“No,” we say in unison again—but this time it feels more like he’s mocking me.
“You don’t love her, you want to fuck her. But in case you forgot, that’s my little sister. So what you’re gonna do is keep your dick in your pants and do your fucking job. Dante wants you even closer to her—Nikolai is being a prick and refusing to meet me even after we sent the proposal.”
“He turned down fifty million just to avoid seeing you?”
He nods, removing his hands to open his phone. “Yep, and Viktor’s been no help—claiming to have started Nikolai’s initiation to control.”
He scrolls for a moment before flashing me his phone, showing me a picture of Ace from Confine’s security cameras, glancing towards the shadows of a back alley. “Are you sure Nikolai even remembers her? This could be because of the arrangement and dealings.”
“I don’t know if you’re blind, but your sister wasn’t exactly forgettable that night, even at sixteen.” I point to the photo, proving my point exactly.
“You know, sometimes I wish I could kill you all to protect her.” He shakes his head, closing out of the photo.
Laughing, I grab my coat off his bed. “You would never actually kill me.”
“Yeah, well, I’d cut your dick off so you’d stop trying to put it in her.” His tone is serious, but I know he loves me—almostas much as he loves her.
“Whatever you say Enzo, I’ve got to go, your sister is probably out of the shower by now anyway.” I brush past him, but before I get to the door, he stops me.
“Hey, you know what I believe when it comes to this shit, and I get you have a need for release. I’ll have a girl waiting for you once she’s asleep, but the priority is her safety. Not even ten feet of space, Enzo.”
It’s an order I’ll follow, no matter how much it tortures me.
Chapter 8
Aurelia
Two days. It’s been two days since Elijah officially took over for my brother, and the urge I had to kill myself has gone from forty to eighty-five percent.
I thought Enzo was clingy, but oh. My. God. I can’t even go pee without Elijah standing watch outside the door.
I tell him I need space, and he responds by locking me in a room and guarding the door until I’m “done.”
It’s insane. And yes, I know more black SUVs have been seen near our gates and parked near my usual running spots, but it’s not like I’m going to get snatched away while eating dinner.
Yet here I am.
The dining hall stretches around me, a cathedral built for someone who doesn’t exist. Twelve chairs, a polished table that could seat kings, and me.
Alone. (Kinda.)
My plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and asparagus sits untouched for a heartbeat while I stare at the faded gold of an old painting hanging opposite. The brushstrokes are intricate, almost delicate.
I take my fork in hand, the clink against the plate sounding absurdly loud in the cavernous room. Steam rises off the food,begging me to care. I bite, and for a moment, the taste anchors me: rich meat, buttery potatoes, the crunch of asparagus. Normalcy. Comfort. All illusions. All lies. But you never know when it will be my last meal, so I take it, tasting every flavour on my tongue.
I wonder for a moment if my mother lived like this. If she lived here at all. No one speaks of her—not inside these walls, not outside them. It’s as if she never existed.
I know whatever she did fractured the alliance. Leaving me as a mistake that survived it. A De Luca girl they didn’t sacrifice.
I don’t know, maybe I should feel special. The only girl they allowed to live. But what kind of life am I living if I’m just waiting for the day I’m traded like the rest? For the humiliation. The assault. The end.
“Ace, you’re so dramatic,” I whisper to myself, taking a slow bite of steak. “You could get taken at sixty and still have plenty of time.” Then mocking Dante, I drop into my man voice, “You could have lived a vibrant and fulfilled life with a strong man if you weren’t a naive, childish bitch.” Maybe he had a point then, ignorance truly was bliss. I was happy.
“Ace, everything okay?” Elijah asks through the hall door.
So he must have heard me talking to myself.
Great.
