sia

. Chiara ha

at the Salinas estate. Just another manufactured

pled bills that passed for a week's pay, and retreated to the cramp

shattering the peace

Now. It's abou

had sworn was ours alone. A familiar dread co

rhouse one last time. They were all assembled in the formal living room: my parents

you know, Chiara's health is so... fragile. Her doctor feels the stress of her situation has beco

ed, his gaze fixed on a spot on the far wall. "For your siste

d me in place. I dragged my gaze to

flict. "It's not what I want, Alia. You know that. But it's

looked at their expectant faces, the carefully constructed trap. Fighting them was pointles

ord dropped into the

flicker of raw fury crossed her face before she expertly rearranged it into a mas

ver letter opener from the desk beside her, pressing the sharp tip against the transluc

a half-step forward, his face

mpossibly calm, cutting through

Chiara, holding he

e for the seven years I served in your