LOGINHe closed the distance.His lips pressed against mine and stayed there. Unhurried. Certain. Like everything he did. His hands stayed on my face, holding the angle exactly where he wanted it, and I stood completely still with my hands at my sides and my heart slamming so hard I could feel it in my throat.He pulled back slowly.His thumb traced my lower lip once."Be good," he said.He let go.Turned and walked out.The door clicked shut behind him.I stood exactly where he'd left me. My face still warm where his hands had been. My lips warm. The room suddenly very quiet.I pressed my fingers against my mouth and stood there in the silence.Why me.That was all. Just those two words sitting in the middle of my chest like something that had been there a long time and finally gotten too heavy to ignore.Why me.I was so tired.Not the kind of tired that sleep fixed. The other kind. The kind that went down into the bones and stayed there. The kind that made the idea of just stopping feel
I didn't sleep.Not a single hour.I lay on top of the blanket with my eyes fixed on the ceiling and my body rigid and my mind running the same loop over and over until the words stopped meaning anything. Five miles west. Road north. Bus station. Call the number. The loop wore grooves into my thoughts, smooth and automatic, the way prayers get worn smooth when someone says them long enough without believing anymore.At some point the sky outside my window shifted from black to dark grey. Then to the flat colorless light that came before actual dawn.I sat up.My neck ached. My eyes felt dry and gritty. I pressed my knuckles against them until the sting faded.I got dressed slowly. White shirt. Grey pants. The same things I always wore. Nothing different. Nothing that would make anyone look twice.I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. Stood at the mirror for a moment longer than I meant to. The face looking back at me was pale and hollow eyed and very still.I turn
Hello Lovelies, Thank you for your patience. Sorry for the confusion earlier. I had posted an author note about the chapter splitting process, but due to a small glitch it didn’t appear properly. The chapter adjustments are now completed and currently under review. If you had already read up to CHAPTER 88, that was the last chapter before the split. The chapters between 88 and 148 are simply the divided versions of the earlier chapters, so if you were already caught up before, you don’t need to unlock them again. The next new chapter will begin from CHAPTER 149, and new updates will start from tomorrow. Thank you so much for your patience, understanding, and for supporting this book. Your comments, gems, and love truly mean a lot to me. Now the story continues. 🩷
"You can't avoid me forever."His voice was rough. Low. Like gravel scraping against stone.His grip in my hair tightened."You better understand that."Then he leaned in.His nose brushed against my neck. I felt him inhale.Slowly. Deeply. Like he was trying to pull my scent into his lungs and keep it there forever.A sound came from deep in his chest. Rough. Almost animalistic.His mouth pressed against my throat. Hot. Open.Then I felt his tongue.He licked a slow line up the side of my neck. Tasting me.I gasped. My whole body went rigid.His arm around my waist tightened even more. Crushing me against him until I couldn't breathe properly. Until I could feel every hard plane of his body pressed against mine.His hand left my hair and slid down my spine. So slowly. His palm pressing into each vertebra like he was counting them. Memorizing them.When he reached the small of my back he spread his fingers wide. Possessive. Claiming that space as his.Then his hand started moving. Up.
"He's leaving the city tomorrow morning. Very early. Before dawn. Business that will take him away all day and possibly into the night."My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it."Tomorrow night is when you run," she continued. Her voice was low. Urgent. "Between eleven forty-five and midnight. That's when the guards change shifts. Security is weakest during the transition."I nodded frantically."I'll disable the cameras in the east corridor during that window. Fifteen minutes. That's all you'll have. The back gate near the rose garden will be unlocked."She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cloth bundle tied with string."Money. Enough to get you far away. And a phone with one number programmed in. When you're clear of the area you call it. Someone will meet you and help you disappear."I took the bundle with trembling hands. It was heavier than I expected. Real. Solid.I tucked it into my waistband. Pulled my shirt down over it until it was hidden against my spine
I woke to grey light filtering through the curtains.My body felt heavy. Like I'd been running in my sleep. Like exhaustion had soaked into my bones and wouldn't leave.I sat up slowly and pressed my palms against my eyes. Rubbed hard until I saw spots.Yesterday I hadn't left this room except to meet Irina. Hadn't gone to breakfast. Hadn't gone to lunch or dinner. Just stayed locked inside these four walls while my mind spun in circles.Because I couldn't face him yet.Not after that night. Not after seeing him sitting in my room in the darkness. Not after realizing what he'd been doing for three months while I slept.My stomach turned at the thought.I stood and walked to the bathroom. Turned on the cold water and splashed it on my face. Once. Twice. Three times until my skin burned from the cold and I could breathe properly again.I looked at myself in the mirror. Pale. Dark circles so deep they looked like bruises. Hair sticking up on one side where I'd slept on it wrong.I looked
The morning began with hands that weren't mine pulling me from sleep.I opened my eyes to find three women already in my room, moving with efficient silence. One carried a garment bag. One held a case of cosmetics that looked more like surgical instruments. The third was setting up lights around my
The women returned to help me into the dress.It took twenty minutes. The gown was a construction of Italian silk and French lace and boning that required architectural precision to assemble. They laced the corset so tight I could barely expand my lungs. The skirt was so heavy with beading and layer
A murmur of approval moved through the crowd.The Bishop turned to me.Every camera in the cathedral swiveled to focus on my face.Silence fell.Complete and absolute.I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears."And do you, Luna Vitiello," the Bishop's voice seemed to echo forever, "take thi
I looked up through tears and saw him running toward us, his face a mask of shock and rage and something that might have been fear."NO! LUNA!"Dario Vitiello rushed forward, hands raised, looking at the carnage around him. At his dead guards. At Moretti screaming on the floor. At his daughter being







