Chapter 74: Affairs of the heart
Alessia stood frozen as her gaze collided with Luca’s.
She hadn’t heard his car horn, hadn’t heard the gates open, she heard nothing.
He just appeared like a shadow, silently slipping into the bedroom, his broad shoulders filling the doorway.
Her heart skipped, tangled in both shock and guilt.
She swallowed hard, forcing a tremor-laced smile.
"Hi... y-you came home early. I didn’t even hear your car horn," she stammered, her hands fluttering midair as though caught red-handed stealing something invisible.
Her eyes darted instinctively toward the wardrobe.
The very wardrobe she had just rummaged through.
The very wardrobe hiding the diary she wasn’t supposed to see.
"Oh... erm..... " Her throat felt dry. "The wardrobe, I was just... cleaning. You see, my towel... "
But she realized too late her hand was empty. No towels.. Only nerves.
She bent swiftly, scooping up the white fabric she had dropped earlier, brushing it against his leg with trembling fingers.
"So as I was saying.... "
Luca didn’t let her finish. He glided past her with silent determination, his scent trailing in the air like dominance wrapped in sandalwood.
He neither accused nor questioned. Instead, he picked up a flash drive from his study table, its sleek metallic surface glinting beneath the warm light.
Business... Always business.
"Oh you left this," Alessia said quickly, her lips pulling into a nervous smile that begged for reassurance.
Luca turned to her, his face unreadable.
Then, unexpectedly, he leaned close and pressed the gentlest of pecks against her forehead. "Relax... and have a nice day, mia regina," he whispered, his voice husky, layered with an affection that felt almost surreal against his infamous reputation.
Before she could reply, he was gone, leaving her standing breathless in the middle of the room, the towel limp in her hands.
Alessia collapsed backward onto the bed, her body sinking into its softness.
She clutched the pillow tight, her mind racing.
"I wasn’t meant to see that... but he didn’t react. He didn’t even flinch."
She hugged the pillow harder, pressing her cheek against it as though Luca’s heartbeat could echo from its fibers. "They call him a ruthless beast. But he’s my sweet man."
She closed her eyes, holding on to the illusion that everything was safe.
That his world of blood and secrets would never suffocate her.
*****
In the Forest of Larissa
Far away, Bianca stumbled barefoot through the darkened heart of Larissa’s forest. Her hair tangled with leaves, her lips cracked from thirst.
"Why... why am I running away?" she gasped, gripping her sides.
Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths. "What if she could have helped me? What if I made the wrong choice?"
Her hunger clawed at her insides. Fruits, nuts, and the last drops of stale water, those had been her survival. Yet, even more than starvation, it was the silence that drove her mad.
Silence broken only by whispers of shadows.
She turned back. Her legs trembled but she forced them forward until she found the clearing again.
The woman was there. Mysterious, beautiful in a haunting way, her face carved with both wisdom and cruelty. The great Larissa.
Bianca’s voice cracked as she approached but dared not step too close.
"I... I’m Bianca. Please... is there any way I can leave this forest? I’m trapped. I have learned my lesson. I just want to go home."
Larissa’s lips curled into a knowing smile.
Her eyes glimmered with something ancient.
"You want to break the curse you brought upon yourself?"
"Yes." Bianca’s hands clasped together in desperate prayer. "Anything... Please Just tell me what to do."
"You have one chance," Larissa said, her voice echoing like the hiss of the wind. "You may find your path again... but only on one condition."
Bianca’s eyes widened. "Which is...?"
"You will never see your son again. Stay away from his life forever. That is the price of your freedom."
The words hit Bianca like daggers.
She stumbled back, shaking her head.
"My son is my reason to breathe. I fought so hard to return to him. Why should I relent again? Why should I give him up?"
Larissa’s laughter filled the clearing, dark and merciless. "Then be ready, child. The yearly storm approaches.
When it strikes Larissa’s forest, it strikes with no mercy lightning that rends the sky, winds that tear roots from the earth, rivers of fire and soil."
As if to prove her point, the air shifted.
A violent gust blew, rattling the trees, their branches groaning.
The ground trembled faintly under Bianca’s bare feet.
"You should better make your choice," Larissa warned, her eyes burning like coals. "Because when the storm comes, there will be no place to hide."
****
At Seraphina’s Big Apartment.
In a far darker corner of the world, Seraphina’s mansion pulsed with danger.
Richard the bloodied, wounded, bound to a wheelchair, was rolled into the center of the courtyard.
His leg was bandaged, but the crimson stain seeping through proved the damage was far from healed.
Around him, Seraphina’s soldiers lined up in a disciplined, silent arc, their faces masked.
