VICIOUS HEART

The Ashford Estate

By Friday night, Blackthorn University had transformed into something dangerous.

Classes no longer mattered after dark.

Not when there were parties to attend, reputations to ruin, and enough alcohol flowing through campus to erase good decisions before midnight.

And tonight?

Everyone was going to the Ashford Estate.

Room 314 — 9:06 PM

Bianca stood in front of the mirror holding two dresses like her life depended on it.

“The silver one says mysterious and emotionally unstable,” she announced dramatically. “The black one says rich divorce.”

Anastasia sat on the edge of her bed scrolling through THORN without interest.

“Wear the black one.”

Bianca gasped.

“You see the vision.”

“I see a cry for attention.”

“Same thing.”

The room buzzed with low music while rain tapped softly against the windows again.

Blackthorn weather was permanently dramatic.

Fitting.

Bianca suddenly turned serious.

“You really shouldn’t go tonight.”

Anastasia looked up.

Bianca dropped the dresses onto the bed.

“I mean it this time.”

That got Anastasia’s attention because Bianca rarely sounded genuinely worried.

“What’s so special about this party?”

Bianca hesitated.

Then sat beside her.

“The Ashford Estate used to belong to one of the university founders. Now rich students rent it for parties.” She lowered her voice slightly. “But weird things happen there.”

Anastasia raised an eyebrow.

“Weird like drugs or weird like murder?”

Bianca looked offended.

“This school has layers of problems, Anastasia.”

Then quieter:

“Last year, a girl disappeared after an Ashford party.”

Silence.

Anastasia studied her carefully.

“Disappeared?”

Bianca nodded slowly.

“She showed up again three days later, but…” Her expression tightened. “Something was wrong with her.”

“What happened?”

“No one knows. She transferred a week later and never talked about it again.”

Interesting.

Bianca exhaled sharply and stood again.

“And before you ask, yes, Zane was there that night.”

That made Anastasia pause.

Not because she believed rumors easily.

Because Zane Moretti had started appearing at the center of too many strange things.

The lighter.

The warning messages.

His brother.

The way people reacted to his name.

Her phone buzzed suddenly.

Unknown number again.

Wear black tonight.

Anastasia stared at the message.

Then another appeared.

Trust me.

Her jaw tightened instantly.

Enough.

Without hesitation, she typed back:

Keep watching me and I’ll break your hands.

Bianca blinked from across the room.

“…That was either incredibly hot or deeply concerning.”

“Both.”

The Moretti Penthouse

“You’re making this worse.”

Eli stood near the penthouse kitchen while Zane adjusted the cuff of his black shirt lazily.

Mason looked between them with popcorn in hand.

“Yes,” Mason agreed. “But in a fun way.”

Zane ignored both of them.

Jude walked in fixing the collar of his jacket.

“The entire campus is talking about tonight,” he said. “Apparently THORN thinks Anastasia’s either your next obsession or your next victim.”

Mason sat upright dramatically.

“Oh my God, can that be my new bio?”

“No,” Eli and Zane answered together.

Mason looked deeply offended.

“You people suppress my creativity.”

Eli’s attention returned to Zane.

“She got another message, didn’t she?”

That made the room quieter.

Because Eli was usually right about things nobody said aloud.

Zane’s expression remained unreadable.

“Yes.”

Jude frowned slightly.

“How do you know?”

A pause.

Then:

“Because I got one too.”

Mason slowly lowered the popcorn bowl.

That wasn’t good.

Zane pulled his phone from his pocket and tossed it onto the counter.

One unread message glowed on-screen.

You should’ve left her alone.

Silence settled heavily across the penthouse.

Jude swore softly under his breath.

Eli crossed his arms.

“This is connected to Matteo.”

Mason’s joking expression finally disappeared completely.

“Do you think he’s back?”

“No,” Zane said immediately.

Too immediately.

But nobody missed the tension in his jaw.

Because Matteo Moretti was a name people avoided for a reason.

Even inside his own family.

10:41 PM — The Ashford Estate

The mansion looked cursed.

Beautiful.

Massive.

And cursed.

Lights glowed through towering windows while music echoed across the estate grounds. Luxury cars lined the driveway like a billionaire convention.

