CHAPTER EIGHT

The Room Beside Hers:

At exactly 2:13 a.m., someone knocked on Amara's door.

She opened her eyes slowly.

For a moment, she didn't know where she was.

Then she remembered.

Alessia's estate.

The security breach.

Victoria.

And the terrifying photograph.

Another knock came.

"Amara."

Alessia.

Amara sat up immediately.

"What happened?"

"Get dressed."

There was something in Alessia's voice that made her heart race.

She didn't ask questions.

She grabbed a sweater and opened the door.

Alessia stood outside.

She was barefoot.

Her hair was slightly messy, and she was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

For the first time, she looked less like the terrifying woman everyone feared.

She looked tired.

Human.

"What's wrong?" Amara whispered.

"Security found movement on the east side of the property."

"Again?"

Alessia nodded.

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"My room."

Amara froze.

"Your room?"

"It's the safest place in the house."

There was no hesitation in Alessia's voice.

Amara followed her.

Alessia's bedroom was nothing like Amara expected.

It was large, but not extravagant.

Dark walls.

A bookshelf covering almost an entire wall.

A fireplace.

A small sitting area near the windows.

And surprisingly, several photographs.

Amara walked toward them.

"Those are your family?"

"Some of them."

She picked up one photograph.

A much younger Alessia stood beside Matteo.

They couldn't have been more than teenagers.

Alessia looked different.

Softer.

Amara smiled.

"You actually smiled."

Alessia looked at the photograph.

"I was young."

"So?"

"So I hadn't learned better."

Amara laughed quietly.

Alessia glanced at her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You were smiling."

"Was I?"

"Yes."

Alessia looked away.

Amara smiled again.

"I like it."

Alessia's eyes returned to her.

"Like what?"

"When you smile."

Something shifted in Alessia's expression.

She put the photograph down.

"You shouldn't say things like that."

"Why?"

"Because you don't know what they do to me."

Amara's heartbeat quickened.

Neither woman spoke.

Finally, Amara looked away.

"Tell me something."

"What?"

"Something nobody knows about you."

Alessia raised an eyebrow.

"That's a dangerous question."

"I'm willing to take the risk."

Alessia thought for a moment.

"I hate thunderstorms."

Amara blinked.

"You?"

"Yes."

"The woman who terrifies entire companies is afraid of thunder?"

"I didn't say I was afraid."

"You just said you hate them."

"They remind me of things."

"What things?"

Alessia's expression became distant.

"Things I lost."

Amara didn't push.

Instead, she sat on the edge of the bed.

"What's your favorite memory?"

Alessia stared at the floor.

"I don't have one."

"Everyone has one."

"Not everyone."

Amara studied her.

"Then make one."

Alessia looked at her.

"Make one?"

"Yeah."

"With what?"

"Something simple."

Amara smiled.

"Like dinner. Or a stupid conversation at two in the morning."

A tiny laugh escaped Alessia.

A real one.

Amara stared.

Alessia immediately looked embarrassed.

"You laughed."

"Don't."

"You actually laughed."

"I said don't."

Amara couldn't stop smiling.

"You're different when you laugh."

Alessia looked at her.

"So are you."

Their eyes met.

Neither moved.

For a moment, the entire world seemed to disappear.

Then Alessia's phone rang.

She answered.

"Yes?"

Her expression changed.

"Where?"

Amara watched the warmth disappear from her face.

"Don't touch anything."

She ended the call.

"What happened?"

"They found something."

Five minutes later, Matteo entered the room carrying a black evidence bag.

Inside was the flash drive.

And an envelope.

Alessia took it.

There was one name written across the front.

AMARA QUINN.

Amara's stomach dropped.

"That's mine."

"I know."

Alessia opened it carefully.

A photograph fell onto the bed.

Amara picked it up.

Her breath stopped.

Her father.

Daniel.

Standing beside a much younger Alessia.

And another woman.

Victoria Laurent.

All three were standing outside what looked like an old mansion.

On the back of the photograph was a date.

September 14, 2020.

Amara stared at Alessia.

