Page 58

Aria’s hand finds my arm, her fingers pressing into my sleeve. “Marco, if this is true… if we’re really?—”

“Then you have more to fear than ever before,” I finish for her, turning to catch her gaze.

Those eyes that have started to haunt my dreams search my face for the truth. I give her what I can without revealing everything. “The DeLuca family didn’t fall by accident. Rivals systematically eliminated them. If word gets out that the daughters survived…”

I let the implication linger. My father once served their family, and he believes he wiped out their entire bloodline so he could claim what was theirs as his own. The blood feud goes back generations. Aria doesn’t need to know that part. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

“We have enough enemies already,” I continue, my voice softening as I meet Aria’s eyes. I reach out, brushing a strand of hair from her face—a tender gesture that surprises even me. “And speaking of immediate dangers, there’s something you both need to know.”

The sisters exchange a look I can’t quite interpret.

“Fabrizio D’Angelo is furious I helped you out, Chiara,” I say, dropping the name like a bomb. “He’s angry because I stopped his cronies from running their business in my territory—and he believes I’ve married you. You understand your sister is in danger?”

Chiara pales and stumbles back, her eyes darting to Aria.

“Exactly,” I continue. “I’ve effectively nullified his loan by taking Aria—who he thinks is you—as my wife.”

“But you paid him back, didn’t you?” Aria protests, though her eyes never leave pale Chiara. Even now, she tries to protect her sister.

I nod. “But he’s a loan shark operating on the fringes of organized crime. They thrive on exorbitant interest. The last thing a man like D’Angelo likes is not being owed. He’s not powerful enough to confront me directly, but he is dangerous nonetheless. If he finds out what you two have done, he’ll take your reunion as a personal insult—as if you’ve conspired to cheat him. Right now, he doesn’t even know Aria exists. If he discovers you’re twins, word will spread. You’ll both be hunted. I can keep Aria safe under my roof, but Chiara—if you start searching for answers, if anyone finds you when they believe you’re under my protection…”

“I didn’t come back just to put us in more danger,” Chiara protests, straightening her shoulders—a gesture so like Aria’s earlier stance, it’s uncanny. “I came to warn Aria and to make things right.”

My laugh is cold and sharp. “By breaking into my home? By risking a bullet in your brain? If I had been anyone else—if my men had found you first—you’d be dead in a ditch by now.”

“But they didn’t,” Chiara says, lifting her chin with that same defiance I now recognize runs in their blood. “And I’m here to stay. To protect my sister.”

“Protect her?” I step closer, using my height to loom over her. “The way you protected her when you left her to marry a stranger? The way you protected her when you took from a man like Fabrizio, knowing the consequences?”

Aria’s hand on my chest stops me from advancing further. She stands between us again, but this time facing Chiara.

“He’s right,” she says softly, and the admission sends a surge of something possessive through me. “You did leave me, Chi. You did put us in danger.”

Chiara’s face crumples, just slightly, around the edges. “I know. And I’m sorry. But I’m here now, and we need to stick together. Especially if what I’ve learned is true.”

I watch them carefully, noting how Aria’s stance has shifted—not fully toward her sister, not fully toward me. She stands in the middle, caught between blood and… whatever I am to her now. Husband. Captor. Protector.

“Let me be absolutely clear,” I say, addressing Chiara. “Your recklessness nearly got you killed tonight. Any further impulsive actions will have consequences I can’t control. Aria is under my protection now, which means by extension, so are you.” I pause, letting the words sink in. “But cross me again, and sister or not, there will be a reckoning. Now, if you want me to shelter you both, you cannot go digging into secrets that bring more danger your way. Our way. Whatever you’ve found about your family, lay to rest, or else…”

The threat hangs in the air, but beneath it lies an offer—one I didn’t even know I was making until the words left my mouth. Protection. Safety. For both of them.

Aria’s eyes meet mine, something new swimming in their depths. Understanding. Gratitude.

“Thank you,” she whispers, and her fingers squeeze mine briefly.

Those two simple words ignite something within me—something I’ve spent decades burying under layers of ice and control. My numb hands tingle with sudden warmth, and in my chest blooms an uncomfortable heat that I recognize, with mounting horror, as guilt.

Guilt for what my father did.

Guilt for what I’m hiding from her.

Guilt for knowing that when she eventually discovers the truth, I might lose the only thing I never knew I wanted.

Because when the truth comes out—and it will—she won’t just hate me.

She’ll destroy me.

Maybe I’ll deserve it.