Pedro’s POVAelia scrambled off me like she had touched fire, pressing herself against the farthest corner of the seat. Her breath was unsteady, her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow movements. Even in the dim glow of the car’s interior, her flushed cheeks and wide amber eyes made her look almost ethereal…untouchable.And yet, I had touched her.I clenched my fists, pressing them against my thighs, willing myself to stay in control. The ghost of last night’s kiss lingered on my lips, a reminder of how soft she had felt against me. I had convinced myself it was nothing, a moment stolen under the influence of whatever drug had been forced into her system.But I was lying to myself. Because even now, her vanilla scent mixed with something floral filled the space between us and the memory of her pliant lips burned into my mind, I was fighting the urge to grab her, to see if she would melt against me again.Her small frame was curled in on itself, as if she was trying to disappea
Across the city in Pedro’s mansion, the room was dimly lit, bathed in the flickering glow of candlelight. A soft fragrance of jasmine and spice lingered in the air, carefully curated for seduction.Valeria sat at the edge of the bed, one leg crossed over the other, her silk robe slipping off one shoulder, revealing smooth golden skin. She swirled the wine in her glass lazily, eyes fixed on Derrick.He stood before her, tall and rigid, his hands clasped behind his back, the perfect soldier awaiting orders.It thrilled her.“You follow commands so well,” Valeria mused, bringing the glass to her lips. “I wonder if you’re this obedient in bed.”Derrick didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink.He was infuriating.She set the wine glass aside, rising from the bed in a slow, deliberate motion. “Undress.”He obeyed instantly, unbuttoning his crisp white shirt with practiced precision, peeling it away to reveal taut muscles and a body built for war. Not a single mark of weakness. Not a single sign of vuln
Aelia’s POVThe room was suffocating even without Pedro. My heart was still pounding from earlier, the weight of Pedro’s body pressing me into the mattress still lingering in my mind. The heat, the overwhelming scent of him, the tension that had been thick enough to drown in, I could still feel all of it.But he was gone now.I had barely registered the sound of his phone ringing before he had pulled away from me. His expression had shifted instantly, hardening, darkening as if something urgent had pulled him out of the haze he had been drowning in. And without another word, he had stormed out, leaving me alone in this grand, unfamiliar room.That should have been my first clue that something was wrong.But my mind had been too scrambled to process it.Now, as I stood by the window, peering out into the estate’s massive courtyard, a strange unease settled in my stomach.The gates were open.Men in black suits moved across the grounds in organized lines, their postures stiff and alert.
Third Person POVThe word hung in the air like a noose.“Mine.”Aelia felt the weight of it slam into her chest, knocking the breath from her lungs.She stood frozen between two forces. Pedro and the man who had just claimed her.The moment Cassius spoke, the air around them seemed to tighten. It wasn’t just the sheer audacity of his claim that rattled her, it was the way Pedro reacted to it.Pedro Montonio, a man who exuded dominance in every breath, a man who had toyed with her relentlessly, a man who had never flinched in the face of any threat, stood still.His expression was unreadable, but Aelia saw it.A flicker of something dark.Something close to fear.Her pulse roared in her ears as she glanced at the man standing across from Pedro. Cassius.His name was unfamiliar, yet the tension between the two men made it clear, this wasn’t their first battle.Cassius looked nothing like Pedro in features, save for the painfully similar blue eyes but in aura, they were nearly identical.
Third Person POV“I’m taking her.”The words slithered into the night like a death sentence.Pedro stilled, his hands curling into fists at his sides. A slow, menacing breath passed through his lips, his chest rising and falling with controlled fury.Then, he laughed.A low, dark chuckle that sent chills slithering down Aelia’s spine.“Sei più stupido di quanto ricordassi, Cassius.” (You’re even more foolish than I remember, Cassius.)Cassius smirked, unfazed. “E tu sei lo stesso cane rabbioso che non sa quando mollare.” (And you’re the same rabid dog that doesn’t know when to let go.)Pedro’s fingers twitched. “You’re overstepping.”“No,” Cassius countered smoothly. “I’m simply taking what should never have been yours in the first place.”His gaze flicked to Aelia, assessing her, calculating.“You see it, don’t you?” he murmured, eyes burning into hers. “The truth. You were never meant for him.”Aelia’s heart slammed against her ribs.She didn’t want to believe it.She wanted to deny
