Chapter Twelve: Ultimatums and Secrets
685 Words
Aria woke to the scent of smoke and rain.
Lucien was already out of bed, standing shirtless by the window again, a lit cigar smoldering between his fingers, stormlight washing over the sharp angles of his back. The sheets still held the heat of him. Her body still trembled with the memory of how he touched her, how he took her—how she’d let him.
He turned when he felt her stir. His eyes were softer now. Tired. Almost vulnerable.
But before either could speak, the bedroom door slammed open.
“Hope I’m not interrupting,” Selene drawled, sauntering in with her blood-red heels and a glint in her eyes that meant trouble.
Lucien tensed. “You are.”
Selene’s eyes raked over Aria, then the crumpled sheets. Her lips curled.
“Well, well,” she said. “So the kitten bit back.”
Aria pulled the sheet up around her, narrowing her eyes. “You have ten seconds to explain why you’re here.”
Selene ignored her. “I warned you, Lucien. I told you what would happen if you got involved. And now the FBI’s sniffing around your docks, two lieutenants have gone missing, and your father’s old allies are questioning your loyalty. All because of her.”
Lucien’s jaw clenched. “Say her name again with that tone, and I’ll make you bleed.”
Selene’s smile didn’t falter. But her eyes flared with something darker.
“I’m here to offer you a choice,” she said. “Send the girl away. Or I’ll go to the council myself and remind them what happens when a Rivas loses focus.”
Aria stood from the bed, wrapping the sheet around her and stepping forward.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be,” Selene whispered.
Lucien moved so fast neither woman saw it coming—his hand slammed against the wall beside Selene’s head, his voice low and lethal.
“Get out. Now. And if you ever threaten her again, I will bury you where no one finds you.”
Selene’s mask cracked, just for a moment. Then she laughed, stepped back, and left without another word.
Aria exhaled.
“She’s not just an ex,” she said. “She’s a weapon.”
Lucien nodded. “And I never should’ve let her close. I never should’ve let any of this touch you.”
She stepped to him, her hands on his chest. “But you did. And I’m already in too deep.”
A knock interrupted them.
Rafael peeked in, unusually serious. “We need to talk.”
In the war room, Rafael spread a file across the table. Lucien and Aria looked over the documents—photos, transcripts, surveillance reports.
“This came in through one of my contacts at Interpol,” Rafael said. “It’s about you, Aria.”
She frowned. “Me?”
“Your father’s firm. Vale Global. It’s not just a hedge fund. He’s been laundering money for political figures across Europe—and he used your name on at least three shell companies.”
Aria stared at the documents, her heart sinking.
“That’s not possible,” she whispered. “My dad—he’d never—”
Lucien’s voice was cold steel. “He already did.”
“You think I was the threat,” Aria whispered, blinking back tears. “But maybe... maybe I was the target.”
Rafael looked between them. “This goes deeper than we thought. And if her father’s involved... it means Aria was never kidnapped.”
Lucien’s gaze darkened.
“It means she was bait.”
Aria stepped back, the ground under her cracking.
Selene’s words echoed: Remind them what happens when a Rivas loses focus.
But Lucien didn’t look at her like a mistake now. He looked at her like a revelation.
“You were meant to destroy me,” he said quietly. “But you’re the only thing keeping me human.”
And as thunder rolled again outside the mansion walls, the truth settled like ash:
Someone had orchestrated everything.
And the war was just beginning.
- Writer