"You were all together."

Alessia said nothing.

"You told me you knew my father."

"I did."

"This isn't just knowing someone."

Alessia's jaw tightened.

"Amara..."

"How long did you know him?"

"Years."

"Did you love him?"

The question hung in the room.

Matteo looked away.

Alessia stared at the photograph.

"I cared about him."

"That's not what I asked."

Alessia slowly looked at her.

"I loved him."

Amara's chest tightened.

"In what way?"

Alessia shook her head.

"Not the way you're thinking."

"Then what way?"

"Daniel was important to me."

"Was Victoria important to you too?"

Alessia's expression hardened.

"No."

"Never?"

"Never."

"Then why were the three of you together?"

"Because we were negotiating something."

"What?"

Alessia looked toward Matteo.

He quietly left the room.

Amara noticed.

"What were you negotiating?"

"Money."

"Whose money?"

"Your father's."

Amara felt like the room had shifted.

"My father didn't have money."

"Not at the end."

Alessia's voice softened.

"He had something worth more than money."

"What?"

"I don't know."

Amara frowned.

"How can you not know?"

"Because he never told me."

"And Victoria?"

Alessia's eyes darkened.

"Victoria wanted it."

"What was it?"

"I don't know."

Amara looked at the photograph again.

"Then why does she want me?"

Alessia stepped closer.

"Because she believes you have it."

"I don't."

"Maybe you don't know that you do."

Amara looked up at her.

"And you?"

"What?"

"Do you think I have it?"

Alessia's eyes stayed on hers.

"I think your father trusted you more than anyone."

Silence.

Amara looked down.

Her eyes burned.

"I miss him."

Alessia's expression softened.

"I know."

"You didn't know him like I did."

"No."

A pause.

"But I know what he was trying to protect."

Amara looked at her.

"What?"

"You."

Later that night, Amara sat quietly on the edge of Alessia's bed.

Her mind wouldn't stop.

Her father.

Victoria.

The photograph.

The secrets.

Everything she'd believed about Daniel was beginning to crack.

Alessia stood near the window.

"Why are you still awake?"

"So are you."

"I asked first."

Amara smiled faintly.

"Because I'm scared."

Alessia turned.

"Of Victoria?"

"Of everything."

Alessia walked toward her.

"You don't have to be."

"How can you say that?"

"Because you're with me."

Amara looked at her.

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes."

Despite herself, Amara laughed softly.

Alessia smiled.

Then her phone rang again.

This time it was Matteo.

Alessia answered.

"What?"

His voice was serious.

"She's behind it."

"Who?"

"Victoria."

Alessia's face went still.

"What did she do?"

"She sent a message."

"To who?"

"You."

Alessia's eyes moved toward Amara.

"What does it say?"

Matteo hesitated.

"She said you have twenty-four hours."

"For what?"

"To give her Amara."

Alessia's grip tightened around the phone.

"No."

"Alessia—"

"No."

She ended the call.

Amara stared at her.

"What did she say?"

Alessia walked toward her.

"Victoria wants you."

"I know."

"No."

Alessia's voice dropped.

"You don't understand."

She sat beside Amara.

"She isn't asking."

Amara swallowed.

"Then what is she doing?"

"Starting a war."

Amara looked at her.

"And you're going to fight her?"

Alessia's eyes were cold.

"For you?"

She paused.

"For the first time in my life, I'm not sure I have a choice."

Amara's heart skipped.

Alessia reached for her hand.

Their fingers slowly intertwined.

Neither pulled away.

Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.

Amara looked at their hands.

Then at Alessia.

"Why do you care so much?"

Alessia didn't answer immediately.

Her thumb brushed lightly over Amara's knuckles.

Finally, she whispered,

"I don't know."

But the look in her eyes said something else.

She was beginning to know.

She was just terrified of admitting it.

And somewhere beyond the walls of the estate, Victoria Laurent was watching.

Waiting.

Because she knew something Alessia didn't.

Something about Daniel.

Something about Amara.

Something that could destroy them both.

To be continued...