Chapter 7 Shadows of the past

The piece of paper burned in Aria's pocket like a secret she wasn't ready to admit. That night, she barely slept. Her mind was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts - curiosity, fear, frustration, and something that felt dangerously close to anticipation. Why had she taken it? Why hadn't she torn it up right there and walked away? The next morning, she stared at herself in the mirror longer than usual. Her reflection looked the same - smart blouse, neat bun, subtle makeup - but something had changed beneath the surface. Kael's words haunted her: "You want this. You want me." Ridiculous.

She didn't even know him. But even as she repeated that to herself, her fingers found the slip of paper again. Later that evening, just before sunset, she stood outside the address he'd given her - a secluded garden house on the outskirts of town, hidden behind wrought-iron gates and thick hedges. It didn't look like a mafia hideout. In fact, it looked strangely...peaceful. Suspiciously peaceful. Before she could overthink it, the gate creaked open. Kael stood there in all his infuriating confidence, hands in his pockets, his jacket collar turned up against the breeze. "You came," he said, not sounding surprised. Aria crossed her arms. "I didn't say I'd stay long." "Didn't expect you to," Kael replied, stepping aside. "But you're here. That counts." She walked past him into the garden. The place was quiet, filled with blooming roses and trimmed hedges. Wind chimes tinkled in the distance. It didn't match the image she had of Kael Romanov - feared, reckless, dangerous. And maybe that's what unsettled her most. "Who owns this place?" she asked. Kael didn't answer right away. He led her to a stone bench beneath an old oak tree, and only when they sat did he say, "My mother did. Before she died." Aria blinked. That wasn't what she expected. "She used to bring me here when I was little," he continued, his tone more serious than she'd ever heard it. "It was the only place I felt normal." Something shifted between them. She'd come here expecting a confrontation, maybe a flirtatious power-play. Not this-raw honesty. Real pain. "What happened to her?" Aria asked softly. Kael's jaw tightened. "My father happened." Silence stretched between them. Aria wasn't sure what to say, but she felt the air around them change. Kael wasn't just a pretty face with a dangerous name. He was someone molded by pain, someone who had seen too much, felt too much, and somehow survived. "You're not what I expected," she admitted. He turned to her, his eyes softer now. "Neither are you." They sat in silence for a while, the tension between them shifting into something more complicated. Something fragile and real. But just as the moment began to settle, Kael's phone buzzed. He checked it, and his expression darkened instantly. "What is it?" Aria asked. Kael stood. "I have to go." "Kael-" "Don't worry," he said quickly. "But things are...moving faster than I thought. I need to make sure you're safe." "Safe from what?" He hesitated, then looked her dead in the eye. "From my world." Aria's pulse quickened. She didn't ask more. She didn't need to. She knew something was coming - something that would force her to choose between the safety of everything she'd always known... and the storm she saw rising behind Kael's eyes. As he disappeared down the path, Aria sat alone under the oak tree, the shadows of dusk creeping in around her. She was in deeper now. And whether she liked it or not, her world was beginning to unravel. And Kael Romanov was at the center of it all.