Chapter 48

Aurora POV

A few days after Dominic and Romero left to go underground, I find myself in the backseat of a car with Gianna next to me as the sound of a loud rap song plays from the speakers, practically rattling the windows.

I don’t realize how tightly I’m gripping the edge of my seat until the car turns up the long gravel drive of the Caruso family estate and soon my childhood home is in sight.

We shouldn’t be here.

Dominic wouldn’t allow this, not after what happened last time, but the twins seemed eager to listen to Gianna’s pleas this morning about coming back to visit her father for the afternoon, ending with us all cramming into a car and heading back to the lion’s den.

I shift uncomfortably beside her, shooting her a sideways glance when she practically kicks the door open to get out once the car is parked.

I hesitate to follow after her, my legs refusing to move even when the back door is popped open and Marco’s face appears.

“You coming?” He asks.

Gianna’s already halfway to the front steps, her boots crunching against the gravel as she calls out to one of the guards she recognizes manning the doors.

I manage a nod, forcing my body to move even though my stomach feels like it’s turned inside out and climb out into the afternoon sunshine. For a day that feels like I’m walking to my own death, it sure is nice out.

With every step I take toward that front door, I fight against the instinct to turn around and run. It’s the same feeling that told me to turn around in the dining room before I’d allowed myself to be lulled in by Dominic beckoning me.

Something’s off.

Why would Dominic let me come back here?

Gianna disappears down the hall toward our father’s office when we all get inside, clearly eager to check in with him. I don’t follow after her, mainly because I’m terrified I’ll run into my own. I know the second he sees me, he’ll want an update on my progress with convincing Dominic to marry my step-sister.

With nothing to show for it outside of Dominic’s word to pretend to go along with the demands, my father won’t have anything to stop him from beating me again.

I head upstairs to my room. Being forced to be here, I might as well stock up on fresh clothes and whatever else I’ve been missing lately.

By the time I make it to my room, I’m barely holding it together. The second the door closes behind me, I press my back against it, heart hammering like I’ve just run a marathon. Maybe it’s a sign that this trip won’t end up in a blazing mess since I have yet to run into my father.

Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention.

I freeze instantly, keeping myself pressed to the door while my head slowly swirls around to check my peripheral vision. As soon as I catch sight of my closet, the figure registers.

Camilla.

Turning fully, I catch her rummaging through my closet. She tosses things onto the floor in a giant pile, holding each piece up for only a brief moment before scoffing and throwing it like it’s useless junk.

I’m so surprised to see her that it doesn’t register what she’s doing until she unends my entire collection of perfume onto the floor.

“What the hell are you doing?” I snap.

She doesn’t even flinch. Just turns, one of my silk blouses hanging from her fingertips like it’s a dead animal. “Oh, look who decided to show up.”

I stalk across the room and yank the blouse out of her hand. “What are you doing?”

“You’ve been gone forever,” she says, flipping her hair. “I figured you weren’t coming back. Which, frankly, would’ve been nice for the rest of us. I called dibs on your shit.”

“You don’t get to touch my things,” I hiss, stepping between her and my wardrobe. Or… what’s left of it still hanging up.

Camilla’s lip curls. “Everything here belongs to the family. Don’t forget whose money you had to spend to get it all.”

“Not my fault I’m not allowed to get a job,” I say coldly, “but maybe that will change once Dominic and I share a last name and a bank account.”

That hits a nerve. I see it instantly. Probably petty of me to rub it in her face that I’m marrying the man she’s been obsessing over since the moment she laid eyes on him but at this point, all is fair in love and war.

I’m done playing nice when it comes to the people who have treated me the worse, by far, out of anyone I’ve ever come into contact with.

“You stole him from me. He was supposed to be mine.”

I laugh. “No, I didn’t.”

“Yes you did!” she explodes. “You just waltzed in with your sad eyes and tragic little backstory and suddenly he want to marry you? What did you do to get him to even look in your direction?”

I laugh again, I can’t help it.

God, she’s the most ridiculous woman I’ve ever met in my entire life.

“Camilla, are you kidding me? You can have him. Gladly. If it means I get out of this nightmare, I’ll wrap him in a bow and hand-deliver him to you.”

Unexpectedly, she goes quiet.

Instead of throwing a tantrum and threatening me like she usually does, she surprises me by not doing any of that.

She just... stares at me.

“Really?”

My brows draw together. “What?”

“If I got you out,” she says slowly, “like really out... Would you leave? For good? No coming back. No trying to get Dominic to marry you?”

I blink at her, stunned. Huh?

She folds her arms, watching me closely. “I’m serious, Aurora. If that’s all you’re after then consider it done. I can come up with the money to ship you out of the damn country if that means you won’t be haunting this place anymore.”

“Why would you help me?” I ask, very suspicious.

Not only does Camilla not have a single ounce of motivation to help me, she has no reason to. She’s spent the last ten years being horrible to me. Why suddenly have a change of heart now?

“Because,” she huffs. “If you leave, I get what I want. That’s the only reason I need.”

My heart thunders. Oh my god, she’s actually serious.

Dead serious.

“I could get you a passport,” she continues. “Fake ID. Cash. Tickets out of the country. I have contacts, you know. No one knows but Francesco likes to let me in his office to snoop around when I’m bored. I’ve learned all sorts of things while in there unsupervised.”

I stare at her like I’m seeing her for the first time.

If what she says is true, then I have a real shot of actually pulling off the insane plan Gianna presented to me weeks ago. Faking my own death and leaving my old life behind me in order to start fresh without the fear of anyone coming to cage me ever again.

I could actually be free.

“I would,” I whisper. “If you helped me... I would leave. I’d be gone.”

“Good,” she says. “Because I’m going to hold you to that.”

I nod, still dazed. “But... my father—”

“You let me worry about him.”

For the first time in a long time, I feel something that almost resembles hope. If this is real—if Camilla actually follows through—then everything changes. I don’t know if I can trust her or if this is some elaborate trap that will result in my father finding out and beating me to death.

But I do know one thing: it’s worth the risk to find out.