Chapter 107
Who would be here to see me when Dominic wasn’t around?
I thought as I pulled on a cashmere sweater Emilia had set out earlier. The weather was cold and dry, and something about today made the air feel tighter than usual. Like the house was holding its breath.
I ran my fingers through my damp hair, the sweater swallowing my frame as I padded barefoot down the stairs.
When I reached the last step, Emilia stood waiting expression blank, like she want to say something but couldn’t. I didn’t ask. I was too focused on the tall woman standing near the parlor window, smoking like she owned the entire house.
Victoria Romano.
She wore black gloves, tailored slacks, and a smirk like poison. The kind of beautiful that cut deep.
Her dark red lipstick hadn’t smudged one bit, despite the thin, silver cigarette holder resting elegantly between her fingers.
She turned when she heard me, exhaled, and tilted her head slightly.
“Well,” she drawled. “There’s the infamous Aria. You’re even prettier up close, no makeup, casual. No wonder he’s obsessed
I stopped walking. My entire body stiffened.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
She smiled, slowly like a cat. “Relax. Dominic’s not here, and I’m not armed.” She held up her free hand like I was supposed to be comforted. “Unless you count my mouth. Which, frankly, most people do.”
I didn’t smile. “Get to the point.”
“Straightforward. I like that.” She took another drag, blew the smoke toward the ceiling, and strolled to the couch like we were friends catching up. “I was in the neighborhood. Thought I’d stop by. You and I haven’t had a proper chat.”
“We don’t need to.”
She laughed under her breath, sitting down like she owned the damn room. “But we do, sweetheart. Because you don’t know him the way I do.”
I didn’t move. I didn’t blink. “Dominic?”
“Dominic,” she echoed. “He’s charming, isn’t he? And intense. An intense lover. I made him a sex addict because I was one myself.” She giggled. “I changed him. I knew him raw, the king hearted Dominic, you got damaged goods but still. even then he was just so hot. All those cold stares and silent promises. You probably think you’ve cracked something in him that no one else could.”
“I didn’t say that and I don’t care about your sex like or love life with him.”
She laughed. “Oh honey you do, don’t deceive yourself.”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder.
“You didn’t have to say it by the way.” She crossed one leg over the other, her heel tapping lightly against the rug. “Let me guess. He says he’s never brought anyone here before? Never told anyone the things he tells you? He makes you feel like you’re different. Chosen.”
I folded my arms. “You’re wasting your time.”
“Am I?” Victoria blew smoke again, this time directly toward me. “Tell me, Aria… what exactly do you know about the man who sleeps beside you?”
I didn’t answer.
Her eyes glittered. “Thought so.”
I took a breath, grounding myself. “Dominic may be a lot of things. Controlling. Cold. Dangerous. But he’s never lied to me. He hides things but he doesn’t lie.”
At that, Victoria actually laughed. Loud. Mocking. “Oh, darling. That’s the worst part. He’s been lying to you since the beginning. The difference is… he does it so well, you call it protection.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She leaned forward, eyes sharp, voice low. “I know he’s been watching you since before your father owed him a dime. I know he visited De Stone long before your shif even
Veprate the Montels an offer.”
I froze. “What offer?”
Successfully unlocked!
Her smirk returned. “Does it really matter now? They’re dead. But isn’t it strange?” She tilted her head. “That right after your diagnosis, after your break up fell apart… Dominic swooped in like some twisted knight in black armor?”
My stomach churned. “He didn’t know about the cancer.”
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Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
She stood slowly, walking to the window, dragging her nails across the wooden frame like she was scratching a secret into it. “You think this is love. You think he’s going to keep you when he’s done?”
“Done?” I whispered.
She turned, slowly. “He collects things. Broken things. He likes putting them on shelves. Owning them. Making them dependent.”
My jaw tightened. “You’re projecting.”
She stepped closer. “Am I?”
“You were one of those things, weren’t you?”
The amusement slipped from her face for a brief second. Just one flicker. Then she smiled again, but this time it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Touché,” she murmured. “But that’s what makes me qualified to warn you.”
“I don’t want your warning.”
She ignored me. “He’ll love you until you bleed for him. He’ll keep you in golden cages, whisper promises you’ll want to believe. But once your shine fades, once you’re no longer a challenge… he’ll discard you like the rest.”
“You don’t know what we are,” I said quietly.
