Arla’s POV
The air was suffocating.
Thick. Sting.
Three sets of eyes were lacked onto me, watching, waiting. Their silence was worse than shouting, worse than excuses. My own words still hung in the alt, pressing down on my chest like a weight I couldn’t thake.
“What do you even feel for
or me?”
I hadn’t meant to say it like that. Not with my voice cracking at the edges, not with so much vulnerability laid bare between us. But now that it was out, I refused to take it back.
Dante clenched his jaw so tight I thought it might snap. Matteo’s smirk had vanished, replaced by something unreadable. Enzo’s fingers curled into fists on the table, his expression carved from stone.
The silence stretched too long,
A sharp, bitter laugh bubbled in my throat. I shook my head, pushing my chair back.
“You know what? Forget it.” I stood, pulse thrumming against my ribs. “I don’t even know why 1-
A warm hand grabbed my
y wrist. Firm. Steady.
Dante.
it down.” His voice was low, commanding.
I yanked my arm free. “No.”
Matteo exhaled through his nose, rubbing a hand down his face like I was exhausting him. “Princesa-
“No.” My voice rose, sharp and uneven. I’m not doing this. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like this is fine. Like it doesn’t drive me insane watching you all come home covered in blood, speaking in half–truths, making me feel like-
“Like what?” Dante’s voice softened, but his eyes were anything but.
I swallowed hard, gripping the back of my chair. “Like I don’t belong here.”
Something shifted in the air.
Matteo’s sharp i
Inhale was the only sound in the room.
“Obligation?” he repeated, voice rougher than before.
I looked away, my throat tightening. “That’s what it feels like.”
Enzo finally moved. He pushed back his chair slowly, standing with the same careful precision he always had. Controlled. Measured. But I saw it now–the cracks beneath the surface.
1/4
Chapter 47
“You think we don’t care?” Ils valce was quiet, but there was something dangerous about it. Not a threat A warning.
I forced myself to hold his gaze, ‘I don’t know what to think.”
Dante exhaled, dragging a hand through his hair. “Arla…” His voice was strained, like this was as exhausting for him as it was for me. “You don’t belong here? You think that’s why we–why I-
He cut himself off, jaw tightening…
Matteo’s fingers drummed against the table. He shook his head, muttering, “She really has no fucking clue.”
I crossed my arms. “Then tell me.”
The room shrank around us.
Dante was the first to break. “You make me feel things I haven’t felt in years. Things I don’t know what to do with. That’s why I push you away.”
Matteo let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh, but there was no humor in it. “You drive me insane, princesa. You’re stubborn and mouthy and reckless, and I should have gotten tired of you by now.” He leaned forward, voice dropping lower. “But I can’t.” He held my gaze, something raw and desperate flickering behind his eyes. “And that scares
the shit out of me.”
I turned to Enzo, my heart hammering.
He didn’t move, didn’t blink. But his voice was steady when he spoke.
“You’re the first person who’s made me feel anything real in a long time.” A beat of silence. “That’s why I can’t let you go.”
The words rattled inside me, stirring something deep and dangerous.
The tension wasn’t just thick–it was charged
Matteo moved first, closing the distance between us, his fingers tracing down my arm. His touch left goosebumps in its wake, and I hated how much I leaned into it.
“Still think you’re just an obligation? His voice was low, teasing, but there was something real beneath it. Something that made my stomach twist.
I should move. I should push them away.
I didn’t.
my chin up.
His
Dante’s fingers brushed against my jaw, tilting my
before he leaned in.
The kiss wasn’t soft.
It wasn’t hesitant.
It was deep, slow, claiming.
eyes searched mine, hesitation flickering for just a second
2/4
Chapter 47
Like he was making sure I felt everything he wasn’t saying.
A gasp slipped from my lips, my hands gripping his shirt without thinking. I felt Matter move behind me, ghosting against my neck. A soft kiss. A sharp nip. My breath caught.
his breath
“Tell me to stop,” Matteo murmured, his trailing along the sensitive skin beneath my ear. “And I will.”
I should
But I didn’t
Enzo’s fingers brushed over my others, but just as intense,
my waist, a
featherlight touch that sent a
it a shiver down my spine. His voice was softer than the
“You make us crazy. Aria “
My head was
was spinning, my body burning under their touch. It was too much, too fast.
Matteo’s hands slid down my waist, slow and deliberate, his fingers tracing fire along my skin. “You drive me insane, princesa,” he murmured against my neck, his breath hot, teasing. His lips brushed the sensitive spot Beneath my ear, sending a shiver down my spine..
Dante wasn’t any gentler. His grip was firm as he tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet his gaze. “You make me lose control,” he admitted, his voice cough, raw. And then his lips crashed onto mine, demanding and desperate, like he was staking his calm.
Enzo’s fingers ghosted over my arm before sliding lower, his touch barely there, but enough to set my nerves on fire. “You ruin me, Aria,” he whispered, his lips finding my shoulder, the scrape of his teeth making my breath hitch.
Surrounded. Consumed, Overwhelmed.
I pulled away, stumbling back, breath uneven.
Their eyes were on me–dark, wanting, so much.
“This…” My voice wavered. This is dangerous.”
Dante’s expression didn’t change. “Only If you run,”
Enzo
ted his head ….
what happens now, Aria?”
I didn’t know.
I looked between them, my heart pounding, the weight of their words pressing against me.
What d
What did they feel for me?
What did I feel for them?
I exhaled shakily, my voice barely above a whisper
“I don’t know
