

Not yet.

But she didn’t throw it away either.

---

The next morning, Mara arrived with news.

“The council has called for you to appear again,” she said, brushing invisible lint off Serena’s dress. “There are questions about the shooting.”

Serena stilled. “They think I had something to do with it?”

“They think your existence caused it.”

Matteo appeared shortly after, dressed in black again, the King restored.

He said nothing as they walked through the corridor. But as they reached the council hall, he touched her hand.

“I’ll be beside you,” he said.

She nodded.

But she was no longer walking like a captive.

She was walking like someone who had begun to understand her worth.

---

Inside the chamber, Arturo Bianchi was already waiting.

As were the others.

“Ah,” Arturo said when Serena entered. “The lioness returns.”

Serena didn’t flinch.

“What questions do you have for me?” she asked.

Arturo smiled thinly. “Only one. Are you worth the blood we’ve shed to keep you alive?”

Serena stepped forward, past Matteo, and said clearly:

“Yes.”

A long silence.

Then a ripple of laughter.

But no one challenged her.

Because somewhere in their eyes, she saw it:

Fear.

---

That night, she finally wore the necklace.

And when Matteo saw her at dinner, he didn’t say a word.

But the way he looked at her—

She wasn’t just his captive anymore.

She was his equal.

And that was far more dangerous.