Chapter 5
Chapter Five
ARIA
I was going to hell.
Not metaphorically. Not in some vague spiritual sense. I was literally, actually going to hell because apparently sleeping with your future stepson was the kind of sin that got you a one-way ticket to eternal damnation with no stops in between.
And the worst part? The absolute worst part of this entire nightmare situation?
I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Mrs. Elena Rossi was showing me around my new room—my prison, really, let's call it what it was—pointing out where the towels were kept and explaining meal schedules, and all I could think about was Kai's hands on my body. His mouth on my neck. The way he'd looked at me when he'd—
"Miss Romano? Are you listening, dear?"
I blinked. Mrs. Rossi was staring at me with concern, her kind face creased with worry. She'd probably been talking for the last five minutes and I hadn't heard a single word.
"Yes. Sorry. I'm just... it's been a long day."
The understatement of the century. I'd woken up this morning still a prisoner at my own house, been driven here by my manipulative uncle, met my future husband who looked at me like I was a piece of property he'd just purchased, and then discovered that the man I'd had mind-blowing, life-altering, completely irresponsible sex with two weeks ago was Salvatore's son.
So yeah. Long day didn't quite cover it.
"Of course you are, poor thing. Losing both your parents so close together, and now all these changes." Mrs. Rossi patted my arm gently. "You just rest. Dinner is at seven if you'd like to join Don Salvatore, but I can bring a tray to your room if you'd prefer."
"Room. Please. The room."
The relief on her face told me she'd been hoping I'd say that. Apparently even the staff knew that throwing a grieving eighteen-year-old into dinner conversation with Don Salvatore was a spectacularly bad idea.
"I'll bring something up around six-thirty then. Try to get some rest, Miss Romano."
She left, closing the door softly behind her.
The silence that followed was deafening.
I turned slowly, taking in my new accommodations.
The room was huge. Obscenely huge. King-sized bed with what looked like a thousand pillows.
Massive windows overlooking gardens that probably cost more to maintain than most people's houses.
A bathroom I could see through an open door that was bigger than my entire bedroom back home.
Everything was expensive. Beautiful. Cold.
Like living inside a very pretty coffin.
I walked to the window, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. The gardens below were immaculate. Not a leaf out of place. Not a flower wilting. Everything controlled and perfect and completely lifeless.
That's what my life was going to be. Controlled. Perfect. Lifeless.
And somewhere in this massive house was Kai.
My stomach twisted.
Kai. God. What were the odds? What kind of cosmic joke was this? Out of all the men in all the clubs in this entire city, I'd slept with the one man I absolutely, positively could not have slept with.
I pressed my hands against my face, trying to breathe through the panic building in my chest.
The man I'd given my virginity to—the man whose touch I could still feel like a brand on my skin was about to become my stepson. I was going to marry his father. We were going to live in the same house. See each other every day. Pretend that night never happened.
Except I couldn't pretend. Because every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. Felt him. Heard his voice in my ear telling me exactly what he was going to do to me.
This was sick. Wrong. Completely insane.
And the way he'd looked at me in that study when he'd realized who I was? That hadn't been embarrassment or regret or any of the normal emotions a person should feel in that situation.
That had been possession. Hunger. Something dark and dangerous that made every survival instinct I had scream to run.
Except I couldn't run. Because Uncle Vincent had made it very clear what would happen if I tried.
I started unpacking, just to have something to do with my hands. My clothes looked wrong here. Too young. Too casual. Too much like someone who wasn't about to become a mob wife.
I was hanging up a dress when the tears started.
God, I was so tired of crying. So tired of being sad and scared and angry. But I couldn't stop. The tears just came, hot and furious, and before I knew it I was sitting on the floor with my back against the bed, sobbing like my heart was breaking.
Because it was. It had been breaking for weeks now. First Mama, wasting away in that hospital bed. Then Papa, blown apart because I'd asked him to help me. And now this. Trapped. Alone. With no way out.
A knock on the door made me scramble to my feet, wiping frantically at my face.
"Yes?"
Uncle Vincent walked in without waiting for permission.
Of course he did. Why would anyone in this family believe in basic human decency like knocking and waiting for a response?
"Aria. Good. You're settling in."
