Chapter 2 YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME BACK

Chapter Two: You Shouldn't Have Come Back

Aria didn't make it more than ten steps before two men in black intercepted her.

"Boss wants to speak to you," one said.

The other didn't speak at all. He just looked at her like she was already a threat.

> She didn't argue.

Because this was Luca's world. His rules. And the last thing she needed was to make a scene that might get her thrown into the alley-or worse.

They flanked her on either side as they moved through a private corridor behind the main club. The bass faded, replaced by silence and the click of her heels on marble. She felt like she was being marched toward something permanent.

Her chest ached.

Not with fear.

With regret.

She should never have come here. She should've left the second she saw him. But something inside her-something reckless and unfinished-had rooted her to the spot.

The guard pushed open a heavy black door.

Inside was a private lounge lit with golden sconces and low-burning candles. Velvet drapes covered the windows. A bar lined the far wall, next to a table with whiskey already poured in two glasses.

Aria stepped in.

The door shut behind her.

Luciano stood with his back to her, facing a wall of monitors. Surveillance feeds. The whole club laid bare in black and white.

He didn't turn. Not right away.

"You really thought I wouldn't notice you," he said calmly.

"I wasn't trying to be noticed," she replied, folding her arms.

"That's the problem with ghosts," he said, voice still quiet. "They only show up when they want something."

He turned then, eyes cutting through her.

"You got what you wanted?" he asked. "Closure? Drama? You want me to kneel and ask why you left?"

"No," she snapped. "I don't want anything from you."

"Bullshit."

He stepped toward her slowly. "You don't just walk into my club five years after vanishing without a reason."

She didn't answer. She couldn't.

If she told him the truth-about the twins, about the life she'd built, about the fear that drove her away-he'd burn it all down.

Luca stepped closer. Now only a breath separated them.

"You were pregnant."

Her breath caught.

She looked up at him sharply. "What?"

"That night," he said. "You ran the next day. No message. No trace. And now you're standing here, shaking like a leaf. I know that look."

"You're imagining things."

"I'm imagining," he echoed. "Interesting."

He reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. His fingers grazed her skin. She shivered.

"You're paler," he murmured. "Tired. A little thinner. But those eyes... Still haunted."

"Don't."

He tilted his head. "Don't what?"

"Don't pretend you care."

His hand dropped.

"Is that what you believe?" His tone hardened. "That I didn't care?"

"It was one night, Luca."

He smiled, slow and cold. "You think it was just about the sex?"

"I think it was a mistake."

"You didn't look like you were making a mistake when you were begging me not to stop."

Her face flamed.

He didn't back off. "So which is it, Aria? Did you come to reopen old wounds... or are you hiding something?"

"I'm not."

He stepped even closer-close enough that her perfume wrapped around him. "Lying to me in my club?" he whispered. "That's a gamble."

"Why do you care?" she shot back. "You moved on. I moved on. Let's leave it there."

"You're not acting like someone who moved on," he said.

"Neither are you."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

And then a sharp knock shattered the silence.

One of Luca's men poked his head in. "Boss. You need to see this."

Luca's jaw ticked. He didn't like being interrupted. But he motioned the man in.

A file folder was handed to him.

Luca flipped it open, his eyes scanning quickly. Then he froze.

He looked up at Aria, something shifting behind his gaze. "What address is this?"

She didn't answer.

Luca looked down again.

A photo. Grainy. Surveillance-style.

A woman-her-getting into a black sedan.

Behind her in the backseat... two booster seats.

Her stomach dropped.

Luca's entire body tensed.

"Whose car is this?"

Aria reached for the folder, but he held it tight.

"I asked you a question."

She stepped back. "You're digging into my life now?"

"I should've done it years ago."

He tossed the folder on the table, jaw tight.

"I gave you the benefit of the doubt," he said. "I told myself you were just some girl who freaked out after a wild night. That maybe you weren't ready for someone like me."

Aria said nothing.

"But now I see it," he continued. "The pieces fit. The timing. The way you're standing here, lying through your teeth."

"Stop."

"How old are they?" he asked, voice low.

Her heart stopped.

"How. Old. Are. They?"

She backed toward the door.

"I need to go."

Luca didn't stop her. He didn't need to.

Because now he knew.

He didn't have proof-not yet. But his gut had never been wrong before.

And Aria Castell had just confirmed it with her silence.

He poured himself a drink, watching her leave like he was memorizing the way guilt moved.

She hadn't told him.

She'd vanished.

She'd kept something from him-something that had his blood.

> And now that he knew...

Nothing would stop him from finding out the truth.

Not the law.

Not her.

Not even the children she tried to hide.