Enzo

I throw my hands down onto the mattress, scrambling backward to put some distance between us. My breath is uneven, my body trembling with anger, disbelief, and something else I can’t quite name.

Lucian looks as stunned as I feel. As if he never meant for the words to slip out. As if the admission itself has shaken him to his core.

“Dammit, Aurora!” He presses the heels of his palms into his eyes, dragging in a ragged breath. His chest rises and falls in sharp, uneven movements.

I can only stare, my mind struggling to process the weight of what just happened. He said he loves me. Lucian Boncini loves me.

A strangled laugh escapes me, raw and bitter. "Do you hear yourself?" My voice trembles with fury. "After everything you just put me through, after everything that happened tonight, you expect me to—"

"You don’t understand!" he cuts me off, his voice hoarse, vibrating with frustration. "I can’t think straight if I don’t know you’re safe. I’d never forgive myself if I lost you."

His words punch through my anger, striking something deep inside me. But I shove the feeling away. The fury still simmers, an unrelenting fire burning through my veins.

"If you really loved me," I say coldly, forcing the words past the lump in my throat, "you’d treat me like your equal."

Lucian flinches, as if I physically struck him. For a moment, his broad shoulders sag under the weight of my rejection. Then, just as quickly, his expression hardens, closing off.

"You have no idea what it’s like," he says, voice low and deadly, "to be responsible for the lives of everyone who depends on you." His dark eyes burn into mine, fierce and unrelenting. "To know that one wrong move could bring everything you’ve built crashing down."

"And I suppose I’m just another piece of that empire?" I spit back. "Something to be kept locked away like a fragile treasure, while you run off to play war with Riccardo and the rest of them?"

His face twists with frustration. "I am trying to protect you!"

I laugh again, hollow and sharp. "Protect me? Or control me?"

Lucian’s hands clench into fists at his sides, his jaw tightening. I see the battle in his expression, the war between fury and something softer—something almost pleading.

"You are my wife," he grinds out. "And I will not blindly offer my enemies the opportunity to get to you. Even if it means keeping you locked in this damn room until they’re all buried beneath the dirt."

My pulse pounds in my ears.

This can’t be my life.

I refuse to live like this.

With a wordless scream of pure rage, I rip the rings from my finger and hurl them straight at his chest. They bounce off him, falling soundlessly to the floor, rolling in opposite directions until I lose sight of them completely.

Silence crashes over us. Thick. Suffocating.

For a second, I swear I see a crack in his carefully constructed mask.

Then it’s gone.

His face is stone. His voice, quiet and unreadable. "I do love you, Aurora. Even if you don’t believe me."

I shake my head, my vision blurring with unshed tears. "Get out."

Lucian hesitates, his hands flexing at his sides. He looks like he wants to say something, to reach for me, to fix what has already shattered.

But in the end, he doesn’t.

He exhales slowly, raking a hand through his disheveled curls. Then he turns and pulls the door open.

Before he steps out, he pauses, glancing back. His voice is softer this time, but no less firm.

"This won’t stop being true."

The door swings shut behind him.

The moment he’s gone, my legs give out beneath me, and I collapse onto the floor. Heaving sobs wrack my exhausted body, my arms wrapping around myself, the only comfort I have left.

I squeeze my eyes shut, but the memories of the night won’t leave me.

The sharp gunshots. The scent of blood in the air. The hands that tore at me, the bruises that still throb.

And Enzo.

His pale, lifeless face. The blank stare of a man who gave his last breath protecting me.

I press a trembling hand to my mouth, trying to contain the scream clawing its way up my throat.

I married a monster.

And worse, a part of me once believed I could love him back.

I pull the door shut behind me with a soft click that feels far too gentle after everything that just happened. My chest tightens as I struggle to draw breath, the weight of the moment pressing down on me like an iron hand.

Lucian hovers at the top of the stairs, his mouth slightly open, as if he’s about to say something. Maybe he wants to hurl more accusations, to reignite the fire of our argument. But I have nothing left in me to fight with. My limbs feel heavy, my thoughts sluggish, drowning in the aftermath of words that cut too deep.

