76 | You don't drown without me
The ring catches the light.
I sit alone in the backyard, legs curled beneath me, staring at the gold band wrapped around my finger like a secret. It's delicate, warm against my skin, etched with waves only I seem to notice.
His touch is all over it.
I lift my hand, tilting it to the dying sun, watching how the light skates across the metal.
I love this ring more than I should. It's not just a ring, it's a vow, a warning, a chain. He told me it has a tracking device in it. I should've been angry. I should've run. But instead, I smiled.
Because now I know he'll always find me and he would save me if something bad ever happened to me.
With a quiet breath, I reach for my phone, the screen flickering to life in my palm.
I open the tracker app he installed for me, my thumb hovering over the little map, over the glowing dot marked Luciano.
He's moving as I zoom in at the location.
"He's coming back," I whisper to myself, curling tighter into my seat.
He's on his way back from a meeting with another powerful family.
I should feel relief. He's handling it. Securing alliances. Playing the game he was born to dominate. But the unease curls deep anyway, like a snake waking up in my belly.
The phone buzzes in my hand. A message. No name. Just a number I don't recognize.
No.
No no no—
I stare at the screen. My pulse kicks. The message contains a single thing: A video.
My thumb hovers before I tap.
It starts with soft laughter, the sound of champagne flutes clinking. The camera is shaky, handheld, pointed at a mirror inside a pristine bridal boutique. A woman spins in front of the glass, twirling like a dream, lace trailing behind her like a whisper.
I know that face.
Ciara.
She smiles wide, giddy, radiant, lost in a moment frozen in time. Voices in the background coo and cheer."Luciano will love this on you!"
And then the screen goes black.
A line of text appears, white against the dark void:You took him from her.
Before I can think, anothermessage comes through. Another video.
My thumb trembles as I tap it open.
The first thing I hear is loud music. Women in cocktail dresses, bodies swaying under neon lights. Ciara again, center stage. She's laughing, drink in hand, surrounded by impossibly beautiful friends, models.They chant her name, dancing, hugging, tossing petals into the air.
Her bachelorette party.
Then the screen fades to black.
Another message appears:She would have lived a happy life if it wasn't for you.
I drop the phone on the floor.
It hits the tile with a crack. My breath is gone, like someone reached inside me and tore it out with both hands. My hand flies to my mouth. My teeth bite into my nail, deeper and deeper until I taste blood.
"No," I whisper, rocking forward, squeezing my eyes shut. "No, no, no—"
The thoughts come crashing back, louder than the pool water beside me.
You ruin everything.
You steal what doesn't belong to you.
Your mother never wanted you. Your father only saw your face when he drank to forget it.
I press my palms to my ears, trying to push the voices out. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up—"
One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. Breathe. Just breathe.
But I can't. I can't get air into my lungs.
I stumble to my feet. My vision blurs while the pool glistens in the corner of my vision, like glass stretched across silence.
I run and I dive into the pool.
The water hits me like a scream. It's cold and unforgiving. It rushes into my ears, floods my mouth. But there's peace in it too, a moment where the world disappears, where nothing can touch me. Not the past. Not Ciara. Not the messages. Not even myself.
I can't hurt myself when I'm down here.
I sink and I stay there because if I get up, I would want to slit my wrists and bleed to death. Would someone love me then?
I could stay here forever.
I could—
But then I feel strong arms. Strong, furious arms breaking the surface, dragging me up, up, up.
I burst into air with a gasp that sounds like a sob, and suddenly I'm in his arms. Luciano.
He's holding me so tight it hurts. His voice is in my ear, rough, panicked, laced with rage and something so much worse, fear.
"Aurelia,Aurelia. What the fuck were you doing?!" He's shouting but his voice cracks, and his hand is pressed to my back, feeling my heartbeat like he doesn't believe it's still there. "You did come up to catch air for minutes!"
"I—I couldn't—" My teeth chatter. I can't finish the sentence. My chest collapses against his, wracked with shaking. I hold on to his shirt like a lifeline. "I couldn't breathe. I just—there was a video. Two of them. It was Ciara—"
His whole body tenses.
He lifts me out of the pool, carrying me like I weigh nothing, like I'm precious. He sets me down on a chair, his hands framing my face, wet hair plastered to his forehead. His eyes are fire and ice, furious, terrified, broken.
"Don't you fucking do that again," he whispers. "You don't drown without me. You don't leave me like that. Ever."
Tears fall before I can stop them.
"I didn't want to die," I whisper, voice cracking. "I just wanted to make it stop. I feel-"
I don't even finish my sentence before my vision blurs and fades to black, and I collapse into Luciano's arms.