Third-Person POVPedro’s grip on the steering wheel tightened dangerously, his knuckles turning white as the Aston Martin sliced through the empty streets.His jaw ached from the fight. His ribs throbbed from Cassius’ cheap shots.But that wasn’t what fueled his rage.It was her.Aelia’s words, her defiance, the way she had looked at him with disgust when she said…“I am not Daisy.”Pedro’s fingers twitched, his self-control unraveling by the second.She had no idea.No idea how deep this ran.No idea that the very man who tried to claim her—Cassius, was the reason Daisy died in a pool of her own blood.And now he wanted to steal Aelia, too?Pedro’s anger boiled over.He was done playing games.Tonight, he would remind everyone why he was feared.The warehouse came into view.His men were already waiting.Derrick stood at the entrance, hands in his pockets, his usual blank expression betraying nothing.When Pedro stepped out of the car, Derrick nodded. “They’re inside.”Pedro rolled h
Third-Person POVPedro stepped out of the warehouse, the scent of blood and burning cigars still thick in the air. His jaw clenched as he rolled his shoulders, trying to shake the tension that had settled there. The photographer’s screams had died down minutes ago, and now only the distant hum of the city filled the night.His mind was a storm.Aelia.She had looked at him today like he was a monster.And Cassius. That bastard dared to claim her…his Aelia, as his?Pedro exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair before pulling out a cigarette. He had just flicked the lighter open when his phone buzzed.He glanced at the screen.Mr. Montonio.His father never called unless it was something serious.Pedro pressed the cigarette between his teeth, answering in a clipped tone. “What?”His father’s voice was cold, carrying the weight of authority Pedro had long since stopped respecting.“Come to the estate. Now.”Pedro exhaled slowly, the ember of his cigarette glowing in the dark. “I
Third-Person POVDarcy barely registered her own hurried steps as she followed Dr. Adrian Bellavance down the quiet hospital corridor. The weight of everything, Aelia missing, Sola’s public stunt, the reporters swarming her was making her head pound, but she needed answers.And Adrian was the only person who could give them to her.The moment he pulled her into his office and shut the door, she turned on him.“Where is she?”Adrian sighed, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re welcome, by the way.”Darcy clenched her fists. “Don’t play with me, Doc. Where. Is. Aelia?”His expression remained unreadable, but the sharp glint in his eyes told her he was not in the mood for games either. “Even if I knew, what makes you think I’d tell you?”“Because you clearly work for Pedro,” she spat. “You and Derrick, hell! Probably everyone around him, you’re all just his little puppets, aren’t you?”Adrian raised an unimpressed brow. “You seem to forget that I saved your a
Louisa’s words haunted him.“I have a boyfriend now.”She’d said it so easily, so carelessly, as if it didn’t mean anything, as if he didn’t mean anything. But Derrick knew better. He felt better. That night they spent together wasn’t just lust, wasn’t just two people falling into old habits.It meant something.He saw it in the way her fingers trembled when she touched him, the way her breath hitched when he whispered her name.And now she was telling him she’d moved on? That she was settling down?Bullshit.But it wasn’t until later that day, when he saw it with his own eyes, that the words really started to sink in.He hadn’t been looking for her. Not intentionally, at least. But as he stepped out of the hospital, irritation already simmering beneath his skin, he caught a glimpse of her.Louisa.Standing by a sleek black car, dressed sharply in one of her tailored outfits that hugged her body just enough to be professional but tempting.And she wasn’t alone.A man, tall, broad-shou
Darcy Never Liked Hospitals.They smelled like loneliness and disinfectant, like whispered prayers and silent cries. They were places of endings and beginnings, of cold white lights and walls that had absorbed too many last goodbyes.But she was here.Standing beside Aelia’s bed, her fingers curled tightly around the metal railing as if her grip alone could anchor her friend to this world.Aelia looked small against the stark white sheets, too pale, too still. The rhythmic beeping of the machines monitoring her vitals felt both comforting and unbearable, a cruel reminder that she was alive but not awake.Darcy’s throat tightened as she studied the bruises peeking out from beneath the hospital gown, the quiet evidence of the violence Aelia had endured. It was wrong. Aelia had always been the strong one, fierce and stubborn, the kind of person who could stare down danger without flinching.Now, she looked defenseless.“She looks better than yesterday,” a voice murmured from behind her.
