Page 73 of Beneath the Thorned Crown

And yet I feel it.

A disturbance in the air.

I swallow, taking another step forward. My boots scuff against the floor, and I feel the way the tension coils tighter in my stomach, my breath coming too shallow, too fast.

My hand squeezes the strap of my bag.

I’m not imagining this.

Something is wrong.

I reach for the nearest light switch, flicking it on, the glow flooding the room in soft yellow light. The shadows recoil, but the unease doesn’t leave. My eyes track the space again, moving over every object, every tiny thing that could have been shifted or touched.

Then, my gaze lands on my coffee table.

A single glass sits there.

An empty glass.

I don’t remember leaving it out.

A knot tightens in my stomach.

I swallow back the lump in my throat, trying to steady my breathing, but it does nothing to calm the ice spreading through my veins.

Someone has been in my apartment.

And they wanted me to know it.

My phone feels like a dead weight in my pocket, and my fingers tremble as I pull it out. My first instinct is to call Dominic.

The realization makes my chest ache.

No.

He made it clear where I stood with him. I won’t go crawling back, no matter how badly I want to hear his voice, no matter how much I crave the illusion of safety he gave me.

That leaves only one other person.

Someone I never wanted to involve.

Demitri.

I haven’t spoken to my brother in months, not since the night I left everything behind and stepped into Castellano’s world. We parted on tense terms—he warned me that the mafia life was a game with no winners, that the deeper I got, the harder it would be to leave. And now?

Now, I’m standing in my apartment, feeling like prey.

And Demitri is the only one who might have answers.

My throat strains as I pull up his contact, my finger hovering over the call button. He’ll be angry. He’ll have a thousand questions, all of them laced with judgment. But he’ll also know what’s happening. He’s always known more about this world than he ever let on.

I exhale shakily.

I don’t have a choice.

I press call.

Chapter 20 - Dominic

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