All Chapters of Twisted vows : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Nikolai’s POVThe last time I drove this road, I wasn’t sure if I was chasing the past or trying to escape it.This time, I wasn’t alone.Alessia was sitting next to me, quiet, her eyes glued to the vineyards rolling by like waves of green and gold. The Sicilian sun was shining down on her, but her face didn’t show any warmth. It was like she was wearing grief as a kind of armor—smooth, silent, and dangerous.I couldn’t really blame her.I hadn’t earned her trust yet. Maybe I never would.But still, she came along.That meant something.We drove south in silence, and soon the signs for Marsala started popping up. The closer we got, the more the vibe changed—less shiny city life, more dusty, forgotten corners. This place had a history. The kind of old that remembers everything.The kind of old that holds grudges.“She’s waiting for us,” I said softly.Alessia didn’t even look at me. “That’s good.”Lina Fiore lived on the town’s edge, in a stone cottage jammed between overgrown olive tr

Alessia’s POVMarinella was super quiet in the morning. Too quiet, actually. You could hear kids laughing from a school up on the hill, but down by the beach, it was just the sound of the waves and wind. It felt nice and peaceful, but I’d learned that peace can be a bit sketchy, usually meaning someone’s hiding something.So, we decided to split up. Nikolai went to the police station to dig up some records, while I headed to the fisherman’s village. It was a small place with families running little shops by the water—old guys smoking pipes, women drying tomatoes under the sun. Everyone was giving me these sideways glances, like I didn’t fit in.They weren’t wrong. But I wasn’t there to fit in. I was there to find Luca.At a small bar near the pier, I ran into a woman named Rosa. She looked to be in her mid-forties, pretty heavy-set, with salt-and-pepper hair tied back in a bright red bandana. She was pouring coffee without even glancing at me—until I pulled out the photo.It was an ol

Alessia’s POVWe took off from Villa Ombra as the sun was coming up.The priest stood by the door, watching us leave, like a ghost that doesn’t want to fade away. I wasn’t fully sure I trusted him, but I felt like he cared for Luca, in his own quiet way. Maybe that’s something special, you know?As the car rolled down the coastal road, those words popped back into my head, stuck there like a tattoo:“Where the stars are blind and the sky opens wide.”I said them out loud. “Where the stars are blind…”Nikolai chimed in, “Could be a metaphor or maybe it’s literal. A place where you can’t see any stars. Like somewhere underground.”“Nah. If that’s the case, the sky wouldn’t be open.” I shook my head. “But this says the sky opens wide.”He shot me a glance. “What do you think it means?”“Something big. Empty. Far away.” I paused for a moment. “Maybe a desert.”He looked puzzled. “A desert?”“Think about it. Where else do the stars seem blind? It’s like the sky just swallows everything and

Alessia’s POVEverything just stopped.I wasn’t sure if it was Luca’s words or the way he said them—so soft, so broken, like it really hurt to keep that truth hidden for so long. My throat felt tight.“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling the weight of it all. “Luca… you’re saying Matteo is alive?”He nodded. “I saw him. Not too long ago. In Morocco. He found me.”Nikolai straightened up next to me. “How do you know it was really him?”Luca’s expression darkened. “Because he called me figlio mio. And he had my mother’s handwriting tattooed on his arm.”My heart shattered.Elena’s writing. Her words. He must’ve held onto them close.“He didn’t try to take you?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.“No. He said… he had to keep hidden. That people were watching him. If he got too close to me, they’d find us both.”I swallowed hard. “Who? Who’s watching?”He shook his head. “He wouldn’t tell me names. But he left me with Salma. He said Vetra would keep me safe, and that if anything ha

Alessia’s POVI was on my own.Nikolai didn’t argue, but I could see the conflict in his eyes. He wanted to protect me, but he knew some things had to be faced alone.The Alps loomed around me like stern guardians, both stunning and harsh. I remembered this place. I could hear Elena’s laughter in the snow. I recalled Matteo brushing snow off my scarf, teasing me with “testa di vento”—wind-head—because I never wore a hat.That was before everything shattered.Now, every chilly breeze felt like ghosts trying to break free from the past.I followed the map north, past the lodges and ski trails, up a twisting path that only the locals would know. The snow fell gently as I hiked, each step swallowed by the quiet around me.At the top of a ridge, I spotted it.A cabin.It was old and hidden away, with a roof sagging under the weight of snow. Smoke curled from the chimney—just a little, enough to suggest someone was home.I gripped the knife Nikolai had given me tightly.I moved closer, slow