The Spencer estate, once a symbol of untouchable power, felt like a fortress under siege. Reporters swarmed the gates, cameras flashing through the iron bars, their voices merging into an unintelligible storm. The phones inside never stopped ringing, board members demanding answers, lawyers scrambling to contain the damage, investors threatening to pull out.Regina Spencer stood in the middle of it all, perfectly composed despite the chaos. She had weathered storms before. She would weather this one, too.She adjusted the pearl necklace resting on her throat, exhaling slowly as she watched the news broadcast on the living room television.“Sola Spencer, daughter of Regina Spencer and sister to Alan Spencer, has been arrested as the prime suspect in the attempted murder of Aelia Spencer, her adopted sister. This comes after a series of threats were uncovered in the victim’s phone, allegedly sent by Sola herself. The Spencer family has yet to release an official statement.”Regina’s n
The moment Sola stepped outside, she knew something was wrong.The air felt too heavy, too watchful. The street was too quiet, save for the distant hum of traffic. Then came the sharp sound of a car door slamming.Two men in suits approached. Not just any men, law enforcement.“Sola Spencer,” the taller one said, voice clipped. “We need you to come with us for questioning.”Sola’s brows furrowed. “What?”A flash of a badge and a formal tone. “You’re a suspect in an ongoing investigation. Please come with us.”The world shifted on its axis. She felt it in the pit of her stomach, the kind of freefall sensation that came with being caught off guard. She barely had time to react before firm hands took her by the arms, guiding her toward the unmarked car.Her mind raced. Investigation? What the hell were they talking about?Then she saw them, reporters. Cameras flashing, microphones extending.(“Sola Spencer, do you have any comments about the allegations?”“Are you responsible for Aelia
The room was too quiet. The kind of quiet that made Darcy’s skin crawl.She sat beside the bed, hands clasped together as she stared at Aelia’s face. Peaceful. Unmoving. It didn’t suit her. Aelia was never still, never silent. She filled spaces with her presence, with her sharp wit, with the reckless gleam in her eye that always warned trouble was around the corner.Darcy swallowed the lump in her throat.She hated this. Hated how pale Aelia looked under the hospital lights. Hated the slow, rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, each sound reminding her that Aelia was still here but only barely.“You idiot,” she whispered, fingers tightening in her lap. “You absolute idiot.”She exhaled, pressing her palm against her forehead. “You promised, Aelia. You promised me. And now you’re just lying here—” She sucked in a shaky breath, her chest heaving. “I can’t, I don’t know how to do this without you.”The words scraped against her throat, raw and aching.“I should be angry,” she admitted,
Something touched her, warm, damp, seeping into her skin like a silent plea. Aelia couldn’t see it, but she felt it. A drop of something, liquid, heavy, and full of sorrow breaking through the veil of unconsciousness that held her.And then, she could hear him.At first, it was just a murmur, distant and hollow, like an echo traveling through an endless void. But the more she focused, the clearer it became.Pedro.His voice cracked and raw, whispering words between ragged breaths. She couldn’t grasp all of them, but the pain in his tone tightened something in her chest. It felt tight, suffocating. He was crying. Crying because of me? The thought alone sent a ripple through the darkness. She wasn’t angry. She should be, she knew she should be. But all she felt was… grief. A terrible, gnawing grief.And then, Penelope.Aelia’s breath…if she had any in this state, hitched. The memory of her promise came crashing down. ‘I told her I would come back. I told her I’d visit every day.’ The
Pedro’s POVThe doctor stood stiffly behind his desk, fingers twitching against the clipboard he held. The room was too quiet, except for the ticking of the wall clock, slow, agonizing ticks that did nothing but fuel the storm building inside me.“She’s stable,” he said, voice careful, controlled, like he was stepping through a fucking minefield. “But… waking up is entirely up to her.”I stilled.“What?”The doctor swallowed. “We’ve done everything we can. The surgeries were successful. There’s no internal bleeding, and her vitals are steady, but—”“But?” My voice dropped, lethal.He hesitated. “But… at this point, we can only keep her stable and monitor her progress. We can’t force her to wake up.”A sharp, seething breath pushed through my teeth.The clipboard in his hands trembled slightly, his knuckles white. He wasn’t a fool. He knew who I was, knew what I was capable of. But that didn’t change the fact that I was hearing the same fucking words I had heard once before, words that
The hospital air was thick with antiseptic and despair.Pedro stood at the edge of the chaos, rigid and silent, his presence a storm contained within flesh. The emergency ward was alive with urgency, doctors barking orders, nurses rushing between rooms, the rhythmic blaring of heart monitors filling the space. People moved around him, but he remained still, watching through the glass as the team of surgeons fought to keep Aelia tethered to the world.His breath was slow, deliberate, but his mind was anything but calm.Aelia.Lifeless.The moment he had seen her car—no, what was left of it, something in him had cracked. The twisted metal, the shattered windshield, the streaks of blood smeared against the crumpled hood. It looked less like an accident and more like an execution.His phone had vibrated in his hand then, a message flashing across the screen like a blade drawn across his throat.“You should’ve said goodbye when you had the chance.”The sender was unknown. Of course, they
“What if—what if…they don’t come back?” Penelope’s muffled voice invaded Aelia’s ears like a nightmare. She lifted Penelope’s face and carefully cleaned her tear-streaked face, flashing a smile she forced to reach her eyes. “Don’t say that, they’d definitely be back, Penny. Or have you forgotten how resilient Sam is or even how Annabel can’t stay a day without Mr. Bunny? that means she would wake up soon to cuddle him so you don’t have to worry. Kimberly will never let you have all the snacks so she would certainly be back for them.”Penelope giggled, “You’re right, Kimberly would definitely be back for my snacks.” Her eyes had a rare gleam as she added “I don’t mind giving them all to her, if only she returns… I wish I had given them to her without fighting.” her voice cracked and Aelia’s heart broke. Aelia held Penelope tighter, cradling her as though she could shield her from everything. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. The orphanage, the only home they had, now a crime s