Chapter 5 Blood and Vows

Chapter Five: Blood and Vows

Luca's hand never left the small of Aria's back.

Not once.

They stood just inside the grand foyer of the Alari estate, where flashbulbs lit the windows like lightning and reporters swarmed outside in perfect, hungry rows. A press conference waited behind the double doors. Cameras. Headlines. Expectations.

She was in white again.

Not lace this time-but a sleek, off-shoulder dress that hugged her waist and made her look like the perfect billionaire bride.

But inside?

She was a storm barely held together by lipstick and spite.

She hadn't seen Dante since the wedding was hijacked.

Hadn't heard from him. Not a call. Not a whisper.

So when the front doors flew open-when he walked in like a bullet she'd fired and forgotten-it knocked the breath out of her.

Everything froze.

His eyes found hers first.

Not Luca. Her.

There was pain there. Sharp. Twisting. Then betrayal. And then... something darker, aimed at the hand Luca still had curled around her waist.

"What the fuck is this?" Dante snapped.

Luca didn't even blink. "Public relations. Smile, brother. We're married now."

"You bastard." Dante shoved past the guards like they weren't there. "You manipulated this. She was mine-"

"She was never yours," Luca cut in, voice colder than glass.

Aria stepped between them, breath ragged, her heart hammering against her ribs.

"This is insane," she said. "You two are-"

"Stay out of it," Dante barked. "You don't know what he's done."

She turned to Luca. "What is he talking about?"

But Luca didn't look at her.

His eyes stayed locked on his brother's like the whole room didn't exist.

"Still bitter I beat you to the throne?" he said, low.

Dante's laugh was broken. "This wasn't about the company, Luca. It was never about the company. It was about her. You stole her."

Something shifted in Luca's face. Barely. Just a muscle in his jaw, twitching like he was biting back words.

"I didn't steal her," he said tightly. "I saved her."

Aria's heart stuttered. "Saved me from what?"

Silence stretched too long.

Dante looked at her, chest rising fast. "He didn't tell you, did he?"

"Don't," Luca warned, stepping forward. "You tell her, I'll break your fucking jaw."

Aria stepped back like she'd been burned. "Tell me what?"

Dante's voice cracked. "Your father... he signed you away six months ago. Twelve million in debt. The plan was to marry you off to some foreign investor-an old man. Twice your age. A predator."

She went cold. Every part of her.

"The contract was locked. Quiet. You were just... payment."

She stared at him.

At Luca.

Her lips parted. "Is that true?"

Luca didn't move. Didn't deny it.

He just looked away.

Like the truth wasn't something he wanted praise for.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, voice shaking.

Luca's eyes finally met hers.

And what she saw there made her stomach twist.

"Because," he said quietly, "you hate me better than you forgive me."

Something broke open inside her.

And then, right there-under the arched ceilings, in front of his brother and the distant click of press shutters behind the glass-Luca stepped in. Framed her face in his hands.

And kissed her.

Not to punish.

Not to prove anything.

But to claim.

It was slow. Deep. Unapologetic. The kind of kiss that didn't just possess-it dared the world to question it.

When he pulled back, she was breathless. Her lips trembling. Her chest rising too fast.

She looked up at him-and for the first time, she didn't see a villain.

She saw a man who was already half-destroyed by wanting her.

His thumb brushed her jaw.

"You're mine now," he said softly. "And I don't share."