Page 44 of Silent Night With Luca

What was supposed to be a vacation from brutality, has turned out to be one of the bloodiest Christmases I can remember.

And it’s not over yet. We’re still well over a week away. And there’s still Arianna.

SIXTEEN

Fiamma

The silence in the suite is suffocating. The faint crackle of the fire or the occasional pop of wood burning does nothing to warm me. I stare into the flames, my mind reeling, my heart breaking.

Arianna. My friend—no, not my friend. Never my friend. A plant. A weapon Marco used to get to me. The betrayal cuts deep, sharper than any blade, and it feels like the world has shifted beneath me. How could I have been so blind?

I curl my knees up to my chest, hugging them as I try to process it all. The ache in my chest spreads, tightening with every breath. I trusted her. I told her everything. We laughed together, spent late nights sharing secrets, and all the while, she was playing me. I was just a pawn in their game. The realization is a punch to the gut.

Luca sits down beside me, his presence comforting. He doesn’t say anything at first, just lets me sit there in my ownstorm of emotions. He knows me enough by now to know I need time to think before I can speak.

Finally, I break the silence. “Why me?” My voice is barely above a whisper. “Why did they target me? I’m not even in the life. I’m not directly involved with the family. I’m not one of them.”

Luca shifts beside me, sighing as he runs a hand through his hair. “You may not be in the life, Fiamma, but you’re close to it. You’re close to them—Adrian, Massimo, Elio. That’s enough. They saw you as the weak link.”

I swallow, feeling the weight of his words settle over me. “So, because I’m not as guarded I guess they thought I’d be easy to get to.” I shake my head, my voice trembling. “I never thought I’d be the one to bring down my family.”

“You didn’t bring anyone down,” Luca says firmly. “People tried to use you to do so. There’s a difference.”

My hands tighten around my legs as I think back to all those moments with Arianna. The times she nudged me toward Marco, telling me I should just have fun, live a little, stop overthinking everything. I thought she was just being a good friend, pushing me to loosen up, but now I see it for what it was.

“Arianna was the one who kept suggesting Marco,” I say, my voice shaky with the memory. “She kept telling me I shouldn’t let a little family feud in the past hold me back, that he was a good time. I thought she was just being a friend. Trying to get me to have some fun. Marco was so easy to get along with, always so ready to spoil me.”

Luca says nothing, letting me speak as I work through the pain. I feel the anger rising, hot and fierce, burning throughthe hurt. “It all makes sense now. The way she pushed me toward him, how he was always so ready to swoop in and make things easy. It was all part of the plan, wasn’t it?”

Luca nods, his eyes hard. “Most likely. They used you because they thought you wouldn’t see it coming. Marco saw you as an easy mark, and Arianna made sure you’d fall for it.”

I stare at the flames, the heat of the fire doing nothing to thaw the ice that’s settled in my veins. My mind spins with every conversation I’ve ever had with Arianna, every laugh we shared, every moment that now feels tainted by betrayal.

“I feel so used,” I whisper. “Like nothing about our friendship was real.”

Luca places a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “That’s what they do. People like Marco… like Arianna. They find your weaknesses, your vulnerabilities, and they exploit them. You’re strong, Fia. You’ll get through this and be better for it.”

I turn to look at him, my throat tight with emotion. “Am I? Because right now, I don’t feel strong at all. I feel like I let them get too close, like I was stupid to trust her.”

“You weren’t stupid,” he says, his voice steady. “You were human. You wanted to believe that she cared about you, because that’s what friends are supposed to do. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

The tears I’ve been holding back finally slip down my cheeks. I swipe at them angrily, frustrated with myself for feeling this way. But it hurts. It hurts more than I ever thought it could. I trusted her, and she betrayed me in theworst way.

“I don’t know how to get past this,” I admit, my voice breaking. “How do I move on from something like this?”

Luca pulls me into his arms, holding me tight. “You don’t have to get past it right away,” he murmurs. “You just have to take it one day at a time. And you’re not alone. I’m here. Your family’s here. We’ll get through it.”

I rest my head against his chest, the steady beat of his heart a small comfort in the chaos swirling inside me. Then I close my eyes, letting myself breathe him in, feeling a moment of safety in his arms. But even as I find solace in Luca’s embrace, the betrayal still lingers like a shadow, reminding me that nothing will ever be the same.

As I lean into Luca’s chest, my breath finally starting to steady, the soft buzz of my phone vibrates against my side. I tense, instinctively pulling away to reach for it. I glance at the screen, and the name that lights up makes my heart drop: Arianna.

“What is it?” Luca asks, sensing the shift in me.

My hand shakes as I open the message. Arianna’s words blink back at me like poison on the screen.

What in the world was all that craziness today? Are you ok? Luca seems a little unhinged. We might need to get you away from him. Want me to come get you?

The words blur as my pulse races. I turn the phone toward Luca, showing him the text. His eyes harden as he reads it, and a slow, dark anger settles over his features.

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