The morning air was thick with tension. Even the sunlight seemed muted, struggling to push through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Dominic's penthouse.
Aria sat in the corner of the lounge, her hands wrapped tightly around a porcelain cup of untouched tea. Her eyes were on the door across the room, the same one Dominic had disappeared behind two hours ago.
He hadn't spoken to her since the discovery of the gun outside the east wing. The silence wasn't just quiet. It was deliberate. Heavy.
She kept playing the scene over in her head. The cold metal in her hand. The look in his eyes when he saw it. The way his voice changed.
Someone had been inside.
And that someone had gotten close enough to leave a weapon behind.
Dominic was furious. But beneath the fury, Aria sensed something more dangerous—fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
The door finally opened and Dominic stepped out, dressed in a dark charcoal suit. His jacket was unbuttoned, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up, revealing a glimpse of the ink that wrapped around his forearms. There was a cut just above his knuckle, raw and fresh, and his expression was tighter than usual.
Behind him trailed Nico, who looked more on edge than usual. His usual cocky demeanor was replaced with grim determination.
"Pack a bag," Dominic said without looking at her.
Aria blinked. "What?"
"You're not staying here."
"Wait. What happened? You said this place was secure."
"It was. Until it wasn't." He turned to face her. "They got inside, Aria. That means one of my own either slipped or sold us out. Either way, I'm not gambling your life."
Her chest tightened. "Where are we going?"
Dominic didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned to Nico. "Get the car. Now."
Nico nodded and left without a word.
Dominic looked back at her, and something in his eyes shifted.
"You'll be safe," he said softly. "I'll make sure of it."
"You keep saying that," Aria whispered. "But every time you do, things get worse."
He didn't flinch. "That's the cost of my world."
"And I didn't ask to be part of it."
"You are now."
She stared at him, heart pounding, but she didn't argue. There was no point. Whatever came next, she would face it head-on.
---
The ride was long and silent. The city turned to suburbs, and then to quiet roads lined with tall trees. Dominic didn't speak once, only stared out the tinted window with the weight of a man who had learned to anticipate betrayal.
Aria sat beside him in the back seat, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. The silence was suffocating. She hated not knowing where they were going, hated being pulled along like a shadow with no agency.
They pulled into a private estate nearly an hour later. The gates opened automatically, revealing a sprawling property surrounded by high hedges and stone walls. There was no sign of guards, but Aria had no doubt they were there. Watching.
Dominic stepped out first and circled around to open her door. She stepped out and glanced at the house in front of them. It was older than his penthouse, more secluded, with ivy creeping up the walls and large oak trees casting deep shadows over the driveway.
"This place looks like it hasn't been touched in years," she muttered.
"That's the point," Dominic said.
Inside, the house smelled like aged wood and secrets. The halls were dim, but clean. The kind of place meant to hide things, not display them.
"You'll stay upstairs," Dominic said as he led her through the hall. "Second room on the left."
"Will you be here?"
He hesitated, then nodded. "For now."
She turned to go but paused.
"Dominic," she said quietly. "Whoever left that gun… what if they weren't trying to kill me?"
He frowned. "What are you saying?"
"What if they were trying to send a message?"
Dominic stared at her for a long moment before responding.
"I already know they were."
She didn't ask what the message was. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.
---
That night, sleep did not come.
Aria lay awake, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, every creak of the old house making her flinch. The silence here was different. Not just quiet, but dead. Like the walls themselves were holding their breath.
She got out of bed and padded down the hallway, careful not to make a sound. She didn't know where she was going. She just knew she couldn't stay still.
The library was near the back of the house. She had seen the door earlier, cracked open just enough to see shelves filled with old leather-bound books.
She pushed it open and stepped inside.
The room smelled of dust and ink. A fireplace lined with black marble sat unused in the corner. The walls were lined with shelves, some filled with books, others with boxes and folders.
She moved toward the far wall, drawn to a photograph sitting alone on a shelf. It was old, the edges frayed. A younger Dominic stood in the middle, flanked by two other men. One looked familiar, though she couldn't place him.
She turned the photo over and saw a name written in faded ink.
Elio Moretti.
She frowned. That wasn't a name she'd heard before.
"Put it back," came Dominic's voice from the doorway.
Aria spun around. "Sorry. I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine," he said, stepping into the room. He took the photo from her hand and stared at it. "Elio was my cousin. He died three years ago. Shot in the back by someone he trusted."
Aria bit her lip. "That why you don't trust anyone now?"
He looked at her, something sharp flashing in his eyes.
"No. I don't trust anyone because I'm still alive."
Before she could reply, his phone buzzed. He answered it without taking his eyes off her.
"Yes."
A pause.
Then his entire body tensed.
"Where?" he asked, his voice low and deadly.
Another pause. Then his hand clenched around the phone so tightly she thought it might crack.
"I'm on my way."
He hung up and looked at her.
"Stay here. Do not open the door for anyone."
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice rising.
Dominic stared at her.
"They found this place. And they left something at the gate."
Aria's heart dropped. "What did they leave?"
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Your photograph. Burned around the edges. And a bullet taped to it."
---
Chapter Six: The Photograph and the Bullet
Dominic did not speak again as he walked out the door. The slam echoed down the old halls like a warning. Aria stood frozen in the middle of the library, her breath caught somewhere between fear and disbelief.
They found this place.