Bianca grabbed Anastasia’s wrist dramatically before they entered.

“If I die tonight,” she announced, “delete my search history.”

“You assume I’d put in that much effort.”

“That’s friendship.”

The second they walked inside, the atmosphere hit like smoke.

Music vibrating through marble floors. Expensive perfume. Bodies pressed too close together beneath crystal chandeliers.

Blackthorn students didn’t party like normal people.

Everything here felt excessive.

Too loud.

Too intimate.

Too dangerous.

And somehow—

Anastasia noticed Zane instantly.

Across the room.

Like her body had already learned where to look for him.

Annoying.

He stood near the staircase talking to Eli while girls hovered nearby pretending not to stare.

Black shirt.

Dark rings on tattooed fingers.

Expression unreadable as always.

Then his eyes lifted.

And landed directly on her.

The reaction was immediate.

Not dramatic externally.

But internally—

something tightened.

Sharp.

Hot.

Dangerous.

Bianca noticed instantly.

“Oh no.”

“What?”

“You two just did the eye thing again.”

Anastasia sighed tiredly.

“That phrase means nothing.”

“It means s****l tension with consequences.”

Before Anastasia could respond, someone stepped into their path.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Cold blue eyes.

Kai Mercer.

“Well,” Kai said slowly, looking Anastasia over, “looks like the rumors were true.”

Bianca immediately looked irritated.

“What do you want?”

Kai ignored her.

His attention stayed on Anastasia.

“You enjoy attention that much?”

Anastasia tilted her head slightly.

“You approached me.”

A few nearby students snorted quietly.

Kai’s jaw tightened.

“You think you’re funny?”

“No,” Anastasia replied calmly. “I think you’re easy to annoy.”

Bad answer.

Very bad answer.

Because Kai stepped closer instantly.

Close enough to invade space intentionally.

The room around them began paying attention.

“You should be careful,” Kai said quietly. “People around here break pretty things.”

Anastasia’s expression cooled immediately.

“And insecure men threaten women when they feel stupid.”

The tension snapped sharp.

Bianca whispered,

“Oh my God.”

Kai grabbed Anastasia’s wrist.

Hard.

The room fell silent.

Then—

another hand closed around Kai’s arm.

Firm.

Controlled.

Dangerous.

Zane.

Of course.

“Let go,” Zane said quietly.

Kai laughed once without humor.

“Or what?”

Zane’s expression didn’t change.

Which somehow made it worse.

The music still pounded through the mansion.

But near them?

Nobody spoke.

Nobody moved.

Because everyone at Blackthorn knew one thing:

Zane Moretti didn’t repeat himself.

Kai slowly released Anastasia’s wrist.

But Zane didn’t move away immediately.

Still standing close.

Too close.

Anastasia could feel warmth radiating from him beneath the cold tension in the room.

Kai smirked bitterly.

“There it is.”

Zane’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“There what is?”

“You care.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Zane let go of Kai’s arm slowly.

“No,” he said calmly.

Then glanced once toward Anastasia before adding:

“I just hate people touching what isn’t theirs.”

The words landed like gasoline near fire.

Anastasia felt heat crawl slowly up her spine.

Not because of the possessiveness.

Because he said it so casually.

Like control came naturally to him.

Kai noticed her reaction immediately.

And smiled coldly.

“Careful, Velez,” he said quietly. “The Moretti brothers destroy everything they touch.”

Then he walked away.

Anastasia’s pulse slowed.

Moretti brothers.

Plural.

Again.

She turned toward Zane.

“What does that mean?”

For the first time all night—

he looked genuinely conflicted.

Before he could answer, the mansion lights suddenly shut off.

Darkness swallowed the entire estate.

Screams echoed instantly through the crowd.

Phones lit up everywhere.

Confused voices overlapping.

Then a spotlight flicked on above the grand staircase.

One single white beam.

And hanging from the ceiling directly above the party—

was a massive black banner.

With six words painted across it in red.

YOU CAN’T HIDE HER FOREVER, ZANE.

Silence crashed through the mansion.

Absolute silence.

Then every eye in the room slowly turned toward Anastasia.