"Always. I'll always be here for you."
We sat there in the quiet. Her in my lap. My arms around her. Both of us lost in our own thoughts about what came next.
Footsteps in the hallway broke the moment. We both froze. Looked at each other with wide eyes.
I had just enough time to shove the recording device in my pocket and help Aria off my lap before Luca appeared in the doorway.
His eyes took in the scene. Me in Aria's sitting room at nearly 3am. Both of us looking guilty as hell. Aria's face still streaked with tears.
Luca's expression didn't change. Stayed perfectly neutral. But I knew.
We were caught.
This time, there was no explaining it away. No legitimate excuse for why I was here in the middle of the night with my father's bride looking like we'd been doing exactly what we'd been doing.
"Mr. Accardi." Luca's voice was carefully neutral. "I believe you're in the wrong wing. Don Salvatore's orders were explicit about maintaining proper boundaries with Miss Romano."
"I was checking on her. Heard crying when I walked past. Wanted to make sure she was safe."
The lie was transparent. We all knew it.
Luca's eyes flicked to Aria's tear-stained face. Back to me. "And is Miss Romano safe?"
"She's fine. Just missing her parents. I was offering comfort. As family should."
"How thoughtful." The word dripped with sarcasm. "I'm sure Don Salvatore will appreciate your dedication to family values when I inform him of this in the morning."
My blood went cold. But I kept my face blank.
"You do what you need to do, Luca. I was helping the girl who will soon be my stepmother through a difficult moment. Nothing more."
"Of course not." He stepped aside, gestured to the hallway. "Don Salvatore wants to see you in the morning, Mr. Accardi. Early. I'll have someone come get you at seven share. Sleep well."
I looked at Aria. Tried to convey everything I couldn't say. That I loved her. That I'd fix this. That we'd survive.
But I knew. We both knew.
The clock had just accelerated. Either we moved against my father immediately, or this all camecrashing down.
Two weeks until the wedding had just become however long until Luca reported what he'd seen.
Time had run out.
CHAPTER TWENTY -TWO
ARIA
We were so fucked.
The thought kept circling in my head like a vulture over roadkill. We were completely, utterly, catastrophically fucked.
Luca stood in my doorway, his expression unreadable but his eyes cold with knowledge. He'd caught Kai in my sitting room at nearly 3am. Had seen my tear-stained face. Had witnessed everything he needed to confirm whatever suspicions he'd been harboring for weeks.
And now he was going to destroy us both.
"Don Salvatore wants to see you in the morning, Mr. Accardi. Early. I'll have someone come get you at seven sharp." Luca's voice was perfectly neutral. Professional. Like he was delivering a routine message instead of a death sentence. "Sleep well."
He left. The door clicked shut behind him with a finality that made my stomach drop.
