Chapter 19

Aurora POV

I know I shouldn’t be doing this.

I know that if Dominic or Leonardo or anyone found out, it would mean trouble, but now that I’ve gone this far, I can’t stop. Not when the truth is just out of reach.

The weight of my own ignorance is suffocating me, pressing down on me until it wakes me from my sleepless dreams, leaving me with no choice but to dig deeper and find out what exactly happened to the Ferrari family and what Stefano meant when he said that knowing too much will get you killed.

Whatever happened, I need to know—to find out exactly what exactly I’m been dragged into before I walk down that aisle and seal my fate to the Guerrero family forever.

So I sit in my bedroom, the glow of my laptop screen illuminating my face as I scroll through page after page of articles, reading about the Ferrari family’s downfall through underground blogs, newspapers, police reports and whatever else I can get my hands on.

In the end, I learn the truth.

Their fate had been swift, merciless, and absolute. Just over a year ago, the Ferrari crime syndicate had been one of the most powerful Mafia families in the city—until suddenly they weren’t.

Everything had crumbled overnight.

The official reports made it seem like an unfortunate chain of miscalculations, the underground blogs stated it was all simply one giant miscommunication.

But I knew better. Piecing it all together, creating the big picture and hammering out the finer details. I can see the internal betrayals and outside forces picking them off one by one while they were none the wiser.

This wasn’t just some random grapple for power, taking down another mutual enemy. This was systematic, planning and orchestrated with the kind of fine precision only a genius strategist would be able to pull off.

To make sure that those that were there, witnesses that could talk, wouldn’t escape. Everyone that day who would know better were simply wiped from existence.

And now, that same methodical destruction is about to play out again at my wedding. The signs are all there, the pieces all put into play, and at the center of it all is the Guerrero family.

I barely sleep that night, my thoughts an endless cycle of fear and suspicion.

I have no solid proof for any of this outside of what I’ve managed to piece together through my internet sleuthing but what I have managed to figure out seems too solid for it to be simply coincidental.

Nothing that has Dominic’s name written all over it is an accident. That man is too much of a control freak for things to get away from him that easily.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of digging into anything further. Instead, I find myself standing in front of a massive wall of mirrors by the time noon rolls around, the weight of an elaborate wedding gown draped over my body while my stepmother and stepsister oogle at me.

It’s rare for them to pay attention to me in a positive way, especially when the focus is solely on me.

The boutique is filled with soft classical music that plays overhead. It’s gentle and light, close to the song that would be playing as I walk down the aisle towards Leonardo.

But I don’t feel like a bride.

I feel like a lamb dressed for slaughter.

My only saving grace is that I managed to talk Beatrice into letting Gianna come with us for the appointment. As my unofficial maid of honor, it’s her duty to tell me how awful I look in these dresses and help me choose the one that I’ll least hate.

She’s, of course, over the moon when I step out in this one, clasping her hands together as she circles me, eyes wide with admiration.

“Oh my god, Aurora,” she breathes out, pressing a hand to her chest. “You look like an actual princess.”

I force a smile, even though my stomach is churning.

I wish I could tell her what I found but I don’t want to freak her out. If there’s a chance I’m wrong about any of this and it somehow gets back to her father—or worse, mine—then I’m screwed.

Finding solid proof to prove any of my claims is going to be the only way I won’t get beaten before I can finish explaining myself.

Camilla’s sharp voice cuts through the moment like a blade. “Princess? She looks more like she’s being dressed for an open casket.”

Her words are followed up with a loud cackle that echoes across the boutique. I don’t even flinch, too used to her snide remarks by now.

Gianna though whips her head around, scowling. “Seriously? What the hell is your problem? Are you that much of a baby now that the attention isn’t being focused on you? Poor lamb.”

Camilla scowls instantly. “Excuse me? I was just being honest.”

“No one wants your shitty opinions.”

Right as Camilla is about to argue back, Beatrice claps her hands together. “That’s enough, ladies. We need to wrap this up, anyway. We have that appointment we missed the other day we need to get to.”

I sigh, stepping down off the podium. Because a Mafia bride isn’t complete until she’s draped in diamonds and blood money…

I trail behind Gianna as I’m brought back to the fitting room, the gown taken off of me by the attendant and then whisked away in a garment back. I busy myself dressing again while Gianna chatters away, completely oblivious to my already plummeting mood.

I don’t blame her, though. It’s not like this is something she’d be able to pick up on. I’m usually quiet and in my head. Not to mention it isn’t a secret I don’t want to go through with this marriage. She’s simply trying to keep things light for me, making sure I have some kind of memories to look back even if I’m marrying out of pure obligation.

We head out of the boutique and into a car that takes us to a fancy jewelry store with a french name I can’t pronounce. The second we step inside, Camilla struts over to one of the dazzling display cases, waving over an employee while demanding to see one of the rings for herself.

