Page 7 of Bound By Honor

“Some histories are better left in the past.”

The tension between them crackles like lightning before a storm. I stand, unable to bear the weight of it any longer.

“I should go,” I say, but Alessandro catches my wrist as I pass.

“Just remember,piccola—every family has its secrets. The question is: are you ready to learn ours?”

Luciano moves forward, his expression darkening. “Let her go.”

“So protective,” Alessandro murmurs, releasing me. “Some things never change, do they,fratello?”

I slip past them both, my heart hammering against my ribs. At the doorway, I pause, glancing back. They stand like mirror images—dark suits, deadly grace, decades of history crackling between them.

“Sweet dreams, Aurora,” Alessandro calls after me. “Do try not to let our little chat keep you up at night.”

But it’s Luciano’s gaze I feel following me down the hallway, heavy with things left unsaid.

The cool night air hits my face as I step into the garden, but it does nothing to calm my racing thoughts. Alessandro’s words echo in my mind, each one a piece of a puzzle I can’t quite solve. The dates that don’t match, the carefully measured emotions, the way his charm feels like a weapon...

A twig snaps behind me, and I spin to find Luciano emerging from the shadows. Moonlight catches his face, highlighting the tension in his jaw.

“You shouldn’t be alone with him,” he says without preamble.

“I can handle myself.”

“Can you?” He moves closer, his presence making the garden feel smaller.”Alessandro isn’t what he seems.”

“And what does he seem to you?”

His eyes search mine. “Dangerous.”

“Everything in this family is dangerous,” I counter. “Including you.”

A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Yes. Which is why you should stay away from both of us.”

I step closer, drawn by the conflict I see in his eyes. “Is that what you want?”

“What I want...” He reaches out, almost unconsciously, brushing a fallen leaf from my hair. His fingers graze my cheek,sending electricity down my spine. For a moment, the mask slips, and I see raw hunger in his gaze.

Then he pulls back, control snapping back into place like a shield. The loss of his touch feels like physical pain, and I have to stop myself from swaying toward him, seeking that connection again. His eyes darken with something that looks like regret—or desire.

“What I want doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” The words come out barely above a whisper, but they hang in the air between us like smoke.

Luciano takes a deliberate step back, his expression shuttering. “Aurora?—”

“No.” Frustration burns through me. “I’m tired of everyone deciding what I should and shouldn’t know. What’s safe for me to hear. Alessandro comes back from the dead, and suddenly everyone’s walking on eggshells, trading looks, keeping secrets?—“

“Because secrets keep people alive in our world.” His voice roughens. “You think Alessandro’s return is a coincidence? That his interest in you is innocent?”

“I think I deserve to know what’s really going on.”

The garden falls silent except for the distant fountain’s whisper.

“Some truths are better left buried,” he finally says. He sounds just like Dom now.

“Like what happened to my mother?”

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