Frozen in my anguish, I don’t know how long I lean against the door, listening to the silence that follows. The echo of Aurora’s voice still rings in my ears, sharp and raw. Part of me wants to go back, to beg her to see reason. To make her understand why I did what I did. But another part knows—knows that this was inevitable. Knows that sooner or later, she was going to see me for what I really am.

The monster I swore I’d never be to her.

A ragged breath shudders out of me, my body rebelling against the unfamiliar sting of tears threatening to fall. I force them back, my pride refusing to crumble any further. Instead, I push away from the door, my movements mechanical as I make my way down the dimly lit hall. Each step feels heavier than the last, my mind a blur of regret and self-loathing.

By the time I reach my office, I’m barely holding myself together. The second the door closes behind me, I lock it and collapse into my chair, head falling into my hands. The silence is oppressive, wrapping around me like a noose, but I can’t bring myself to break it. Not yet.

Aurora’s voice echoes in my mind, the words sharp as shattered glass.

“I didn’t marry you so that you could keep me prisoner.”

The irony is sickening. The woman I tore from her home now sees me as no better than the man she once feared. And maybe… maybe she’s right.

I drag a hand down my face, fingers pressing into my eyes as if that will somehow erase the memory of her expression—the betrayal, the anger, the hurt. I never wanted her to feel caged. But I also couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.

And now, it seems I’ve done both.

A soft knock at the door startles me out of my spiraling thoughts. I don’t respond at first, too lost in the storm raging inside me. But the door creaks open anyway, and I don’t need to look up to know who it is.

Giulia.

She steps inside cautiously, her sharp eyes scanning me as she takes in the wreckage of the last few hours. I must look as bad as I feel because she doesn’t say anything at first. Just crosses the room and, without a word, pulls me into a tight embrace.

I stiffen for a moment, not used to this kind of comfort. Not used to letting anyone see me like this. But Giulia doesn’t let go, and somehow, the simple act of her holding on keeps me from completely unraveling.

After a long silence, she finally speaks.

“What happened?” Her voice is warm but careful, as if she’s preparing for me to push her away.

I swallow, my throat raw, and shake my head. “We shouldn’t have stayed in the city. The Agostis found us.” The words feel heavy, like stones in my mouth. “Enzo is dead.”

Giulia inhales sharply, her grip tightening. “Dio…”

“And Aurora…” I trail off, shaking my head again, this time in frustration. “She doesn’t understand. She thinks I’m trying to control her. Trying to keep her locked away like—”

“Like a prisoner,” Giulia finishes softly.

I exhale sharply, rubbing my hands over my face. “She threw her rings at me, Giulia.” The memory is fresh, seared into me like a brand. “Told me to get the fuck out.”

Giulia lets out a slow breath, choosing her next words carefully. “You need to give her space, Lucian.”

I shake my head instantly, every muscle in my body rejecting the idea. “I can’t just—”

“Yes, you can,” she cuts in firmly. “And you have to. Aurora isn’t someone you can keep behind these walls. She never was. And the harder you try, the more she’s going to fight you.”

My jaw tightens. “She almost died last night.”

“And if you don’t let her breathe, she’ll walk away from you, Lucian. For good.”

The words hit harder than I expect. I press my fingers against my temple, trying to think, trying to see a way out of this mess that doesn’t end with me losing her. But every path feels like it leads to the same place.

Giulia hesitates, then speaks again. “Let me take her back to the city for a while.”

I snap my head up, my gut twisting. “No.”

“She needs to know you trust her.”

“I can’t—”

“You can,” she says firmly. “You just don’t want to.”

I grit my teeth, my fists clenching as my mind fights against every instinct screaming at me to say no. To keep Aurora here, where I can protect her.

But deep down, I know Giulia is right.

I just don’t know if I can live with the risk.

Because if I let her go… what if she never comes back?