For a moment, Aria forgot how to breathe.
David stood there like he had every right to be in the same air as her. His hair was damp from the rain, his dark eyes glittering with that same dangerous charm he used years ago to pull her in.
But this time, she knew better.
Or at least, she thought she did.
"What do you want?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
David took a slow step toward her, hands still up like he was pretending to play fair. "I already told you. A deal."
Aria's fingers tightened around the phone in her pocket. One press of the red button and Luciano's men would storm in. But David's words echoed in her head like a siren.
If you do that… your sons die.
"You're lying," she said, trying to sound braver than she felt.
He smiled, and it wasn't the smile of a man bluffing. "Am I? You think Luca has eyes everywhere, but I've been inside his house, Aria. I've touched things that belong to you. I've been close enough to take what matters most."
Her stomach turned to ice.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Nico likes to sleep with his dinosaur blanket, doesn't he? Green, with a tear in the corner."
She froze.
"And Nino," he continued, "likes to sneak into the kitchen for cookies when everyone's asleep. But you already knew that."
Her throat felt tight. "What have you done to them?"
"Nothing. Yet."
The word yet landed like a blade.
Her hand inched toward the red button again.
"Try it," David said calmly, "and see which one of them I take first."
Aria's chest rose and fell fast. She hated him. Hated the sound of his voice, the way he looked at her like she was still his to claim.
But she couldn't risk it. Not when her boys were in danger.
"What's the deal?" she asked quietly.
David finally lowered his hands and slid them into his coat pockets. "I want you to leave with me. Tonight."
Her eyes widened. "Are you insane?"
"Probably," he said with a smirk. "But here's the part you'll care about.., if you come with me, your sons live. Luca lives too, for now. You stay here, you keep playing queen of his empire, and sooner or later, I'll take everything. Piece by piece."
"You expect me to believe you'll keep them safe?"
"I expect you to remember who I am," David said, his tone sharpening. "When I give my word, I keep it. Even to an enemy. Especially to you."
She shook her head. "You killed James."
"He was weak," David replied coldly. "Weak men are dangerous in this world. I was doing you a favor."
Aria's nails dug into her palm. "You murdered him to send a message."
"And you got it loud and clear," he said. "Which is why we're here now."
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
"You will," David said simply, as if it were a fact carved in stone. "Because you know Luca can't protect you forever. He's losing this war, Aria. He's bleeding men and money every day. And when he finally falls, you and the boys will fall with him."
"Luca's not going to fall," she shot back.
David smiled like she'd just told him a sweet but stupid lie. "Then why did he send you here? Alone? Do you really think this 'safe house' is untouchable?"
Her stomach twisted. "You came alone?"
"Do you see anyone else?" he asked. "I don't need an army to get to you. That's the difference between him and me."
Aria felt the walls closing in. If David could walk into the safe house without being seen, what else could he do? How close had he already been without her knowing?
"What do you really want?" she asked, her voice low.
He leaned in slightly. "I want to take back what's mine."
"I was never yours."
"You were mine before you even knew it," he said softly. "You think Luca saved you? No. I let you go because you weren't ready. But now… now you'll see I'm the only one who can keep you and those boys alive."
Her breath came fast. "You're delusional."
"And you're still beautiful when you're angry," David murmured.
Aria's skin crawled. She took a step back, but his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. His touch was cold, strong, familiar in the worst way.
"I'm offering you a choice," he said. "One chance to walk away from Luca before he drags you into his grave."
"I'm not walking away."
His grip tightened for a second, then released. He smiled again, but there was no warmth in it now. "You will. When you have no other choice."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black device. It looked like a USB stick, but heavier. He placed it on the coffee table between them.
"What's that?" she asked warily.
"Insurance," David said. "Plug it into Luca's computer, and you'll know why you can't trust him."
"I'm not.."
"Don't decide now," he interrupted. "Keep it. Think about the boys. When you're ready, call the number inside."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you'd better hope Luca's men are faster than mine."
Her heart pounded. She hated that part of her deep down, buried in fear.., wanted to look inside that device.
David stepped back toward the hallway. "Don't scream," he said softly. "If they storm in before I'm gone, I can't promise I'll leave quietly."
She stood frozen as he opened the back door and slipped out into the night.
The second the door clicked shut, Aria pressed the red button on the phone.
Within thirty seconds, Matteo and two guards were inside, guns drawn.
"Clear!" Matteo shouted. "Aria, are you hurt?"
She shook her head quickly. "He was here."
Matteo's face hardened. "David?"
She nodded.
"Where is he?"
"Gone. Through the back."
Matteo cursed and gave orders into his earpiece. The guards spread out, sweeping the area. But she knew they wouldn't find him.
David was too smart for that.
When Luciano arrived minutes later, he looked like a storm ready to break.
"Tell me everything," he demanded.
She told him every word, every move, every threat. She left out the black device.
She didn't know why.
Maybe because she wasn't ready for his reaction. Maybe because part of her wasn't sure she wanted to know what was on it.
Luciano's jaw clenched tighter with every detail. When she finished, he said, "We're leaving. Now."
"What about the trap?"
"This was the trap," Luciano growled. "For us. He knew we'd be here. He was never going to walk into a gun."
On the ride back to the estate, Luciano sat beside her but didn't speak. His silence was worse than his anger. She could feel the weight of it pressing on her.
That night, after the twins were asleep, Aria sat alone in her room. The black device lay on the nightstand, small and harmless looking, but heavy with danger.
She picked it up. Turned it over in her fingers.
What if it really held proof that Luca was hiding something from her?
What if it was a trick?
Her thumb brushed the edge, and she almost stood to throw it away. But instead, she slid it into the drawer.
She didn't notice Luciano standing in the doorway, watching her.
The next morning, things moved fast. Luca doubled security again, sent his men to sweep every property, and began talking about a counterstrike. Aria could barely follow half of it.
But she noticed one thing... Luca was hiding something. She saw it in the way he avoided her eyes, the way he stopped speaking when she walked into a room.
That afternoon, she found him in his study, staring at a map covered in red marks.
"Are you going to tell me the truth?" she asked.
He looked up slowly. "About what?"
"About what you're planning. About why David thinks you're going to lose."
Luca's eyes darkened. "David lies."
"Do you?"
He stepped around the desk, closing the space between them. "Never to you."
"Then tell me."
He touched her cheek, and for a second she thought he might. But then he said, "Some things are better left unsaid until it's time."
Her chest tightened. She hated secrets. Secrets had destroyed her life before. And now… they were back again.
That night, she dreamed of David's voice, whispering, Plug it in.
The following day, the estate was buzzing. Matteo was shouting orders. Enzo was loading weapons. The twins were kept upstairs with a nanny. Something big was coming.
"What's going on?" she asked Matteo as he passed.
"War," he said grimly. "Tonight."
She tried to find Luca, but he was already gone out with his men, preparing for whatever battle was coming.
Hours later, she sat in the twins' room, reading them a story, when her phone buzzed. An unknown number.
Her heart pounded.
She answered. "Hello?"
David's voice came through, calm and cold. "You've got one hour to decide, Aria. Come with me now, and your sons live. Stay, and you'll watch them burn with the rest of his empire."
Her breath caught. "You're bluffing."
"Look outside," he said.
She moved to the window and froze.
Across the dark lawn, far beyond the guards' patrol, she saw it.... three small red dots glowing faintly.
Laser sights.
One on Nico's window.
One on Nino's.
One on hers.
"Tick tock, darling," David said softly.