Chapter 2 Already Here

Kaelia

I pushed my chair back, the sudden scrape of wood harsh against the cafe's chatter. The air around the table seemed to thicken, pressing in from all sides as I slipped my phone into my bag.

"You’re absolutely sure?" Ginevra asked, watching me over her glass. "I can cancel everything."

I shook my head. "I'm fine. Really."

A thin lie. The kind we traded to keep the afternoon from fracturing completely.

Ginevra gave a single, hard nod. "Message me."

"I will."

She leaned over to kiss my cheek. Her perfume settled around me, warm and familiar, and I clung to that brief sensation as I walked away.

Stepping past the patio, the rhythm of the street felt off.

I caught the shift immediately—the wide berth pedestrians gave the curb, and the quiet black sedan idling where the street had been empty seconds ago.

The driver stepped out the moment I hit the sidewalk.

Drago.

My father’s head of security offered no polite greeting, his dark suit pulling tight across broad shoulders.

"Miss Vieri," he said, pulling the rear door open. "We need to leave."

The clipped formality made my stomach drop.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, sliding into the car.

Drago closed the door gently, saying nothing. He slid behind the wheel, shifting into drive before catching my eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Your father requested you come home immediately."

"I know. He texted."

Drago’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. "There’s been... a development."

The vague phrasing settled uneasily in my chest. "What kind of development?"

"Better if you hear it from him."

The sedan accelerated down the avenue.

Glass storefronts blurred past my window. I pressed my fingers together to stop them from trembling.

*He's already here.*

The text echoed relentlessly. I didn’t need explanations.

Valen Di Falco occupied spaces long before his physical arrival. Rivals vanished. Deals finalized with a quiet look. His violence arrived cleanly and silently. He never boasted.

Which made him infinitely worse.

We turned onto our street. The iron gates of the Vieri estate came into view. They were wide open.

They were never open.

Two armed guards tracked our approach, hands hovering near their weapons.

Drago rolled straight through.

Behind us, the metal clanged shut with brutal finality.

My pulse kicked up.

The pale stone exterior of the house loomed ahead, windows dark despite the sun. It had always been a refuge. Now, it felt like a trap.

Drago parked at the base of the front steps.

He got out first, yanking my door open.

"Keep right beside me," he instructed.

That did it. A cold sweat broke across my spine as I followed him inside.

The grand foyer smelled wrong—a sour blend of liquor and nervous sweat cutting through polished wood. Tense voices drifted from the study. I recognized the pitch immediately.

My father.

I rushed toward the room, heels clicking loudly. Drago hesitated, then followed as I pushed the door wide.

My father stood behind his desk. His jacket was discarded, tie undone, hairline slick with sweat. The glass in his hand rattled faintly.

He looked diminished.

This wasn't the man who commanded rooms without blinking. The figure before me had folded in on himself, posture collapsed, eyes raw.

"Kaelia," he breathed, painful relief flashing across his face. "You made it."

"What is going on?"

He swallowed, glancing at Drago, who quietly secured the door.

"Give us the room," my father rasped.

Drago backed out into the hall.

The silence in the study felt suffocating.

"You terrified me," I said, stepping closer. "You don't send alerts like that."

He dragged a hand down his face. "Have a seat."

"No."

His eyes snapped up, desperate. "Kaelia..."

"What did you do?"

He flinched.

That alone was confirmation.

"I honestly thought I could manage the fallout," he murmured, bracing his weight on the desk. "I thought I had time."

"Manage what?"

He looked away. "I put my trust in the wrong associate."

Dread pooled in my stomach. "Who?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, the door behind me clicked open.

Not loudly. Not abruptly.

Deliberately.

The atmospheric pressure shifted the second Valen Di Falco crossed the threshold.

No grand entrance. No noise. Just a suffocating gravity.

He commanded the space effortlessly—black suit, collar unbuttoned, dark hair impeccably styled. His presence felt like a loaded weapon placed casually on a table. Silent and lethal.

My father instantly braced his weight on both hands, standing taller.

I refused to turn around.

I didn't need to. The fine hairs on my arms had already stood on end.

"Valen," my father greeted, the word strained tight.

"Vieri," Valen returned.

Then, his focus locked onto the back of my head.

My breath hitched.

He hadn't physically changed—still sharp, perfectly composed, detached—but the energy radiating from his dark eyes was distinctly colder. Like an invisible steel door had dropped between us.

"Kaelia," he said.

My own name sounded foreign coming from his mouth. Zero warmth.

I turned around, forcing myself to meet his eyes.

His gaze was analytical. For a fraction of a second, the faintest shadow of regret passed through his expression, gone before I could process it.

"Why is he standing in our house?" I demanded, looking at my father.

Valen replied.

"He is standing here because your father made a sequence of highly detrimental financial errors."

My father’s knuckles turned white around his glass. "I already explained to you, it wasn't my intent to—"

Valen silenced him with a single, flat stare.

The room went dead quiet.

I had watched powerful men challenge my father my entire life. I had never once seen him yield.

My lungs felt too tight.

"What kind of errors?" I asked.

Valen closed the distance between us, steps even and unhurried. He stopped just close enough that I had to tilt my head up to maintain eye contact.

The subtle scent of high-end cologne hit me, mixed with something sharp and metallic.

"You are fully aware of how our ecosystem operates," Valen stated conversationally. "Debts must be balanced. Loyalty is not a suggestion."

"I have no part in your ecosystem."

His stare turned razor-sharp. "You do as of today."

My father let out a choked sound. "Valen, she is completely in the dark. Leave her out of this mess."

Valen didn’t so much as glance his way. "Shielding her was your responsibility."

The walls of the study felt like they were closing in. My pulse thundered.

"What are you saying?" I asked.

Valen shifted his attention back to the desk. "You opened your mouth to the wrong people. You entertained offers you were explicitly ordered to ignore. You compromised the safety of the entire operation."

"I was securing a future for my family!" my father shouted.

"And as a direct result," Valen said, his voice dropping dangerously low, "your family is now the collateral."

The phrasing hit like a physical blow.

"Collateral?"

He looked down at me, completely neutral. "Correct."

I took a step backward on pure instinct. "No."

My father slumped forward, his chin dropping. "Kaelia..."

"No," I repeated, voice echoing off the walls. "You have no right to do this."

Valen’s face remained a mask of stone, but the air seemed to freeze over.

"I have every right," he stated evenly. "I operate exactly as I see fit."

He reached into his jacket pocket, withdrew his phone to check a notification, and smoothly tucked it away.

Then, he delivered the final verdict.

"You are leaving with me."

It wasn't a negotiation.

It was a done deal.

Before I could formulate a response, Valen leaned closer, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper.

"Because if you remain in this house tonight, Kaelia... you will not live to see tomorrow."