Aria didn't move for a long time after the screen went dark. The silence that followed felt like a wound in her heart. It pressed into her ears and chest, into the space where her uncle's voice still echoed, repeating itself in a way it couldn't stop.
Kill her.
Her fingers tightened slowly against her lap, nails pressing to her skin as if that could ground her, as if pain could pull her out of what she had just seen. He had smiled to her across dinner tables, and held her when her father passed.
She was not a fool.
She had always known he was not a simple man. She knew there were parts of him that didn't align with the image he showed the world. But this was something else. Her shoulder straightened, her chin lifting just slightly she forced the threatening tears back down. The door opened, and Lucien stepped in, his presence filling the room in that quiet, controlled way that made everything else feel secondary. His gaze went to her. and to the tray on the small table.
She kept her eyes forward like nothing happened. Before she could react, he stepped closer, his hands lifting to her chin, fingers closing around it gently but firmly enough to tilt her face upward. She yanked her chin away from his grip,
"No," She said as her eyes met his, the faint redness of her eyes betraying her. "I know you're here to say I told you so," she continued, her voice tightening slightly. "but I need to be alone."
Taking in the way she held herself together, he straightened. "You can spend your time alone," he said, his tone calm, almost indifferent, "in the right place."
She frowned slightly. "What does that mean?"
"Come with me."
The air changed the moment they stepped outside. He led her toward the back of the house, where the structure gave way to a quieter space, shielded from the rest of the compound. The lighting was softer and natural light mixing with fixtures built to the ground and walls. The pool was deep, reflecting the faint sky above like glass. She slowed slightly, her eyes moving over it, taking in the calm surface, the contrast to everything she felt inside.
Lucien stepped in front of her and crouched. Her brows pulled together immediately. "What...what are you doing?"
He didn't answer. His hand reached for her shoe. "Stay still. I don't bite."
He removed her shoes slowly, one after the other, fingers brushing briefly against her skin as he did, setting them aside with the same controlled way he applied to everything else.
"You're not focused," he said, glancing up at her, his tone carrying a trace of criticism. "For someone who claims to be smart."
She didn't respond because she feared her voice would tremble at his touch.
"Now, put your legs in the pool." he said, "It'll calm you."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. After everything?
The water settled around her legs, cool and steady, pulling the tension slowly out of her body. Aria leaned back slightly on her palms, her gaze drifting across the surface of the pool, watching the faint ripples fade into stillness. For the first time, her thoughts weren't loud. They didn't claw at her. Her uncle's voice still lingered somewhere at the edges, but it no longer struck like a blade.
"So now, you've chosen the soft side of him."
The voice cut clean through the calm. Her head snapped up, her body already turning before her mind caught up. An afro, dark skin and arms folded with that same unimpressed expression she knew too well.
"Linda?" the name left her like a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She stepped out of the pool, crossed the distance in seconds and threw her arms around her.
"You're alive!"
Linda hugged her back, tighter than she intended. "Obviously,"
Aria pulled back to look at her, hands gripping her arms as if she might disappear if she lets go. "You escaped?"
She rolled her eyes, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "No, honey. He let me go."
"What?"
Linda tilted her head slightly. "Yeah. Tall, controlled, annoyingly handsome? That's him. He said I was free to leave."
"That doesn't make sense," Aria said, "why would he-"
"Because," Linda cuts in, her tone sharpening slightly. "you agreed to stay."
"I haven't agreed to anything yet."
She scoffed, her gaze drifting toward the pool the back to Aria. "You're relaxing, your cheeks pink like flowers, not fighting your way out. I think your body already made a decision."
"It was a trap. We have to leave, Linda."
"No."
Aria blinked. "What do you mean no?"
Linda's expression didn't waver. "Because that man," she said, nodding in the direction Lucien had gone, "is the only one in this situation who isn't lying to your face."
"He is dangerous, Linda."
"But he is direct," she replied. "at least he was sincere to tell us in our face he'll kill us. Unlike your uncle who's hiding in the dark."
Aria's chest tightened again.
"If you want the truth, revenge and survive enough to get there..." Linda continued, "he's our best shot."
"You want me to trust him?"
"No, I want you to use him."