Semua Bab Forbidden Lust: Bab 101 - Bab 110

102RaffaelOf all the ways to lose a person, death is the kindest.Emilia was alive, but out of my reach.“At least I know you guys are in a better place,” I whispered, brushing away sand and small stones from my parents’ gravestone.Rolland de Luca and Gisele de Luca.My brother’s gravestone stood right beside theirs. Rosella was crouched in front of it, removing the dead flowers and replacing them with fresh ones while humming softly under her breath.Was she really guilty of the things Emilia was saying?Adrián and Rosella.None of it made any sense.“Remember when we used to dance so they’d buy us ice cream?” she said, turning to face me with a smile.I laughed softly at the memory. I could still picture us in striped pajamas, trying to choreograph to earn ice cream for dinner instead of whatever healthy concoction Mama had found on the internet.“Back when Pamela was alive,” she sighed.We fell silent at the mention of her name. Pamela had been her older sister, the one who died

104RaffaelOf course, I wasn’t the one drugged and tied up in the fucking warehouse.I glanced at Rosella, watching as she chewed on her fingers, her leg bouncing anxiously like she could already feel something going wrong.The tension in her body was almost contagious, but I ignored it, moving through the warehouse slowly, my eyes scanning every exit, every corner, every blind spot.“Nothing is going to happen to you, Rosella. You have my word,” I said, my voice steady, controlled like I hadn’t already planned for every possible outcome.She scoffed, dragging a hand through her already messy hair, the strands catching between her fingers as she let out a shaky breath. “You don’t know how much of a psychopath he is.”“He’s made plans for my child… and the woman who owns my heart.”I let my gaze sweep across the warehouse again before settling on her, calm and unreadable, like none of this was new to me.“Whatever you think he is, Rosella, tonight, I’m worse.”I didn’t miss the way he

106Emilia“But how could you live and have no story to tell?”Those were the words my father drilled into me every time I messed up and felt like absolute shit.He’d be surprised by the number of stories I have now.Raffael’s blood soaked into my hair, warm and heavy as it slid down my scalp and into my clothes. His grip around me tightened each time I tried to move, holding me close and blocking my view of everything happening around us.I couldn’t see it.But I could hear it.Gunshots rang out one after the other. Bodies hit the ground with dull, final thuds. Men shouted over each other, their voices cut short too quickly.It was chaos.“Raffael, we need to help,” I whispered, my voice shaking as another tear slipped down my cheek. Fear sat heavy in my chest, sharp and suffocating.I was scared. So fucking scared.There was no way out this time. Enzo didn’t know where we were, and at the rate bodies were dropping, it was clear how this would end.Dead.Or barely alive.“Stop crying

108RaffaelI’ve taken bullets to different parts of my body. I’ve been on the verge of death more times than I can count. I’ve endured things that should have broken me.But this was it.Grieving someone who was still alive was the most unimaginable pain I had ever felt.“Sir, I’m going to need you to step back.”One of the nurses grabbed at my hospital gown, her fingers tightening around the fabric as if she could physically pull me away, but I couldn’t take my eyes off what was in front of me.The room felt too small, too tight, like the walls were closing in, yet all I could see was her.“What did you just say?” I asked, my voice rough, like it had been dragged over broken glass.My eyes stayed locked on Emilia, who was now slowly disappearing behind her mother the longer I looked at her.I hadn’t moved from the chair beside her bed since. Not once. I had men stationed across every perimeter of the hospital for the entire week she had been unconscious, making sure nothing and no

110EmiliaI was happy.It was the kind of quiet, fragile happiness that sat gently in my chest, like if I moved too fast, it might crack. Still, it was there, convincing enough to believe in.I had Adrian. I had our baby.Mom wasn’t hovering over me for once, and Nora and Enzo had finally learned how to be in the same room with him without tearing each other apart.Dad was away on another business trip.I missed him more than I expected to, more than I could explain… but apparently, I wasn’t allowed to call. No one gave me a reason. They just smiled, changed the subject, and told me he’d reach out when he could.And somehow, I let it go.Everything felt… fine.Carefully placed. Almost too perfect, like pieces of a life arranged just the way they were supposed to be.Like a part of me had been taken and no one thought I deserved to know.“Do you think we should go closer and scare the shit out of the birds?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at Nora as she pushed my wheelchair along