---
Two days later
Wolfe Manor
The grand chandelier above cast a cold light over the long dining table. The room was deathly silent—except for the quiet clink of Raiden's knife slicing through steak.
I hadn't spoken.
Not since we arrived. Not since the gates closed behind me like prison bars wrapped in roses.
"Eat."
Raiden's voice was calm but edged with authority.
I did. Not because I wanted to. But because I was too afraid not to.
---
"Do you want to know who I am, Aria?"
He finally looked up. His silver eyes met mine, unreadable.
I didn't answer.
"I'll show you."
He stood, napkin tossed aside, and walked around to me.
"Come."
We walked past closed doors, down a corridor that chilled me. The paintings here were not like the ones in Giovanni's home. They were darker. All shadows and secrets.
He opened a locked door. Inside: a private study. Books. Weapons. A wall of monitors. And in the center, a vault.
He opened it.
Inside were files. Dozens. Names. Photos.
And at the top—mine.
"You knew me before I came here?"
My voice cracked.
"I protect what's mine. Even before they know they belong to me."
---
He told me the truth that night.
Or some version of it.
His first kill. His father's empire. The war with the Morettis. The real reason he came to the university.
To find the traitor inside the system.
To bait Giovanni.
And me?
I was part of that plan… at first.
But then I wasn't.
---
"You changed everything," he said as we sat on the couch, firelight dancing between us.
"You made me want peace. And that's dangerous, Aria. Wanting peace in a world made of knives."
My chest ached.
"Then let me go."
He reached over slowly and took my hand.
"I can't. Because you're already mine. And I don't share."
---
Later that night
I couldn't sleep.
The shadows of this house whispered things. Stories soaked in blood. Lies breathing beneath the floorboards.
I crept out, barefoot on the marble. Following nothing. Or maybe everything.
A sound. A whisper.
The study door. Cracked open.
Raiden was inside.
Arguing.
"I said not yet. I need more time."
His voice, cold steel.
"No, you listen—if Giovanni touches her, I will burn everything, including you."
A pause.
"I've waited too long to let her go now."
---
I backed away. Heart pounding.
He was protecting me.
But from what?
And what if one day… I was the thing he needed protecting others from?
---
End of Chapter 19