(Isla's POV)
The words "…like he killed my father" were still hanging in the air when I stepped back, my heartbeat slamming against my ribs.
"Luciano… what are you saying?" I whispered. "What does Viktor want from me?"
Luciano closed the file of my parents' photos and pushed it aside, like even touching it hurt him. His breathing was tight, his jaw clenched.
"He wants to finish what he started fifteen years ago," he said. "Your family was part of a war. And you're the last piece."
My mouth went dry. My head felt too heavy. I didn't want any of thisany answers, any secrets, any danger. But I couldn't run from it anymore.
"What do we do now?" I asked, voice barely there.
Luciano didn't hesitate.
"We make a deal."
"A deal?"
He stepped closer, eyes locked on mine.
"You stay in the mansion where my men can protect you."
My stomach knotted. Stay here? With all this chaos? With masked men breaking in?
But Luciano kept going.
"You help us find Gianna," he said. "And when Viktor Kozlov makes his move, we use you to draw him out."
I froze. "You want to use me as bait?"
"It's the only way," he said quietly. "Viktor wants you. He'll come for you again. And when he does… I'll be ready."
My hands shook. "Luciano, that's insane! I could die!"
"Not if I'm there." His voice softened. "Not if you trust me."
Trust.
How was I supposed to trust anyone after today?
He took a step closer. "In return, I'll tell you everything. The full truth. Every detail about your parents. The night of the fire. The real story Antonio never told you."
My breath caught.
The truth I had wanted my whole life.
A truth that now terrified me.
"But if you walk away," he said, "if you leave tonight… Viktor will find you. And there will be no one left to help."
I swallowed hard.
I had no house.
No money.
No job anymore.
No safe place to run.
And now the Russian mob wanted me dead.
I felt like the ground was falling away beneath me.
"I don't want to agree," I whispered. "But I don't have a choice."
"You do," he said softly. "And you just made it."
He held out his handnot a threat this time, but a promise.
My hand shook as I placed mine in his.
"Fine," I whispered. "I'll stay."
His jaw relaxed slightly. Not a smile but something close.
"I'll have a room prepared for you," he said. "You're not safe alone, so someone you trust should stay with you."
"Val," I said instantly. "I want Val."
"Call her."
I nodded, pulling out my phone with shaky fingers. My hands trembled so badly I almost dropped it. Val answered on the first ring.
"Isla? Oh my God, are you okay? I saw the news. The wedding's all over the internet. What happened?"
"I… I can't explain on the phone. Just please come to the mansion. Pack a bag."
"Say less. I'm coming."
She hung up.
Luciano nodded. "Good. She'll stay in the room beside yours. My guards will watch the hallway."
He walked to the door, but before he left, he looked back at me with something heavy in his eyes.
"This isn't your fault, Isla," he said. "None of this started with you."
Then he stepped out.
I sank into the chair, shaking. Everything hurt my head, my chest, my heart. Before today, my biggest worry was playing piano at my sister's wedding. Now I was a target. A bait. A secret someone wanted dead.
Val arrived within the hour.
She burst into my room with two huge suitcases.
"Girl, what the hell did you drag me into?"
I almost cried just seeing her.
She hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe. "You're safe now, okay? I'm not leaving you."
I nodded into her shoulder. "Thank you."
We unpacked a little, trying to pretend things were normal. We joked, we talked, but underneath it all, fear sat heavy in my stomach.
The mansion was too quiet now.
The wedding guests had been sent home. Guards lined the hallways. Doors were locked. Windows secured. It felt less like a house and more like a fortress preparing for another attack.
When night finally came, Val fell asleep instantly on the bed beside mine. I couldn't. My mind wouldn't shut off. I kept seeing the fire photos. My parents' names. Gianna tied to a chair. Stefano shouting the truth. Dante bleeding in the cellar. Luciano's scar.
And Viktor Kozlov.
The man who wanted me dead.
I lay awake staring at the ceiling.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Then
Footsteps.
Slow.
Soft.
Right outside my door.
My breath caught.
Maybe it was a guard. Maybe Dante. Maybe someone checking the hallway.
I sat up.
The footsteps stopped right in front of my door.
I froze.
The doorknob didn't move.
But something slid underneath.
A folded note.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
Not again.
Please not again.
I reached for it with trembling fingers.
My hands shook as I opened it.
One short message stared back at me:
Don't trust Luciano Virelli.
He's the one who set the fire that killed your parents.
He's been lying to you from the beginning.
Get out before he kills you too.
I clasped a hand over my mouth to stop the scream.
My chest tightened. Tears stung my eyes. My heart pounded so hard it hurt.
Luciano?
The man who saved me?
The man who said he tried to rescue my family?
The man who offered to protect me?
The man I just trusted?
The paper shook in my hands.
My entire world tilted.
I wanted to run into the hallway, but my legs wouldn't move. I just sat there, staring at the door, praying it wouldn't open.
In the silence, I whispered the words out loud, voice cracking:
"Who wrote this?"
But I already knew the real question:
Who was lying?
Luciano… or the note?
Because if the note was right
I wasn't safe in this mansion.
I wasn't safe with Luciano.
I wasn't safe anywhere.