ArynI was still shaking.Not from fear—fuck no. I’d stared fear in the face too many times to flinch now. This was something else. Something darker. Anger, maybe. The kind that crawled beneath your skin and set fire to your blood. The kind that burned so hot and so long it became part of you.Lorenzo was gone.He’d left. Just walked out like he hadn’t watched me launch a crystal glass at his fucking head and scream that I hated him. Like I was a ghost, or worse, a nuisance he couldn't be bothered to deal with.No shouting. No “calm down, Aryn.” No threats. No slamming doors. No cruel smirk and whispered punishments. Not even a goddamn look back.Just silence.And somehow, that silence cut deeper than any of the sharp-edged words he used to throw at me like knives.He always knew how to keep me in line without ever really touching me. That was the worst part. He didn’t need to chain me to a wall to make me feel caged. All he had to do was look at me a certain way—calm, cold, knowing.
LorenzoWhat the hell was I thinking?The thought had been gnawing at the back of my skull like a parasite all evening, and now it roared inside me as I stood on the stone balcony just outside my room. The night air was sharp, biting—like winter had made a premature return just to punish me. The wind tore through my shirt, slicing across my skin like it had a feud with me, and I stood still and let it. I deserved it.Below me, the city spread out in ribbons of golden light and distant noise—alive, pulsing, uncaring. From this height, the chaos looked manageable, almost beautiful. But up close? It was war. It was betrayal and masks and shadows pretending to be men. It was exactly what I’d grown up in. It was exactly what I’d become.I took a long drag from the cigarette burning between my fingers, held the smoke in my lungs until it hurt, then let it escape slowly, watching it twist and disappear into the night like a ghost with unfinished business.What was I thinking, kissing her?Wh
ArynI had expected hell.What I got was gilded chaos wrapped in champagne and secrets.The party was in full swing by the time Lorenzo led me down the marble staircase. Music pulsed from a live string quartet off to the side. Waiters glided across the floor with silver trays, offering caviar and wine like this was some Versailles fever dream instead of a goddamn mafia summit.I clutched the railing as if it might save me from toppling into the glittering abyss of liars, killers, and smiling politicians. My gown—sleek black velvet with a plunging neckline and a slit that could start wars—clung to me like a second skin. Zara had done my makeup so well I barely recognized myself in the mirror. For a second, I looked like I belonged.Almost.Lorenzo was all sharp lines and ice beside me. Black suit. No tie. The kind of man people didn’t just notice—they made way for.And the moment we reached the bottom step, he wrapped a possessive arm around my waist.His voice was low, cool. “Smile li
ArynThe next morning, I shoved the empty tray of food to the edge of the nightstand and stood at the mirror, inspecting the bruise on my collarbone like it had something new to say.It didn’t.Just like Lorenzo hadn’t come home.Coward.I knew it was more complicated than that, but still—fuck him.He left me alone with a folder full of betrayal and a thousand questions no one would answer. And I hated that it felt worse than any of the bruises on my skin. Because no matter how I turned it around in my head, I kept ending up in the same place: Arya was hiding shit.A lot of it.And if what Lorenzo said was true—if she’d really betrayed him, her own fiancé Liam, and possibly more people—I was stepping into a storm I didn’t even have boots for.I tied the robe tighter around my waist and stepped into the hallway, bare feet silent on the cold floor. I found Lorenzo exactly where I expected him—outside the study, talking to some guy in a charcoal suit with a buzzcut and a snake tattoo pee
ArynThe hallway outside my temporary prison wasn’t much brighter than the room I’d just been dying in. The lights above flickered with a sickly yellow color, buzzing faintly like they were protesting every second they had to stay alive—just like me.I kept my steps steady even though my legs were shaking like hell underneath me. Lorenzo walked ahead without looking back, but I could feel him watching. The tension between us was thick, like coiled wire stretched too tight, ready to snap with one wrong breath. Or a word.He hadn’t said a word since I followed him out.Not a threat. Not a taunt.Not even a glance.Which made me more uneasy than if he’d pulled a fucking gun.I knew silence like that—it was the kind of quiet that only ever came before a storm. And Lorenzo? He was the fucking hurricane that made it.We took two turns. Passed four doors. I counted. I always counted. Because I didn’t know when I’d get locked in again, and next time, I needed to be smarter. Next time, I wasn’
ArynThree days. Three fucking, shitty days.That’s how long it had been.Three days of silence, of being locked in this room, of eating next to nothing. A crust of bread. A single apple. A glass of water that tasted more like pity than mercy. Not enough to live on. Just enough to not die. Not yet.Lorenzo wasn’t starving me.He was testing me.Punishing me, or maybe both.And I could feel it. In my ribs poking through tighter skin, in the cold shivers that came even when the air was warm, in the way my thoughts started to come slower. My stomach twisted and cramped with each hour that passed. My mouth was dry even though I’d rationed the water. He wanted me to beg and wanted me to break till I did so he was pulling this silly stunt. Just enough food to stay alive. Just enough water to keep my lips from cracking. A small piece of dry bread on the first day. Half a bruised apple on the second. A glass of water on the third. That was it.This wasn’t a room anymore.It was a tomb in wait