Five weeks that would determine whether love was enough to overcome the violence and control that defined this world.
I held Kai tighter. Prayed to a god I wasn't sure I believed in anymore. Asked for a miracle we probably didn't deserve.
And hoped that somehow, against all odds, we'd find a way to survive.
Chapter Eighteen
ARIA
The night Kaiheld me had been a stolen moment of paradise before descent into hell.
I hadn't realized how prophetic that thought would be.
The next week became a masterclass in psychological torture disguised as wedding preparation. Every waking moment was scheduled, controlled, designed to mold me into Salvatore's perfect wife. Wedding planners invaded my space with fabric swatches and flower arrangements. Dressmakers pinned and tucked and measured until I felt like a doll being dressed for display. Caterers presented elaborate menus I had no appetite for.
And through it all, Salvatore watched. Always watching. Those cold blue eyes tracking my every movement, assessing, cataloging any deviation from the perfect bride performance.
I barely saw Kai. Caught glimpses of him in hallways, at dinners where conversation was stilted and formal. Our eyes would meet for a fraction of a second, enough to convey everything we couldn't say outloud. Then we'd look away, playing our roles, pretending we meant nothing to each other.
It was killing me. Slowly. Methodically. Like dying of thirst while someone held water just out of reach.
I'd moved into Salvatore's wing on Monday as commanded. The suite was beautiful in a cold, impersonal way. Expensive furniture, silk curtains, marble bathroom. Everything perfectly arranged and utterly lifeless.
A gilded cage. That's what it was. And I was the canary expected to sing on command.
The physical distance from Kai was bad enough. But the emotional distance, the inability to touch him or talk to him or even look at him properly, it was destroying something inside me. Like part of my soul was withering from lack of sunlight.
I'd started feeling physically ill. Nausea in the mornings that had nothing to do with pregnancy and everything to do with stress. Headaches that pounded behind my eyes. Loss of appetite that made Mrs. Rossi fret.
My body was staging a revolt against the situation my mind had resigned itself to.
Lia was my only real comfort. My only connection to sanity in a world rapidly spinning out of control.
We spent hours together when Salvatore's schedule allowed. She'd slip into my suite, curl up on the window seat, and we'd talk. About nothing. About everything. About dreams we probably wouldn't live to see fulfilled.
She was sitting there now, legs pulled up to her chest, staring out at the gardens with haunted eyes.
I missed Kai with an intensity that physically hurt. Missed his voice, his touch, the way he looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered. Missed feeling safe and wanted instead of trapped and owned.
Seven days since I'd been properly alone with him. Seven days that felt like seven years.
How was I supposed to survive four more weeks ofthis? How was I supposed to stand across from Salvatore at an altar and pledge my life to him when every cell in my body belonged to someone else?
"Aria?"
Lia's voice pulled me from my spiraling thoughts. I looked up, saw tears streaming down her face.
I was across the room in seconds, pulling her into my arms.
"What happened? What's wrong?"
She sobbed against my shoulder. Full body shaking, the kind of crying that came from somewhere deep and broken.
"He's going to announce my engagement at your wedding. To Captain Antonio Moretti. He's forty-three. Known for being cruel to his wives. The last one died in a suspicious fall down the stairs." The words came out between sobs. "I'm going to end up just like our mother. Married to a monster. Dead before I'm forty."
Ice flooded my veins. Horror and rage warring for dominance.
"Does Kai know?"
