Chapter 75
Aria’s POV
My life flashed before my eyes.
Not the good parts.
Not the ones people talk about, the soft memories, childhood warmth, kisses that made time stop.
No. Mine were chaos. Death.
Laughter echoing through a hospital hallway.
My mother’s cough in the middle of the night.
The sound of my father’s fists slamming on the table after another loss.
The strip club’s red neon flickering above my head.
And now–now this.
Rough hands grabbed at me, dragging me backward. My heels scraped against the floor, useless. My throat was raw from screaming but no sound came out anymore.
The room blurred. Panic took over. Everything tilted and spun and I couldn’t find something steady to hold onto. “Please,” I gasped.
I wasn’t even sure who I was begging.
A flash of light.
A gloved hand across my mouth.
And then-
Gunshots.
Not one.
Not two.
Several.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
The kind of sound you don’t forget.
My heart stopped. Everything inside me went silent. For a moment, I thought… maybe that was it.
Maybe I had died.
But then the hands let go.
Then the weight pressing down on me vanished.
I slumped to the floor, barely able to keep my eyes open.
More shouting. Voices I couldn’t register. I was dizzy. My head spun like I’d been on a carousel for too long and it refused to stop.
Then I heard it.
That voice.
Low. Cold. Commanding.
“Move.”
It cut through the air like a blade. Everything stopped. Everyone obeyed.
Because that voice belonged to Dominic.
He appeared out of the shadows like a nightmare dressed in all black.
Blood speckled his shirt. His eyes scanned the room like a wolf ready to kill.
And then–they found me.
“Aria.” It wasn’t a question. It was a breath. A threat to the world if I wasn’t okay.
Successfully unlocked!
I couldn’t speak. I didn’t have to.
He was already at my side.
His arms were around me before I even realized he’d moved. Warm. Solid. Real.
I clung to him, shaking, trembling like a leaf caught in a storm.
1/4
Chapter 75
“I’ve got you,” he muttered. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”
But I wasn’t.
Not really.
Not yet.
I was in shock.
Frozen.
I heard him barking orders. I heard someone whimpering. Heard a door slam, maybe a body fall.
None of it mattered.
He lifted me like I weighed nothing.
Like I wasn’t broken.
I buried my face in his chest. I didn’t care anymore how it looked. I just needed to feel something that wasn’t terror.
“Shh,” he whispered. “It’s over.”
But I could still feel the sweat on my skin, the phantom pressure on my throat, the scrape of the floor beneath me.
It didn’t feel over.
We reached the hallway. His steps were fast. His shoes hitting hard against the ground.
Every one of them filled with fury and anger. I could feel it beneath my fingertips, his rage. His protectiveness. His control.
And underneath all of it?
Panic.
He was scared.
I had never seen him scared before.
Was it because of me?
We reached the car. He helped me in carefully, closing the door with more force than necessary. And when he slid in next to me, I could still feel the tension radiating off him like heat.
I stared straight ahead, afraid that if I blinked, I’d fall apart.
Then I felt his hand.
Sliding over mine.
Tight.
Sure.
Dominic De Luca didn’t say much.
But that grip?
It said everything.
Dominic had been scared to lose me. That he couldn’t control this. /
Control the actions of others. Control death.
The silence in the car was loud.
Too loud.
Like the kind of silence that crawls beneath your skin and reminds you you’re still alive… barely.
‘Dominic hadn’t let go of my hand.
He hadn’t said a word either, but I could feel it–his restraint was on a thread. Tight. Barely held together.
I stared at the dashboard. My fingers were cold. I hadn’t stopped shaking.
When we reached the gates, they opened like the whole world knew not to get in his way.
The car stopped. Someone opened the door.
Dominic stepped out first, then turned and lifted me into his arms before I could argue. My voice caught in my throat as my fingers curled into his jacket.
I didn’t say I could walk.
Because I wasn’t sure I could.
The mansion was quiet when we entered. Guards stood tense by the hallways. One of them said something about cleaning the mess, but Dominic didn’t even glance their way.
2/4
Chapter 75
He took me straight upstairs.
To his room.
He kicked the door open and brought me in, setting me gently on the bed like I was something delicate. Breakable.
Maybe I was.
His eyes ran over me. My scraped knees. My wrists. The bruises forming.
He cursed under his breath, pacing once before turning to face me again.
I forced a breath. “I’m fine.”
He looked at me like I’d just slapped him. “You’re not fine.”
“I didn’t die,” I whispered.
“Don’t say that.”
I swallowed. “It’s true.”
Dominic dragged a hand through his hair, eyes darkening. “You could’ve.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, head bowed for a second like he couldn’t even look at me without shattering.
“I should’ve been there sooner.”
“You came.”
“Not soon enough.”
The words hung heavy between us.
After a long pause, he lifted his head. “What did they want?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
He studied my face like he was trying to read the truth beneath my skin. “Someone sent them.”
“Mikael?”
“Probably.”
I could hear the rage under his calm. He was going to burn something someone for this.
“You shouldn’t have left your room,” he said quietly.
My breath caught. “So it’s my fault now?”
He stood. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Because it sure sounds like it. Who put a vibrator in me? Who told me I was needed at a stupid ball? When clearly I said I didn’t want to go? You did you narcissistic bastard!!”
He turned sharply. “You think I wouldn’t burn down every inch of this fucking world for you? I would. I meant that if… if only
I haven’t let you out. If only that we had stuck to that fucking contract then your life wouldn’t be at risk!”
I blinked.
His chest rose and fell with the force of what he wasn’t saying.
“I didn’t let them near you. I didn’t give them an inch. And still, they got close enough to touch you.” His voice dropped. That’s on me. For feeling for you.”
“Dominic…”
He crossed the room in two steps and knelt in front of me, his hands gripping the edge of the bed.
“I’ll kill them,” he said softly. “Every single one. And anyone else who tries to take what’s mine.”
My stomach twisted.
Not just because of his words, but because part of me felt safe hearing them.
I reached for his hand.
He took it.
Held it.
My eyes still widened from his confession.
My heart skipped a beat.
His actions. His words. Him.
Was I…falling for Dominic?
