OrionNero’s office has the kind of quiet tension you can feel in your bones, the kind that comes after months of chasing shadows and uprooting every twisted part of that ring. Osiris and I are settled across from him, listening intently as he wraps up the conference call with Arkyn and Creed. My brother’s voice is steady as he discusses the last few details. It’s taken months to dismantle, but here we are, finally piecing everything back together.“Look,” Creed’s voice crackles over the line, blunt as ever, “everyone’s been dealt with. But Legacy’s name hasn’t come up in any interrogation or confession, not even once. He’s protected. Everyone’s too fucking scared to name him.”Nero sighs, fingers rubbing at his temples. “He’s the one wild card. Every single person higher up has been captured, but Legacy? Silence. And we all know silence from someone that powerful isn’t accidental.”“Leave Legacy to me,” Arkyn’s voice cuts in, dark and simmering with barely contained fury. “He’s stil
Camellia/“Run. Run. RUN!”//“Don’t let them catch you, don’t let them see you. You have to keep them safe; you have to get away from here! Go!”/I’m running, but I don’t know why. It’s raining and the dense undergrowth of the forest obscures the jagged stones underneath; my feet are sore and bloodied, the stitch in my side has nearly winded me.Everything is slippery but I’m running like my life depended on it… Which it probably does, seeing as I’m running with a swollen belly./“You need to run!”/The warning echoes in my head every time I try to slow down and catch my breath, but my instincts seem to guide me safely across the darkened forest. I turn my head to look behind me and don’t see anything at all, but the fear of being caught still propels me forward.Who am I running from? Who am I supposed to protect besides the baby in my belly? “…lia! Stop!” someone calls out. The voice is distant, almost drowned out by the pounding rain and my own ragged breaths. The sound makes
Lia / Camellia5 years laterI rush into the kitchen to grab my ringing cell phone, only to nearly trip over a train set I asked my son to put away after breakfast. Gritting my teeth, I take a deep breath to reign in my annoyance and bed down to pick up the damn toy myself.“Nereo!” I call out, turning when I hear his tiny footsteps approaching me. “What did I tell you about this, baby? You cannot leave your toys out like this.”My little boy saunters up to me, his curly hair falling over his forehead as he looks at his feet. “I’m sorry, Mamma. I forgot,” he sniffs and I sigh as I get down on my haunches to talk to him.He peers up at me with those slate gray eyes that I love so much, with his bottom lip pulled out in a pout. I try not to smile because this is his ‘feel sorry for me’ face. “You have to remember, okay, Amoruccio? Someone could get hurt,” I say gently, brushing a curl away from his face. His eyes well up with tears, and I pull him into a hug. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Ju
NeroI get out of the fucked-up rental car and wait for the contact I’m supposed to be meeting with my brothers, Osiris and Orion. This small Italian town is a far cry from the sprawling urban jungle I’m used to. “The Boot’s shitstain,” I mutter under my breath, glancing around the little town that seems too perfect to be real. Quaint, picturesque, and utterly grating on my nerves.This place is nothing like home. I glance over at my brothers, both looking like they’re spoiling for a fight. “Lighten up, Nero,” Osiris says, his hands shoved in his pockets. He’s the optimist of the three of us, always looking for a silver lining. “We’ll be in and out before you know it.”“Yeah, right. Knowing Matteo, he’ll drag this,” Orion grumbles, adjusting his leather jacket. He’s the one who sees the world more like I do—through a lens of distrust and scepticism.They flank me as we walk down the narrow cobblestone street towards the meeting spot. Orion and Osiris might be twins, but you’d never
NeroOsiris walks back, shaking his head in disbelief. “Nero, she didn’t even recognize me. I walked up to her, and it was like she had no idea who I was. And the child... he’s definitely yours… He has the eyes of a Leonetti.”Slate gray. Of course he does.The weight of his words hits me hard, making it difficult to breathe. “She works here?” I manage to ask, my voice strained.“From what I could tell, yeah. She was talking to the customers like she’s been here a while,” Osiris confirms, his expression troubled.I’m at a loss. My mind races with questions and doubts. How is this possible? Why doesn’t she remember us? “What the fuck do I do now?” I mutter, more to myself than anyone else.“We need to regroup and figure this out,” Orion suggests, his voice calm and steady. “Let’s go back to the townhouse and do some digging.”Every instinct screams at me to stay, to go to her and demand answers. But I know Orion is right. We need a plan. It pains me to leave, knowing she’s so close. A
Camellia / LiaI know that man from yesterday.I have no idea where I know him from, but as soon as I saw him sitting in the back with Marcus yesterday, I felt it. A tug in the center of my chest, and when we made eye contact, I could see the sliver of shocked recognition in his eyes even as he tried to hide it.Those eyes… The same eyes I fell in love with five years ago in a hospital surrounded by people I don’t know. The same eyes as my son. Then he walked past me and the scent of bergamot and leather immediately made me pause.Without a doubt, I know this man; or rather, I knew him. Could he be the one who left me here for dead?I shake my head and look up just as the cafe door opens; only to meet the gaze I couldn’t get out of my mind yesterday. My hands shake as he makes small talk with me, noting that he has an American accent, and I have to steady them when I get his coffee.Caramel rum cannoli. No one else orders it and no one in town makes it, only us and only because I aske
NeroAs soon as I get back to the townhouse, I light up a cigarette and start to pace.Camellia said I felt familiar, and she reacted to my name. That shouldn’t get my fucking hopes up, but Gods, it does. I take a deep drag; the nicotine doing little to calm my nerves. The bond between us isn’t as strong as it should be, but it’s there. It’s not broken, not severed, but someone fucked with it. I can’t leave her here, not now. Not when I’m so close. I need to make an impression, win her over, make her remember. I need to stay in this town, figure out what happened to her and why she doesn’t remember us. There’s no other option.Orion and Osiris walk in, looking expectantly at me. They can sense my agitation.“I’m staying,” I finally say. “I’m not leaving until I figure out why she’s here and what happened to her memory.”Osiris raises an eyebrow. “You’re sure about this, Nero? Staying in this town isn’t exactly part of the original plan.”“I don’t care about the original plan,” I sna
Camellia / LiaIt’s been a week now. Every single day, he comes in, orders the same thing, Caffe Macchiato and a caramel rum cannoli, and sits at the same table. He doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t need to. I know he’s here for me. Nero. Just saying his name in my head makes my heart flutter and my mind whirl with fragments of memories I can’t quite grasp.Something in my heart tells me I know this man, but I have no way of confirming it without looking like an idiot. It was mortifying enough last time when he looked at me with pity; I’d rather not see that look ever again.Today is no different. The café is bustling with the usual morning crowd, and I’m in my element, serving customers, chatting with the regulars. The bell above the door chimes, and I don’t even need to look up to know it’s him. I can feel his presence; like a magnetic pull.“Morning, Lia,” he says, his deep voice cutting through the din. Gods, he always smells so good, and it takes everything in me not to pull him