SIN BOUND

Chapter 12 – Blood Ties

The morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains of the penthouse, but its light did nothing to brighten the storm brewing inside Alissa’s chest.

She sat silently on the edge of the bed, still wearing Rafael’s shirt, her bare legs folded beneath her. Her eyes were puffy from the tears she had refused to shed the night before. The truth had been spoken, and now, it lingered in the air like smoke that refused to clear.

Rafael stood across the room, buttoning his shirt with slow, deliberate movements. His silence was louder than any scream. He could feel her gaze burning into his back. She wanted answers—deserved them—but the words kept dying on his tongue.

“I need to know everything,” she said finally, voice hoarse but firm. “No more games. No more lies. Who killed my mother?”

Rafael turned, his jaw clenched so tightly she could almost hear his teeth grind. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that,” he muttered. “Your mother was a casualty of power plays I tried to stop.”

“But you didn’t,” she snapped. “You stood by. Just like you did when I was taken.”

“I didn’t stand by,” he growled. “I burned half the city trying to find you!”

“Yet here we are. Both broken, both scarred. And I’m still not sure if I’m safer with you or away from you.”

He approached her slowly. “You’re safest with me, Alissa. I’ve done terrible things—but not to you. Never to you.”

She looked up at him, pain swimming in her eyes. “Your father orchestrated her murder. And now mine is coming for us both.”

That name still haunted her: Giovanni Austo.

The man who’d given her life… and ruined it.

“Your father wants the empire back,” Rafael said, sitting beside her. “And he’s using you to get it. To hurt me. And to finish what he started years ago.”

Alissa felt something shift inside her. A mixture of dread and strength. For the first time, she didn’t feel like the pawn. She felt like the queen—and she was done playing nice.

“Then we end it,” she said quietly. “Together.”

Rafael stared at her, unsure if it was bravery or madness in her voice—but whatever it was, it ignited something in him. They were no longer bound by pain, but by vengeance. A storm was coming. And they would walk straight into it—hand in hand.

Just then, Rafael’s phone vibrated violently on the nightstand.

A single message flashed on the screen.

“He’s here. Giovanni landed an hour ago. He knows about her.”

Rafael met her eyes. “It’s started.”

Alissa stood, reaching for the gun Rafael had given her two nights ago. She didn’t tremble. Didn’t flinch. Not anymore.

“Then let’s finish it.”