Adriana’s POVThe living room was dark except for the soft, flickering light of the television screen. The only other glow came from the dim lamp in the corner casting a warm hue over the room that did nothing to match the cold feeling tightening in my chest. Isabella was curled up on my lap with her head gently resting just above my knee nd her tiny breath rising and falling in rhythmic moves. I had one hand resting lightly on her backs my fingers subconsciously stroking through her curls. She was the only warmth I had right now. The only person I could call my own. I wasn’t even watching the news really. My eyes were on the screen but my mind was far away all tangled in threads of paranoia and confusion and exhaustion that had wrapped themselves around me since we got here. And then the news about the pregnancy that I hope is a scare. Russia was supposed to be safe like a temporary escape or a limbo where I could just breathe and figure things out but the silence was starting to
Adriana’s POVI didn’t sleep not even a second. I laid on the couch wirj arms wrapped around a cushion that didn’t smell like anything but clean fabric and detergent. My eyes kept tracing the cracks on the ceiling like they might rearrange themselves into some kind of answer. I wasn’t waiting for slee though, was waiting for a sign. For something to make this feel less like a mistake. Every now and then I glanced at the door, where all our bags sat lined up like little soldiers ready for orders. I hadn’t unpacked because I didn’t dare to make another comfort. The idea of staying long enough to fold things into drawers felt dangerous. Like false hope and betrayal at the same time. My chest felt like it was stuffed with rocks and my brain was too full of memories to think clearly. All I could do was wait for Isabella to wake up and for Nathan to show up.When I finally heard the soft rustling down the hall and the tiny yawn I knew by hear I sat up slowly wiping the sleep I didn’t ge
Adriana’s POVI didn’t sleep because I couldn’t. My body lay motionless under the covers but my mind was alive and burning and storming. Every word my so-called stepbrother said kept playing on repeat like a broken record in my head. Every possibility and every implication and every threat. I was numb and overstimulated all at once caught in the kind of mental spiral that makes time feel like a slow, cruel drip. At some point I’d drifted to the edge of sleep, not fully in it and not fully out of it. Just floating.And that’s when I heard the knock. I sat up slowly, my heart flipping over in my chest. No one knocked on my door like that unless…… The door creaked open before I could even say anything and just like that Rafael walked in closing the door behind him like he owned the night.My heart stuttered and not in the romantic way no. It was violent like it slammed against my ribcage and got stuck there. He looked too good even though I’m sure he didn’t go back to the estate since h
Adriana’s POVAfter Rafael left that night the silence wrapped around me again like a cold blanket I couldn't shake off. I sat still for a long time. My body was still warm from where he’d touched me but my mind was a battlefield. My thoughts were chaotic and wild and running over each other with no pattern or no sense. I didn’t know if I wanted to cry or scream or sleep for a week. I felt too much and yet nothing at the same time. And in the stillness that followed his absence, my past came creeping back like a shadow I hadn’t invited but could never shake.I stood slowly dragging my feet to the kitchen while pretending like I needed water but I knew I wouldn’t drink it. I just needed something to do with my hands. Something to ground me while my heart thudded and my stomach twisted. But even that didn’t work. The moment I leaned against the counter, I slid down to the floor my knees pulled to my chest and I buried my face in them. I don’t know how long I stayed like that but memo
Adriana’s POVI was still sitting there curled on the edge of the couch like I had been for hours, though I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Nathan left. The silence of the house had grown into something oppressive. I kept waiting for it to collapse in on me or to crush the breath out of my lungs. My thoughts had twisted into a thousand aching knots looping back on themselves over and over again. I felt raw and stripped down to something childlike and trembling. And then I heard the low hum of an engine outside. Not loud or aggressive like I’d expect from Rafael. But I recognized the sound instantly. Even before I saw his silhouette through the front window I felt it. That pull in the center of my chest. That tightening in my throat. My body so fucking traitorous and weak already knew he was near. That familiar tension returned like an old enemy I never quite managed to destroy. The air shifted the moment he stepped inside.He didn’t say anything at first. Just walked in l
Adriana’s POVI sat down in front of him dragging the wooden chair backward with a screech that made my teeth grit. The living room was so still that the sound felt like it echoed. He was seated on the armrest of the couch with his elbows braced on his knees and face hanging low like the weight of the world was tied to his neck.He didn’t say anything for a while Just kept staring at the floor and I kept staring at him. I was tired. Not physically no. Emotionally mentally and spiritually. Tired of secrets. Tired of men with half truths and eyes that couldn’t look directly into mine. Tired of being yanked around like my life wasn’t even mine to begin with.So I waited. Eventually he exhaled like someone squeezing the last breath from his chest and slowly lifted his head. His eyes met mine and they weren’t filled with fear exactly. Just hesitation. Like he was about to say something that would permanently change the direction of everything.And then he said it.“I’m your brother.” He bl