Chapter 99

Aurora POV

When I wake, the first thing I notice is how heavy my hand feels.

For a moment, I think it’s nothing, just sleep lingering in my limbs, but then my eyes land on the glint of metal that catches the faint morning light when I raise my hand to brush the sleep out of my eyes and catch something familiar.

My engagement ring.

It sits perfectly on my finger as if it never left.

My breath hitches and a strange sound escapes me, a half sob, half laugh. I press my palm to my chest as tears sting the backs of my eyes, spilling over before I can stop them.

I shouldn’t feel like this. Not after everything. The betrayal, the weeks of convincing myself I hated him enough to let him die, was supposed to harden my heart. But here I am crying over a ring and what him putting it on me again means.

No matter how far I tried to run or how much venom I let Alek pour into my head, deep down I still wanted this. And now I know Dominic still wants me too. He put the ring right back where it belongs and even though I don’t deserve it, I clutch my hand to my chest like it’s a lifeline.

Eventually, I wipe my face and force myself out of bed. My legs feel unsteady as I shuffle toward the door, one hand gripping the ring like it might vanish if I let go.

The suite is quieter than I expected.

Too quiet, actually.

I step into the living room and find it empty except for Romero. He’s perched in front of one of the computers, his sharp profile illuminated by the glow of multiple laptops. Next to one of them are maps with marks made all over its surface. On one of the laptop screens is a camera feed that flashes as his fingers tap a steady rhythm against the keys.

He doesn’t look up at me even when I know he can sense me hovering.

My stomach knots.

Of all people to be left behind with… it had to be Romero—the man who’s hated me from the start. I swear I can feel the weight of his disdain even without his eyes on me.

My mind betrays me with a flash of ugly thought: he would probably find it easier to kill me than protect me if an emergency were to present itself. He’d leave me behind to die.

I push the fear down, straightening my shoulders. If I’m going to prove I belong here, even to him, I can’t cower like I want to. I need to stand my ground and face the man who’s been nothing but a thorn in my side since day one.

As I step closer, I glance at the monitors and realize he’s watching Alek’s mansion. A cold shiver runs through me at the sight of its familiar façade.

“Any movement?” I ask quietly.

Romero doesn’t respond, but I see the faintest twitch in his posture.

My teeth gnaw at my bottom lip. “They started switching guard rotations every three hours instead of six after my meeting with Dominic and Alek. I think he got paranoid and was worried you all would come busting through the front doors.”

That gets him.

He looks up, his dark eyes narrowing slightly though not with hostility this time, but something closer to curiosity. “That’s surprising considering you were sent to be a mole.”

I nearly wince. “I don’t think he wanted to rely on that as a definite on the off-chance I backed out. Or didn’t take him up on the offer anyway.”

He stares at me for a long while, unmoving.

My hands twitch at my sides, eager to twist my fingers together out of anxiety. I don’t give in to the impulse and instead, walking around to the other side of the table where he’s at to get a better look at his screen.

He shifts subtly, his posture stiffening as I grow closer to him.

I point to a side entrance on one of the camera feeds. “That door’s kept unlocked most nights because Alek’s men sneak out to smoke. They leave it propped open too. They’re careless and don’t think anyone’s watching them aside from their own through their CCTV system.”

Romero’s fingers move subtly, jotting the note down in a small leather-bound journal beside him.

“The room Gianna is being kept in has a window but you can’t open it from the inside,” I continue. “But maybe once there is a distraction happening at the front doors, someone can smash the window in and get her out that way. It faces the back courtyard.”

He keeps writing. I watch his pen move, surprised by the quiet concentration he’s giving me. For weeks, this man has barely spoken to me unless it was to bark an order or deliver a cutting remark. Now he’s… listening.

So I keep talking, rattling off what I can remember: which guards liked to sleep on duty, where Gianna and I were kept locked up on the blueprints he has laid out. how many times Alek came and went during the day.

Not all of it is useful but I can tell by his subtle nods that some of it is.

When I finally fall silent, he glances up at me. “You remember more than I expected.”

“I had a lot of time to sit around,” I say simply. “We weren’t allowed anywhere without guards present.”

He studies me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, to my surprise, he asks: “Why?”

I frown. “Why what?”

“Why in the world did you warn Dominic about the ambush?”

I blink in surprise.

The question lands heavier than I expect. I drop my gaze to the floor, twisting the engagement ring on my finger.

“I… felt guilty,” I admit. “I couldn’t go through with it. I thought about what it would mean if Dominic were to die. I thought it would bring me comfort considering I was told he was behind Alek trying to take Gianna away. But… the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t go through with it..”

Romero says nothing, so I continue.

“I just… I couldn’t do it.” The words feel like a confession and a curse all at once. “Picturing him being shot and killed, or bleeding out while Alek stood over him watching him take his last breath felt worse than anything he’s ever put me through. I can still see the good in him whether I want to or not. He didn’t deserve to go out that way. I couldn’t let it happen.”

Silence stretches between us like a taut wire. I half expect him to laugh or scoff but he doesn’t. He just sits there with his pen poised above the page as if he’s considering whether or not to write any of this down.

When he speaks, his voice is calm. “I still don’t trust you. I can’t when you’ve admitted to wanting him dead, even if those thoughts are in the past now.”

I flinch but I shouldn’t be surprised.

“But…” He sets the pent down slowly before letting out a soft sigh. “I’m willing to bury the hatchet. Dominic’s not giving you up and I don’t need to make his life harder than it already is. I would like to believe you when you say you care about him.”

Relief floods through me so quickly it makes my knees weak. “I do, Romero. I… I love him.”

He watches me for a long moment and then he finally nods. “I hope that remains true, even after we all get back home.”

“It will,” I say softly.

Romero’s brow lifts slightly as I extend my hand. After a beat, he takes it, his grip is firm as we shake.

“Don’t make me regret this, Aurora.”

“I won’t,” I promise.

For the first time in what feels like forever, there’s no hostility in his gaze, just a cautious acceptance and that’s more than I could have hoped for.

Things are finally looking up.