“I know exactly what you are,” she shot back. “You’re a chapter in his story, not the whole book.”
I looked away, heart pounding.
She exhaled slowly and walked toward me. “You should’ve left when you had the chance.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked.
That made her pause. Her smile vanished.
“I did,” she said eventually. “But not before it cost me everything.”
She flicked her cigarette out into the fireplace, the ember hissing softly as it hit cold stone.
Then she turned to face me again.
“Tell me something, Aria.” Her voice was soft now. “Did Dominic ever tell you how he knew your real last name?”
I blinked. “What?”
“Your inheritance,” she said, her lips curling. “The name you don’t use. The money tied to the Fletchers. The properties. The bloodlines. Did he ever explain why that file was already in his office before your parents died?”
“My chest tightened. “I don’t understand.”
Victoria smiled again, and this time, it was almost pitying. Almost.
“Of course you don’t,” she said. “But you will.”
She moved back to the couch like she had all the time in the world, like this was her house, her game. And maybe, in some twisted way, it was.
“The Fletchers,” she began, crossing her legs and brushing invisible lint from her thigh, “were a family of influence. Not just money. Power. Old money. Syndicate born. Respected and feared for generations. But their mistake? Trusting the wrong people.”
My lips parted slightly. “What do you mean?”
“There was a betrayal. Years ago. Inside the Syndicate. One of the inner families turned on the Fletchers during a territorial shift names were erased, businesses burned, and the last of the bloodline was hidden.” Her eyes flicked up to mine. “That last, Aria… is you.”
I froze.
Even though I did not want to believe it or think about it, a part of me could not deny the truth.
I bit my lips. “That’s not… That can’t be-”
“You think your ‘adoption‘ was random?” she asked sharply. “That you just ended up with the Montels out of convenience? No, darling. You were hidden. Hidden well. And Dominic… he knew.”
I shook my head. “He didn’t-”
“He did.” Her voice was cold now. “Before your father’s debts. Before the cancer. He knew. He had a file on you years before he pulled that gun in your living room. He watched you for a reason. Not because you danced pretty. Not because you
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were fragile. Because you were a key. The missing one. And he wanted control over it.”
I felt my heartbeat rise, pounding in my throat. “That’s not true. He–he wouldn’t use me like that.”
Victoria gave a soft, dry laugh. “Of course he would. That’s the thing about Dominic. He uses people and calls it love.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
She tilted her head. “You know what he told me? When we ended?” Her eyes narrowed. “That love was weakness. That wanting me made him weak.”
My eyes dropped. I didn’t want to hear this. I didn’t want to see her lips curve with venom.
“He fought Nico over me,” she said, quieter now. “Nearly killed him. And I-” her breath caught for the briefest second, “I didn’t want to be the reason they turned on each other. So I married someone else. I left.”
I looked up slowly.
Victoria’s eyes locked on mine. “And now, it’s happening again. But worse. Because you’re sicker. Younger. And too naïve t see it for what it is. Too weak to leave.”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood.
“You really think he’ll choose you over his empire? Over his ego?”
“Why are you telling me this?” I whispered. “If you hate me so much, why not let him destroy me?”
“Because unlike Dominic, I know when to end a cycle.” She reached into her coat and pulled out a slim card black,
embossed with silver numbers and a single name. “You have a choice. You can either stay here and slowly wither under his obsession… or you can work for me.”
My brows furrowed. “Work for you?”
“I’m building something,” she said simply. “And I need someone with your instincts. Your access. Your name.” She held the card between two fingers, then let it fall into my lap. “It’s a way out. One that doesn’t end with you buried next to your parents.”
I stared at the card.
“Do you really think Dominic’s going to let you go when he’s done?” she asked, rising to her feet, brushing down her sleeves “Men like him don’t release what they own. They just move it.”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
She stepped closer, leaned in until I could smell the faint perfume laced in her scarf. “You can stay doubtful. Hope he changes. Hope he means it this time. Or…”
She straightened, gaze sharp.
“You can take what time you have left, and use it. Live. Be free. Enjoy your remaining years or months or weeks alive and free.”
The words burned.
She glanced once more toward the hallway, lips curling slightly. “I’ll see myself out.”
I didn’t stop her.
I just stared down at the card in my hand, fingers shaking.
And somewhere, under the thundering silence in my chest, her words rang louder than anything I’d heard since I got here.
“He had a file on you long before he touched you.”
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