Chapter 38: THE SECRET DEAL
The storm inside Aria hadn’t settled since the night in the locked room. The photograph of her mother haunted her every waking thought. Her mother had known this world, had been part of it, and Luca had known all along.
Aria tried to focus on breakfast in the sunlit dining room, the table groaning under plates of pastries, fruit, and strong Italian coffee. But the luxury felt suffocating. She pushed a croissant around her plate without taking a bite.
"You’ll starve if you keep glaring at the food like that," Matteo’s smooth voice cut through the quiet. He leaned against the doorway, dressed too casually for someone with so much power, shirt half unbuttoned, grin careless, but his eyes sharp.
Aria shot him a look. "I’m not hungry."
"You haven’t been hungry for days," he said, strolling toward her. "Not since you started sneaking around the east wing."
Her chest tightened. "Stay out of my business."
He smirked, pulling out the chair across from her and sitting down. "That’s the thing, sweetheart. Your business is very much mine."
She gripped her fork until her knuckles whitened. "What are you implying?"
Matteo leaned in, lowering his voice. "That I know the truth. About your mother. About what that makes you. And let me guess, Luca hasn’t told you the whole story yet, has he?"
Her breath caught, but she forced her tone to stay even. "You don’t know anything."
"Oh, I know enough." His grin turned wolfish. "Enough to ruin you. Enough to ruin him."
Her pulse thundered. "What do you want?"
He toyed with the fruit knife, spinning it lazily between his fingers. "Simple. I keep your little secret safe. In exchange, you do something for me."
Aria swallowed hard. "What?"
Matteo’s smile widened. "You convince Luca to step back from the council vote next week. One seat, one voice. That’s all I’m asking. You do that, and I won’t breathe a word about who you really are."
Her chair scraped loudly against the marble as she stood. "You’re insane."
"No." He lounged back, unbothered. "I’m practical. You think the other families won’t tear you apart the moment they learn you’re heiress to a forgotten bloodline? You think they’ll let Luca keep you under his protection once they realize you’re a key to power? No, Aria. They’ll come for you. Hard and fast. And you’ll have no one to blame but him for keeping it a secret."
His words hit deep, echoing her own doubts. Still, she shook her head. "You expect me to betray him? To sell him out just because you’re threatening me?"
Matteo’s grin softened into something more dangerous. "I expect you to survive. That’s what this is, Aria. Survival. You’re clever enough to know when the game is rigged. Luca may think he can shield you forever, but the truth will out. And when it does? You’ll wish you had me in your corner."
Her throat tightened. "Why me? Why are you doing this?"
"Because," he said, voice dipping low, "you matter to him more than he admits. And taking what he values most? That’s the sweetest revenge."
The door behind them slammed.
Both their heads snapped around.
Luca stood in the doorway, his steel-gray eyes burning like ice about to crack. He hadn’t heard the whole conversation, Aria could tell by the way his gaze darted between them, suspicious but uncertain.
"What the hell is going on?" His voice was lethal calm, the kind that preceded explosions.
Aria’s mind raced. If she told him Matteo’s threat, war would erupt immediately. If she stayed silent, she risked being crushed between the brothers.
Matteo stood smoothly, slipping the knife into the pocket of his slacks as though it were nothing. "Just breakfast chatter, brother. Don’t look so tense."
Luca’s gaze cut to Aria. "Is that true?"
Her pulse pounded. Matteo’s smirk warned her, say the wrong thing, and he’d expose everything.
She forced a smile that felt like broken glass in her mouth. "Yes. Just chatter."
Luca’s eyes lingered on her, searching, but she held her ground. Finally, he gave a curt nod. "Good. Because if I catch either of you keeping secrets from me, I won’t be merciful. Not even with family."
Matteo chuckled. "Always so dramatic." He brushed past Luca, pausing just long enough to whisper something Aria barely caught: "Tick-tock, Aria. Time’s running out."
When he was gone, Luca stepped closer to her. "What did he say to you?"
Aria gripped the edge of the table to steady herself. "Nothing important."
"Aria." His voice carried warning now, edged with that lethal authority. "Don’t lie to me."
Her chest ached. She wanted to scream the truth, to demand why he had hidden her mother from her, to confess Matteo’s blackmail. But fear chained her tongue. If Luca knew, he’d spill blood. And if blood was spilled, her secret would drown in it.
So she whispered, "Just stupid brotherly games. That’s all."
His jaw tightened, but after a long moment, he reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Stay away from him. He’s poison."
"I know," she murmured.
But as his hand lingered against her cheek, warmth sparking beneath his touch, she thought of Matteo’s words again.
The truth will out. And when it does, you’ll wish you had me in your corner.
For the first time, she wasn’t sure which brother was the greater danger, the one who wanted to use her, or the one she was starting to love.
Aria retreated to her room, the weight of the morning pressing against her chest like a stone. The villa’s opulent corridors, with their gilded frames and polished marble, felt like a labyrinth closing in. She locked the door behind her, her hands trembling as she sank onto the edge of the bed. The photograph of her mother, tucked into the drawer of the nightstand, seemed to pulse with a life of its own. She didn’t dare pull it out again, not now, but its existence burned in her mind.
Her mother had been no ordinary woman. The cryptic notes scrawled on the back of the photograph, names, dates, a symbol that matched the crest on Luca’s ring, pointed to a legacy Aria had never suspected. She was a key, Matteo had said. A key to power. But what did that mean? And why had Luca kept it from her?
She paced the room, her thoughts spiraling. Matteo’s threat hung over her like a guillotine. Convince Luca to step back from the council vote, or he’d expose her. But what was the council? She’d overheard whispers of it before, something about the families who controlled this shadowed world of wealth and secrets, but Luca had always deflected her questions. "It’s politics," he’d say, his tone dismissive yet guarded. Now she wondered if it was more than that. A seat, a voice, Matteo had said. Was Luca’s position on this council the only thing keeping her safe?
Her gaze fell on the window, where the Mediterranean sparkled under the midday sun. Freedom felt so close, yet impossibly far. She could run, disappear into some quiet corner of the world, but the families Matteo spoke of would find her. She wasn’t naive enough to think she could outrun their reach. Not when they’d already taken her mother.
A soft knock at the door jolted her from her thoughts. "Aria?" Luca’s voice, low and urgent, seeped through the wood.
She froze. Her instinct was to open the door, to let him in, to demand answers. But Matteo’s warning echoed in her ears. Time’s running out. If she told Luca now, would he protect her, or would his rage spark a war that would destroy them all?
"I’m fine," she called, her voice shakier than she intended. "Just need some time."
A pause, heavy with unspoken tension. "We need to talk. Tonight. No more games."
Her heart sank. Tonight. She had until then to decide, trust Luca with the truth, or bend to Matteo’s blackmail. Either choice felt like stepping into a trap.