Chapter 76
Aria’s POV
Dominic was silent when we got to the house.
He didn’t say a word as he handed off his keys to one of the guards, didn’t look at me as he walked straight into the mansion, his shoulders tense beneath his black coat.
I followed, unsure if I was supposed to say something… or leave him be.
The air inside felt heavier than usual. Like even the walls were holding their breath.
Dominic disappeared into his office, and I stood there awkwardly by the staircase, heart pounding like a drum that didn’t know when to stop.
I was about to turn and go to my room when his voice stopped me.
“Come here.”
It wasn’t a command.
Not really.
But there was something in the way he said it–quiet, tired–that pulled me in before I could think twice.
I stepped into the room slowly.
He was standing by the window, one hand shoved in his pocket, the other nursing a glass of something dark and strong. His back was to me, gaze focused on the view outside.
“I was thirteen the first time I held a gun,” he said, still not looking at me.
I blinked. “What?”
“My father gave it to me,” he continued, like I hadn’t spoken. “Said I needed to learn. That I needed to understand what it meant to protect something… or destroy it.”
Silence stretched.
“I shot a man two weeks later and the killing continued. Was kidnapped. Was injured. But it only made me work harder. I didn’t care. I didn’t stop. I was brutal.”
My mouth went dry.
“Why are you telling me this? ” I asked softly.
He finally turned to look at me.
His expression was unreadable–but his eyes… they were a storm.
“Because you keep looking at me like I’m supposed to be better than I am.”
I frowned. “Dominic- ”
“I’m not,” he cut in, voice low. “I was raised in blood. In fear. In expectations I never wanted but had to live up to. Every time I trusted someone, they either betrayed me or ended up dead.”
x
He ran a hand through his hair. “So no–I don’t do soft. I don’t do safe. And I sure as hell don’t do love.”
I didn’t move.
I didn’t breathe.
Because for the first time, he wasn’t acting like a king in his castle or a monster in a suit.
He was just a man.
Worn.
Bruised.
Exhausted by everything he carried.
“And yet,” I said quietly, “you care.”
His jaw ticked.
“I see it, Dominic. I feel it. You can lie to yourself all you want but you’re not fooling me.”
His grip on the glass tightened. “You make me
“No,” I whispered. “I make you human.”
That broke something.
He set the glass down and crossed the room in three long strides.
1/3
Chapter 77
Then–he held me. I gasped as his hands went around my body holding me.
Tight.
My mouth opened a bit but slowly I reached out and hugged him. Pressing my face against his shoulder.
“I said all that because…even though I want to tell myself that I am some Mafia boss. I care for you. I..like you Aria.”
My mouth went dried.
His breath trembled against my neck. “If I lose you,” he whispered, “I lose everything.”
My eyes widened.
“What? How…” I didn’t know what to say as I looked at him in the dim glow of the hallway light.
Dominic–this cold, untouchable man–just said something that shattered the very core of everything I thought he was.
I pulled back a little, just enough to see his face. His expression was tight, unreadable as always, but his eyes–God, his eyes–they looked raw.
“Why would you say that?” I whispered.
He exhaled, low and rough.
“Because it’s true and I am so tired of telling myself it isn’t.”
The silence stretched between us. A storm of questions swirled in my mind, but before I could speak again, his phone rang -sharply, insistently, breaking whatever fragile moment had just passed between us.
He clenched his jaw and pulled it from his pocket, glancing at the screen.
His entire body stiffened. His posture changed.
“Dominic?” I asked carefully, trying to read his sudden shift.
He answered the call with one word.
“What? ”
I heard nothing on the other end, only the way his breath left him in a sharp exhale.
His hand fell to his side.
The color drained from his face.
“What is it?” I pressed, stepping closer, anxiety rising in my chest.
He didn’t answer right away.
His mouth opened like he wanted to say something but the words caught in his throat.
Then he finally looked at me, and what I saw in his eyes made the floor tilt beneath my feet.
“Your parents,” he said, voice rough. “Aria… they’re gone.”
I didn’t understand. I blinked once. Twice.
“Gone?”
My heart didn’t get it. My brain didn’t register it.
“They were in the house,” he said slowly, like he was trying not to break me. “I gave them that house. Outskirts of Florence. Quiet. Safe. Or so I thought.”
I couldn’t move.
“Your mother…” he paused, jaw clenching. “Her medication was finally working. She’d started responding. And your father -he was going to rehab. He actually wanted to fix things.”
His voice broke slightly at the end.
“ So you are telling me…my…. family…is dead?”
I just stood there.
“Aria…”
I didn’t reply. I stood there.
Still.
Frozen.
Then my knees buckled.
“Ahhhh!” The scream tore out of me like my soul was trying to escape.
My legs shook so hard I couldn’t keep standing. The world spun. My throat felt like it was closing.
2/3
Chapter 77
Dominic caught me before I hit the ground.
I collapsed into him, shaking, breath ragged, and all I could hear was the sound of my own cry echoing in the hallway.
I wasn’t sure if I was breathing or drowning.
“I don’t understand…” I whispered, but my voice cracked. “I don’t understand…”
His arms wrapped around me tightly, grounding me, but nothing made sense anymore.
“It was a sniper,” he said quietly. “Through the window.”
I felt his chest rise and fall like he was trying to hold it together–for me. But his voice was tight. Unsteady.
“The men did not expect, fuck, fuck!!!” he growled “How did they not even notice? Aria I am sorry. I am so so sorry.”
My heart just stopped.
Something inside me broke.
I couldn’t speak.
Couldn’t breathe.
All I heard was him calling me–over and over again.
“Aria.”
“Aria–look at me.”
“Aria, please.”
But his voice kept getting further and further away.
Darkness rushed up fast. I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t try.
I fainted.
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