SERAPHINA'S POV
I tried to act like Lorenzo wasn't behind me for the first ten minutes.
I walked around the hall, staying where there were many people, then moving to less crowded places, but no matter where I went, he was always there, resting on a pillar, drinking wine, and looking at me with a strange look of fun and interest.
At first, I thought it was just by chance.
Then I changed my mind about that.
Then I understood, it wasn't by chance at all.
He was following me on purpose.
I finally stopped by a long table with food, looking at the plates to avoid looking at him.
But before I could finally take a breather, I saw his reflection on the top of a shiny cover of a food container.
Of course.
"Running away from me?" His voice was all over the place, like a warm feeling, mixed with authority and then laced with teasing.
He sure knew his way around.
I closed my eyes for three seconds, as if hoping he would disappear. "I'm not running away."
"Then why do you look like a deer trying to find a way out of the system?" he asked gently, as if he was piercing each of my defenses with a new question.
"Because you keep showing up everywhere I go."
He chuckled quietly. "Seraphina, this party is for my family. So, everywhere is basically mine."
I sighed. "Lorenzo, please just leave me alone. I'm waiting for someone to come back."
"Ranon?" he guessed, his voice becoming more and more sharper. "He left you alone. He shouldn't have done that."
Something in his voice had changed now, less fun now, more… like he was planning something.
"Wherever he is," I answered, "he will come back."
"But you don't seem very sure about that."
I turned to face him completely. "Do you need something? Or do you just enjoy making women feel uncomfortable at your own party?"
He blinked, surprised, then impressed. "Brave."
"Direct," I corrected him.
Lorenzo moved closer. Too close. "Fine. If we're being direct, let's be very direct." He looked straight into my eyes. "I know Ranon brought you here because he wants to keep you safe… but do you even know who you're connected to?"
My jaw tightened. "He's my fiancé, it seems."
"It seems," Lorenzo repeated with a smirk. "What a useful word."
He watched how I reacted before he spoke. "You seem like someone who still believes in trust. In what is fair. You don't belong in the kind of world Ranon is part of."
"I'll be okay."
"Will you?" His eyes moved over me, not in a lustful way, but to judge me. "Ranon has secrets that would make you run away if you wanted to save yourself. He's not the kind of man you think he is."
"I'm not here to think anything about him. I just live in his house."
"And wear his ring," Lorenzo pointed out.
I looked away. "Not because I wanted to."
"Exactly." His voice got quieter. "You should know, Seraphina… Ranon destroys anything that might take away what he has. That includes people who go against him. That includes people who go against you."
I gasped. It was too close to the truth I had been silently struggling with.
My suspension.
Adam's condition.
The bruise on his cheek.
The fear in his wife's eyes.
I shook my head. "I don't want to hear this."
"But you must," Lorenzo insisted. "Because I'm offering you something."
I stared at him. "Offering me… what?"
A way out.
Those words stopped me cold.
Lorenzo got closer, his voice very quiet. "Safety… power… a new direction. One not connected to the Vescari family."
"And why," I asked sharply, "would you give that to someone you just met?"
"Because Ranon never brings women here," he said simply. "Because you are different. And because if you bother him enough to upset him, you are important enough to be helpful."
That was the real reason.
Not interest, not liking me.
It was helpful.
I breathed out slowly. "Lorenzo, I am not a tool. And I don't want to be part of whatever you're planning."
He smiled, not bothered. Almost… as if ....pleased. "So you are strong even though you seem unsure."
"My strength tells me you're wasting your time."
For a moment, we looked at each other. He looked closely at me, searching for any weaknesses.
He didn't find any.
Finally, Lorenzo chuckled quietly and moved back. "Alright. I won't push you anymore… tonight."
My heart skipped a beat, feeling uneasy at what his words suggested.
"But remember this, Seraphina," he added as he turned to leave. "If you ever need to escape… don't go to him."
He left, making my heart race and my hands sweat.
I didn't know if I should feel relieved or even more scared.
The next hour went by very slowly.
People danced, laughed, talked to each other.
I just stood still, looking around the room, waiting for Ranon to come back from whatever meeting he had been called to.
I felt very nervous.
Then a man in a black suit, like a server but in a higher class, came up to me.
"Miss Seraphina?" he asked politely.
"Yes?"
"A message for you." He held out a folded piece of paper.
Confused, I took it and quickly opened it.
Meet me by the east terrace. I need to see you. Ranon
I felt relieved. Finally, I could leave this crowd, this stress, that upsetting talk with Lorenzo.
I followed the way the guard showed me, walking through a quieter part of the mansion, then going out into the cool night air of the terrace. The moonlight shone on the marble floor, and for a moment, I felt like I could breathe easier.
"Ranon?" I called out quietly.
No one answered.
I stepped forward again, looking around.
Maybe he was in the garden next door. I walked under the stone archway and stopped suddenly.
Someone was already there.
Standing casually by the railing.
His hands in his pockets.
His smile was slow, knowing, and dangerous.
Lorenzo Salvatore.
I couldn't breathe.
"You came," he said, his eyes shining with happiness. "Good."
I felt very scared.
"Where is Ranon?" I asked.
His smile got bigger. "You tell me. You're the one who came because of my note."
I felt like my heart had dropped.
"You " My voice shook with shock and growing anger. "You wrote that."
"I did." Lorenzo raised an eyebrow, not
ashamed. "You read it. And now you're here."
I took a step back without thinking.
He stepped forward.
"Now," he whispered, "we can talk without being interrupted."