Part 13:

You didn’t tell him the plan, Selene said quietly, watching him carefully. No. Aleandro turned to face her, his expression serious. Giani thinks I have the list from your father. He thinks you’re my prisoner. When we get to Sicily, you’ll help me present the art strategy to the council. That’s when they’ll learn the real plan.

His jaw tightened, and that’s when they’ll learn you’re my wife, not my hostage. Seline’s stomach clenched with nerves she couldn’t quite control. He’s going to be angry. He’s going to be furious, Aleandro confirmed, crossing to her and cupping her face with both hands. Which is why you stay next to me at all times.

You don’t speak unless I tell you to. You don’t look at anyone I haven’t introduced. And if anything feels wrong, you get behind me immediately. I understand, she whispered, her hands coming up to rest against his chest. His thumb brushed across her cheekbone with surprising gentleness. Two days and then we walk into the lion’s den together.

The night before Sicily, Selene stood on the villa’s terrace, watching the Mediterranean stretch endlessly under moonlight, her mind too restless for sleep. She heard Aleandro’s footsteps before she felt his arms slide around her waist from behind, pulling her back against his chest with gentle possession.

“Seline,” he murmured against the curve of her neck, his lips brushing her skin as he spoke. I know you’re still angry with me, still processing everything that’s happened. I had to handle things the way I did to keep you safe. His arms tightened fractionally. But you, even 14 years ago, when you were just a terrified little girl, I saw that fighting spirit in you.

You’ve never stopped having it, that fire under all the softness. It’s what draws me to you in ways I can’t resist. Seline turned in his arms to face him, her eyes searching his in the moonlight, and Aleandro’s hand rose to cup her face with aching tenderness. “All of this, the danger, the complications, it’ll be over in a few days,” he continued, his voice dropping lower, more intimate.

“And you’ll be free. You’re so young. You have your whole life ahead of you. So many things you should experience.” He paused, his thumb tracing her cheekbone. But I need you to know something. When this is over, the only thing I want is for you to stay as my wife for real this time. I don’t want to lose you, Seline.

His eyes held hers with devastating honesty. But whatever you decide, I’ll respect it. Seline’s fingers rose slowly to trace along his jaw, following the line up to the scar cutting through his eyebrow, that mark of violence that somehow made him more real, more human. She said nothing.

Just let her touch linger for a heartbeat longer before pulling away and walking back inside without a word. Aleandro stood alone on the terrace, his hands gripping the railing as he stared out at the dark water. He’d faced violence, betrayal, death threats, had lived his entire life navigating danger without flinching.

But standing there in the quiet night, Alessandro felt something he’d never experienced before. A tightness in his chest that made breathing difficult. An ache in his heart that had nothing to do with physical pain and everything to do with the terrifying possibility of losing the one thing he’d never expected to find. Love. The private jet touched down in Polarmo under late afternoon sun, and the second Selen’s feet hit the tarmac, she felt it.

that sick twist in her gut that told her they were walking into something dangerous. A black Mercedes sat waiting on the runway, engine running, and Aleandro caught her hand before they reached it, pulling her around to face him. Remember what we talked about. His voice came quiet but absolute. Stay close. Keep your hand in mine. Don’t say a word until I tell you it’s safe.

His fingers tightened around hers. Trust me, as long as I’m next to you, nobody touches you. Got it? His thumb brushed her knuckles once. You’re my wife now. They’ll treat you the way they treat me. Seline managed to nod, her throat too tight for words. The Mercedes pulled away from the airport with them in the back seat.

Aleandro’s hand still wrapped around hers like he had no intention of letting go, and Seline stared at their joined fingers, trying to make sense of everything spinning through her head. Two weeks ago, she’d been a curator, worried about gallery shows and her father’s warnings. Now, she was sitting in a car heading toward a meeting with the kind of men her father had spent years trying to protect her from.

Married to someone she’d known for 14 days. And somehow, impossibly, the scariest part wasn’t the danger. It was how badly she wanted to stay when this was over. Allesandro had taken her, lied to her, forced her into marriage to keep her safe. and she should hate him for all of it. Should be planning her escape the second they got clear of this mess.

Instead, she kept thinking about his hands in her hair, his voice saying he didn’t want to lose her. The way he looked at her like she was worth burning his whole world down for. Walking away was going to destroy her. And the worst part, she wasn’t sure she wanted to walk away at all. The car wound up a hillside road lined with cypress trees.

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