Not even twenty-four hours had passed since Dominic moved her here. And already, someone was watching. Someone who knew her name. Her face. Her story.
And they wanted her to know it.
She walked slowly back to the window and pushed the curtain aside. Beyond the gate, the thick trees swayed gently in the early night breeze, concealing whatever shadows were lurking behind them.
Her photograph.
Burned.
And a bullet.
It was a message soaked in cruelty.
They did not want to kill her quickly.
They wanted her scared.
Her mind raced. Who would go through this much trouble? Her bullies from school were cruel, but this? This was something far beyond petty vengeance. This was personal. Tactical.
And it was not just about her anymore.
Dominic was a target too.
Footsteps behind her made her flinch, but when she turned, it was Nico entering the room. His expression was unreadable, but his hand hovered close to the gun strapped at his waist.
"I thought Dominic said to stay in your room," he said.
"I could not sit still."
Nico's gaze softened, just barely. "You were not supposed to be a part of this. None of this was meant for you."
Aria folded her arms across her chest. "Well, I am in it now. You might as well stop pretending I am some fragile thing."
He tilted his head, studying her. "You are stronger than you look. That much is clear. But strength does not make you untouchable. Especially not in this world."
She looked away, jaw tightening. "Do you think this was about Dominic?"
Nico hesitated, then stepped closer. "I think whoever left that bullet wanted to send a message. Not to him. To you."
Aria turned slowly to face him. "Why?"
He hesitated again, then said quietly, "Because maybe they know something about you that you don't."
---
An hour passed before Dominic returned.
The moment Aria heard the sound of tires against gravel, she rushed to the front door, throwing it open before he could even knock. His suit jacket was gone, his shirt slightly wrinkled and stained with dirt near the cuff.
But it was his expression that alarmed her most.
He looked like a man who had found something he never wanted to see.
She stepped aside as he entered.
"Where was it?" she asked.
"At the front gate," he said without looking at her. "Taped to the stone post with a black ribbon."
He pulled a plastic bag from his coat pocket and handed it to her.
Inside was the photograph.
It was one of the photos from her high school graduation. She was smiling, standing between two girls who no longer spoke to her. The edges were burned, curling inward like dead leaves.
Next to it was a single nine millimeter bullet, polished to a shine.
Her name was carved into the casing with a thin metal tool.
Aria.
It felt like someone had poured ice water down her spine.
"Who would do this?" she asked.
"I have a list," Dominic muttered. "But none of them should know who you are."
She looked up at him. "Unless someone told them."
Dominic met her eyes. "No one in my circle would dare betray me."
Aria held up the bullet between her fingers. "Someone just did."
He turned away, clearly frustrated. He poured himself a glass of something dark from the cabinet and downed it in one gulp.
"You have enemies," she said quietly. "But so do I. You think my past doesn't have teeth? You think there's not someone out there who hates me enough to play this kind of game?"
He looked back at her. "You think it's someone from your life before?"
"I don't know. But I was not invisible, Dominic. I was humiliated. Beaten. Left for dead. Maybe I survived, but someone out there wanted me to disappear. Maybe they still do."
Dominic moved toward her slowly, every step deliberate. "If someone touches you again, Aria, I will bury them. I do not care who they are."
For a brief second, something in his voice made her chest tighten.
Not rage.
Not control.
But something closer to fear.
The kind that came with attachment.
"You think this is about me," she said. "But it's bigger than that, isn't it?"
Dominic nodded. "It always is."
---
That night, Dominic did not leave the estate.
He stayed near the windows, phone in hand, barking orders into the dark. Aria stayed upstairs, pacing her room like a prisoner. Her thoughts were restless.
Something was pulling at her memory.
A name.
A face.
It had been so long since she allowed herself to remember the worst parts. But trauma never disappeared. It only sank beneath the surface, waiting.
She opened the drawer beside the bed and pulled out the small photo album she'd been given when she turned eighteen. Her foster mother had pieced it together from old school pictures and newspaper clippings.
She flipped through it slowly, her eyes scanning each face.
Then she saw him.
Her breath caught.
In the corner of one group photo, standing half out of frame, was a boy.
Not much older than her.
Sharp eyes. Thin mouth. Faint scar beneath his left brow.
She had not seen him in years. But she remembered now.
His name was Ethan Vale.
And he had been obsessed with her in high school. Not in the way people read about in romance novels. His obsession was quiet. Unnerving. He would follow her home. Sit behind her in class and whisper things when no one was listening. The school never did anything. He vanished during senior year after someone found a knife in his locker.
She had not thought about him in years.
Until now.
She snapped the album shut and ran downstairs, where Dominic was still by the window.
"I remembered something," she said breathlessly.
He turned. "What is it?"
"There was someone in high school. Ethan Vale. He was expelled. They never told me why, but he followed me. He used to say I belonged to him. I forgot all about him until now."
Dominic's expression turned to stone.
"Do you have a photo?"
She handed him the album.
He stared at the picture, then pulled out his phone and made a call.
"Run a background check," he said sharply. "Name's Ethan Vale. Possibly using an alias. I want addresses, affiliations, everything."
A pause.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"You already know him?"
Aria's heart dropped.
Dominic hung up and looked at her.
"He is not just some ghost from your past, Aria. He is connected to a rival family. And he was spotted two nights ago in the city."
Her blood ran cold.
Dominic stepped forward and took her hand gently.
"You are not safe," he said.
And then, more quietly.
"Not from your past. And not even from mine."
---