I let them debate over necklaces and bracelets and whatever else Leonardo has requested to drap me in. It isn’t like I care anyway. The second he’s able to, he’ll strip me bare and leave me in nothing before throwing me onto our hotel bed like he tried to two weeks ago before Dominic stopped him.

That’s another thing I don’t get: why? Why do all of that if he’s just planning on wiping us all out? What’s the point in making sure I’m… safe?

I don’t want to read into any of it. Hell, I already have a million times over and it still doesn’t make sense. Even in my heart, even though I want to believe Dominic sees me as more than just a pawn to be used, I’m still a Caruso in the end.

Still part of a family who he hates, who got his men killed and who will most likely need to pay for those deeds.

The only question is… will he be merciful when that gun is finally turned on me?

“Oh. Well, well. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

My body freezes.

That voice.

Low, amused, and dripping with contempt.

I turn slowly, my pulse spiking.

Theo.

He’s standing just a few feet away, leaning against a glass case, his usual arrogant smirk in place.

A wave of dread crashes over me, my mind flashing back to that night in Dominic’s penthouse—the drug, his hands on me, the way Dominic had stopped him just in time. What the hell is he doing here?

Better yet, why does he insist on continuing to harass me?

It’s been a few days since that night but his face is still swollen in places, bruised in others. His once handsome facade is no more and now he looks every bit the gangster that he is. It’s fitting for his outside persona to match the vile male he tries to hide from the world.

I square my shoulders, refusing to let him see how much his presence unnerves me. Behind me, I can hear Gianna arguing with Camilla again, Beatrice chiming in every so often. None of them are paying attention to me or to the man that’s suddenly appeared in the shop with us.

Did he follow us in here? If so—why?

Did Leonardo send him to spy on me? Dominic?

“You know, after what happened last time, I started to ask myself something.” His smirk is crooked as he tries to move his half-broken face. “Dominic always seems to come to your rescue, even when he’s not around. Don’t you find that a little strange?”

My stomach tightens.

I don’t answer. What’s there to say? I can’t explain it either, nor do I have any theories as to why it’s happening. All I know is that whenever I seem to be in danger, Dominic shows up and takes care of the problem for… whatever reason.

Theo’s eyes glint with something sinister. “It can’t just be because you’re fucking him. He doesn’t care about whores… no, it has to be something else.”

I swallow as he steps forward, trying my best not to stumble back and give him the satisfaction of how freaked out I am right now.

“Oh.” He laughs. “I see. So, you’re sleeping with the heir to gain favor with him behind Leonardo’s back. . Makes sense. Keep your friends close, enemies closer. I have to say, it’s rather clever.”

Wait, what?

“What does that even mean?” I ask.

He shakes his head, laughing again. “You think you’re being sly sneaking behind Leonardo’s back, conspiring with the heir in order to keep your status once the old man kicks the bucket? It’s pathetic the way you women will do anything just to keep your privileged lifestyles.”

My face burns. “I’m not—”

“Save it,” he cuts me off. “I’ve heard this same song and dance before from plenty of girls who have come before you. Do you really think you’re the first one Dominic has approached to mess around with behind his father’s back? Or that he won’t use you in order to ruin your family? You’re delusional if you think that guy will ever be on your side.”

The word slams into me like a physical blow.

Suddenly, everything clicks. Everything I’ve been trying to piece together, everything that’s been nagging at me in the back of my mind… Dominic has been using me, but not to blackmail me like I thought. No, that’s just a convenient excuse to keep me quiet and compliant until his real plan begins.

Listening to my father apologize to Leonardo about what happened last year, Stefano refusing to tell me what happened and where things went wrong, Dominic’s steadfast hatred of his father.

It was never about my family, or at least not directly. We’re just convenient excuses for what Dominic’s been planning to do to the Gurreros since all of this started.

The Ferrari family’s downfall had been the first step in that plan. A practice run, rather. A way to perfect the technique before bringing it to the big stage.

And now we’re next.

That’s the plan, that’s why I’m still alive. Not because he cares or because he enjoys torturing me to blackmail me, but because he needs me to walk down that aisle and put everything into motion.

I’m not a bride—I’m the trap he’s laying and Leonardo’s the unfortunate prey following the trail of breadcrumbs to it.

During our wedding, Leonardo will be slaughtered and when the dust finally settles, it will be my family who takes the blame for it.

And most importantly: me.

What better person to blame it on than an unwilling bride forced into a marriage she never wanted in the first place?

Who better to order the murder of her husband-to-be while they’re up at the altar than the one who’d gain the freedom she’d long searched for from him dying?

Dominic is going to make sure that I am the one who takes the fall. And he’ll delight in watching the rest of my family crumble during the fallout.