But it won’t happen.
It can’t happen.
If Dante even suspected what I dream about behind closed doors…
He would make Enzo do it.
He wouldn’t just kill Elijah—he’d force my brother to slit his best friend’s throat and feed me his blood as punishment.
A lesson.
A warning.
That no matter how strong I become, I’ll never be free. Not really.
I pump the lavender soap into my hands, working up a slick lather. The smell is savoury and sweet, almost choking in the steam. I scrub hard, dragging the suds across my face, down my neck, over my thighs and feet. The blood has dried thick, cracking similar to old paint, and peeling it from my skin requires effort. Each swipe leaves streaks of red mixing with the white foam, dripping down the drain in thin, pink rivulets.
I might carry the De Luca name, but I don’t have any power here. None that he would recognize anyway.
* * *
After a much-needed, hour-long bath, I grip the golden edges of my tub and lift myself out, groaning in agony as I wrap myself in the white robe left hanging for me.
Before returning to my room, I take a moment to look at myself in the mirror. See if I look any older. See if there’s been a sudden change from twenty-one to twenty-two. But as I stare back into my ocean blue eyes, I don’t see any difference.
I place my elbows on the white marble vanity and lean closer to the mirror, gently touching my split cheek, which has luckily stopped bleeding.
I drop my hand and wipe the mirror, still fogged from the heat circulating in the room. Then, with the slight nod of my head, I whisper to myself what no one else can. “Aurelia.” I take a deep breath at the sound of hearing my full name. “You should have fun on your birthday.”
A slight smile curves the corner of my mouth.
I try to keep to myself as much as possible, as it usually ends in lives being lost when I don’t. I usually try to keep as manymenalive as possible, but I thought I’d be free by now, so I can’t find it in me to care.
I straighten my spine and take a deep breath. “I’ll be dead soon enough. Might as well enjoy it while I can.”
Chapter 3
Aurelia
Iknow where the men are scattered.
Since it’s almost twelve, Dante’s closest are either with him, on the other side of the estate, or out handling business.
This is my father’s land, and technically all men on the property serve at the feet of the De Luca name. But not all of them report to the same one. My brother has his favourites and I have mine.
I pull on my loose light blue jeans and white tank, but I know someone—likely Leo, one of my dad’s bitches—is guarding the door, so I go where I know it won’t be a problem.
Quietly opening the sliding black trimmed glass door to my balcony, I scale the two-foot ledge on the wall and jump to the pool deck without injuring myself.
I love this floor since it only ever has James on it, watching TV and munching on chips.
And as usual, as soon as I open the door, I spot him, leaning over his shoulder. “Hey, birthday girl.”
“Hi, Jamesy.”
James taught me to write and used to read me my bedtime stories, so he lets me get away with a lot.
“Are they in the gardens or in the glass house?” I question.
