All Chapters of Blood Vengeance; a mafia romance story: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

I walk into the office with a splitting headache and not enough sleep. The Hamburg company has acknowledged the email with a polite formal response sitting in our shared inbox, and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I prepare Lucien’s coffee black as his soul and place it on his desk, before he arrives in a few minutes.Wait—when did this become so automatic? I don’t seem to think about it, I just do it. Anyways, it’s all part of the job. I shrug it off. One minute later, exactly at 7:59 am, Lucien walks into the office, on time as usual, and walks straight into his office, completely ignoring my presence.Great. I mean, that’s good for me. No complaints about yesterday. I sigh, feeling relieved for the second time today. I delve into reports and cross-check schedules for the day. Around mid-morning, a junior staff member from another floor enters my office, which is weird because none of them are allowed here, unless…oh, Lucien might have requested his presenc

A ping from my phone pulls my attention from the paperwork I’ve buried myself in since morning. I need to work on some shipments myself since that incident. I am not taking any second chances. The person at the end of the message had better pray that whatever they sent is worth the distraction. I open the phone, and it’s a report from my surveillance team on Zolandria. A single image is attached. I tap it and stare at it longer than I should. Castello.She was laughing. Head tilted slightly, completely unguarded. She looks nothing like the woman who sits three feet from my office every day. I don’t recognize her.A sharp irritation flares in my chest. Unacceptable. I’ve spent years mastering control. I refuse to let a picture of the enemy’s daughter crack it. I text Kane to bring her in, set my phone down, and walk to the window. I’ve always appreciated the view up here. It reminds me of how far I have come and what I have endured. When the door opens, I am still, and I don’t turn

The almost normal weekend is over, and I am back to the hostility of the office’s silence. Ida’s kitchen has been the break I need from everything, and now I am back to it like I never left. Stuck and forced to share a space with the last person I want to see. Lucien is already in, door closed, business as usual. I haven’t seen him since my Raven request, and I would’ve loved for it to be that way, but recently, life has taught me it runs on its own terms. Over the weekend, I decided that asking was enough. Lucien will always do what he wants, and I’ll definitely find a way to see her; it might not be soon, but I will see Raven. I delve into my tasks, already familiarized with how the whole system works, when the door opens, and Kane walks to my desk. “Lobby. Now.” No briefing or context, what is it again? I am getting tired of people ordering me around. I follow him into the elevator, trying to read his face and have a clue about what this is, but I get nothing. The elevator opens

It’s been four days since the name Ava stared right back at me from the crumpled piece, and it’s been ingrained in my memory since, refusing to let go. And then, I’m stuck doing the routine—black coffee for Lucien, task lists, reports, calls, files that need filing, and smiling when required, while underneath all of it, I wonder about a name change processed in 2001, for a girl the same age as me back then. A girl whose original name was never mentioned in the Azaeres household, though she bears the name. I stare back at the screen, the results I got from my search of the law firm on the paper’s header mocking me, like it’s telling me there’s nothing to see here. The firm existed and was dissolved in 2009; there’s no active website, no listed partners, and everything about the firm looks wiped clean, leaving no single trace. This is weird. At least there should be a searchable client history or partners linked to the firm, but there’s nothing.I close the tab and go back to work on

The office is quiet as always, the echo of my heels the only sound that bounces off the walls. My stomach knots as I step out of the elevator, the events of last night ingrained in memory.I can still feel the weight of Lucien's hand at the small of my back as he steered me into his office during the security breach, the silence that had stretched between us while we drank scotch—why does anybody drink that? The way he looked at me with an expression that wasn't quite anger, but something I can't pinpoint. I hate how I remember it all and how I felt in the moment.I hate even more how I'd let myself sit there with him instead of demanding to be taken somewhere else, did I have that choice though?I make his coffee the way he likes it, black, no sugar, and place it on his desk before he arrives. My hands feel sturdy, but my mind isn't.The elevator dings and Lucien steps inside the office exactly on time, a sharp suit, and an unreadable expression plastered on his face. He doesn't lo