His eyes swept over me, cataloging my red face and swollen eyes with the same detached assessment he'd use for livestock.
"I'm leaving now. But I wanted to remind you—the family is counting on you. Maria, Carlos, Rosa, all of them. Their lives depend on you doing exactly what's expected. No drama. No problems. No attempts to run." His smile was cold. "I'd hate for anyone to get hurt because you decided to be selfish."
"I understand."
"Good. Don Salvatore is a powerful man. You should be grateful he still wants you after everything that's happened. Don't disappoint him. Don't disappoint me." He moved toward the door, then paused. "Oh, and Aria? I'll be checking in regularly. Just to make sure you're... adjusting well."
Then he was gone, leaving me alone in this beautiful prison.
I finished unpacking in numb silence. Hung up clothes I'd probably never wear. Put away books I wouldn't be able to focus on. Arranged toiletries in a bathroom I'd never feel comfortable in.
By the time Mrs. Rossi brought dinner, I'd managed to pull myself together. Somewhat.
"Here you are, dear. Nothing too heavy—I thought you might not have much appetite." She set the tray on the desk by the window. "Don Salvatore is out for the evening, but he'll expect to see you at breakfast tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock sharp."
My stomach dropped. Breakfast with Salvatore. Perfect.
"And Kai—that's Don Salvatore's son—he'll come by in the morning to show you around the estate. Help you get familiar with everything."
My stomach didn't just drop. It plummeted straight through the floor.
"Kai is going to... show me around?"
"Yes, dear. Don Salvatore thought it would be good for you to have someone help you settle in." Mrs. Rossi's expression softened. "Kai's a good boy. Bit intense, keeps everyone at arm's length, but he's protective of those he cares about. Especially his sister Lia. You'll meet her soon too."
I managed a weak smile. "What's he like? Kai?"
Mrs. Rossi considered this, her weathered hands smoothing her apron.
"He's had a hard life. Lost his mother when he was young—terrible tragedy.
Don Salvatore is... demanding with both his children.
Expects a lot. Kai learned early to keep to himself.
But he's smart. Watches everything. Misses nothing.
" She paused. "He's not like his father, if that's what you're worried about. "
I wasn't sure if that made things better or worse.
After she left, I tried to eat. Managed a few bites before giving up. Tried to read. Couldn't focus. Took a shower, hoping the hot water would help me relax.
It didn't.
I put on pajamas—cotton shorts and a tank top because despite everything, it was still warm—and climbed into bed. The sheets were expensive. Soft.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Kai.
About that night. The way he'd looked at me like I was the only person in the entire club. The way his hands had felt on my skin. The way he'd been gentle and rough at the same time, taking me apart piece by piece and putting me back together completely different.
I'd never felt anything like that before. Hadn't known my body could feel those things. And now I was supposed to pretend it never happened. Supposed to marry his father and act like I hadn't been with Kai first.
Sleep came eventually, fitful and full of dreams I didn't want to remember.
I woke up around midnight needing the bathroom. My mouth was dry, probably from crying earlier. I stumbled out of bed, still half-asleep, and made my way across the dark room.
The bathroom was ridiculously luxurious. Marble everywhere, a tub big enough to swim in, a shower with more settings than my car back home. I splashed cold water on my face, trying to wake up properly.
When I walked back into the bedroom, I wasn't alone anymore.
My heart stopped.
Kai was leaning against my doorframe like he had every right to be there. Like walking into a woman's bedroom in the middle of the night was perfectly normal behavior.
He'd changed clothes since this afternoon. Dark jeans that hung low on his hips. Black t-shirt that clung to muscles I remembered feeling under my hands. His hair was slightly messy, like he'd been running his fingers through it.
And those eyes. God, those eyes. Dark and intense and locked directly on me.
The hallway light behind him turned him into something dangerous. Something predatory. All sharp angles and contained power and barely leashed control.
My body remembered him before my brain could catch up. Heat flooded through me, pooling low in my stomach. My skin felt too tight. Every nerve ending suddenly hyperaware of exactly how little I was wearing.
Cotton shorts that barely covered anything. A thin tank top with no bra underneath because I'd thought I was going to sleep, not have a midnight visit from the man who'd taken my virginity.