"Point out your culprits," Seraphina commanded, her voice like venom wrapped in silk. "Those who tried to escape with you."
The soldiers shifted uneasily. Then, at her order, every mask was removed in unison.
Daisy stood among other female guards, her heart slamming against her ribs, her face bowed low to avoid his eyes.
Richard’s gaze swept over them slowly.
He lingered on Daisy, then on Romeo. His nod was subtle but deliberate.
Daisy’s knees weakened. Fear coiled around her throat like a rope. Please don’t... please don’t point at me.
Seraphina’s eyes narrowed, sharp as knives. "Look at their faces, Richard, and tell me who tried to betray me?"
His lips parted. Then, he raised his finger pointing not at Daisy, not at Romeo, but at two other unknown guards.
"They’re the ones."
Daisy’s breath caught. Relief surged through her body like water over parched earth. Her legs almost gave way.
Seraphina’s lips curved into a dangerous smile. "Bring them to my inner chamber," she ordered coldly, already deaf to the pleas of the accused.
Her soldiers dragged the chosen ones away as Seraphina turned her back, her silken gown flowing like dark fire behind her.
But Daisy knew one truth Richard had lied, he didn’t just lied, he put innocent people in trouble and at risk with Seraphina.
But he had covered for them. And Seraphina, blinded by rage, had not noticed. Not yet.
*****
That evening Alessia sighed, pressing the phone to her ear for the hundredth time.
Daisy’s number rang endlessly before it cut off.
"Why isn’t she picking up?" Alessia muttered, her brows knitting with worry. "I really need to check up on her soon."
Before she could drown in more anxiety, Luca appeared behind her.
His arms wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her back against his solid chest.
His warmth seeped through her bones.
"Enough worrying, mia regina," he murmured against her ear. "Relax."
He reached for the remote of his ZenithWave Advance Radio FM. A sleek, modern device that filled the room with soft classical notes, strings and piano weaving into a tender lullaby.
Luca spun her gently, his hand capturing hers, his other hand pressing lightly at the small of her back.
He led her in a slow, graceful dance across the polished floor.
Alessia’s laughter spilled free, soft and delicate. "You’re impossible," she whispered.
"Impossible only for you," Luca countered, his lips brushing her ear as they moved in rhythm.
His words were low, intimate, each one sinking deep into her soul. "You are my queen. My anchor and my reason."
Luca held her like the whole world had narrowed to the warmth between their bodies.
The orchestra hummed a slow, honest waltz, but his voice slipped into her ear like a secret.
"I rush home every day to be with you," he murmured, thumb tracing the pulse at the base of her neck. "Not because the house needs me, not because duty calls, But because you are the only reason the world still makes sense. I would cross a hundred empty streets, walk past a thousand dangers, just to find you sitting where you belong.. in my arms."
He spun her gently, palms steady on the small of her back, and the room blurred into light.
Alessia laughed softly, the sound a bright bell that seemed to make his chest ache.
"I will fight with my last breath to see you smile," Luca continued, his forehead resting against hers as the music curled around them. "If the night tries to steal you, I will be the blade that cuts it away. If the storms threaten our door, I will be the roof that won’t budge. I won’t promise you an easy life, nothing with me has ever been easy but I promise you this, every hard thing I would bear becomes bearable because you are there waiting at the end."
Alessia’s breath hitched. She had seen him hold court and make decisions like a man carved from stone, but here, with the lights soft and his words low, he became something softer and more dangerous all at once.
"You make me human," she whispered, fingers threading into his hair. "You make the quiet parts of me want to speak."
He smiled, something fierce and foolish settling into his eyes. "You think I’m the beast everyone talks about?" Luca’s voice dropped to a teasing rumble. "Maybe I am. Maybe I have been hungry and reckless and wild. But you ... you are my heaven. When I look at you I remember why I learned to tame myself, not for duty, not for blood, but because you are the only thing I want to protect that I cannot make with force."
Alessia tilted her chin, searching his face as if cataloguing every small miracle. "You are impossible," she said.
And they kissed slowly but passionately
The world melted away as he whispered love into her ear, his breath feathering her skin.
She leaned against him, her heart full, her fears briefly forgotten.
After a while, she excused herself, her cheeks flushed, her body still humming with the echo of his touch.
"I will just use the bathroom," she said, stepping lightly toward the hallway.
But before she could reach the door, her vision blurred.
The edges of the world darkened and a sharp dizziness struck her.
Her knees buckled.
"Luca... " she gasped, her voice breaking as her body swayed.
And then she collapsed to the floor, her body motionless as the music played on....