Chapter 3 The Silence Before The Storm

• Leona’s POV
• The morning after meeting Lucien Moretti, I stayed calm instead of crying.
• I sat in my bedroom, feeling numb while housemaids came in and out, steaming my dresses and arranging my accessories, unaware that big changes were coming.
• His voice echoed in my mind. "Next time, wear shoes. You’re walking into a kingdom of knives." His words had no warmth, and his gaze was cold.
• Yet there was something about his cruelty that drew me in, like a thread I couldn’t stop pulling.
• I opened the drawer beside my bed and looked at the velvet box inside.
• It held the engagement ring Lucien had sent that morning.
• A black diamond set in platinum. It was both elegant and dangerous. Just like him.
• Camila burst into the room without knocking, full of energy and perfume.
• "Mother wants you fitted by noon. We’re meeting the press by the weekend."
• I didn’t answer, and then Camila rolled her eyes.
• "You could at least act excited because you’re marrying Lucien Moretti.
• That should scare you or thrill you – anything but this dull zombie act."
• "I’m deciding whether to mourn myself now or wait for the ceremony," I said quietly.
• My sister smirked. "If I were you, I’d make him fall in love with me and then break his heart."
• I looked up sharply.
• "That’s not who I am."
• "No," Camila said. "That’s why they chose you."
• Then she left while I stared at her reflection trapped in gold. A name exchanged for power.
• But something had changed last night. Lucien had looked at me as if he understood my cage.
• Maybe he built one just like it. Maybe…
• He wasn’t as untouchable as he seemed.
• —
• Lucien’s POV
• Later that night, Lucien sat at his desk in his penthouse in Palermo, surrounded by glass walls and shadows. Below him, the city glowed with lights and sirens.
• Inside, it was quiet. My assistant, Nico, laid out a folder. It was black, with red tabs, photos, names, and surveillance information.
• "Security has been set up inside the Valencia estate. Two of their guards already work for us.
• The rest will join us once the wedding happens." I nodded.
• "And the inheritance papers?"
• "Finalised once she signs the marriage contract, you get shares in Valencia Shipping."
• I stared at a photo of Leona—caught on yesterday’s surveillance feed.
• She was alone in the garden, looking up at the sky, as if she were remembering how to hope.
• I knew I shouldn't feel anything.
• But something about the way she looked at the sky struck me, as if she was trying to remember what hope felt like.
• "Start checking her friends, teachers and anyone she has talked to."
• "Do you think she’ll rebel?"
• "I think", I said, "she will surprise us."
• Nico hesitated. "She’s not her father; don’t blame her for his actions."
• My voice was sharp. "I’m not blaming her. I’m using her." Yet even as I said that, the words felt different, colder than before.
• —
• Leona’s POV
• The Wedding Night:
• The dress was gone. The blood-red lace and satin gown they forced me to wear for the ceremony lay discarded on the ivory chaise lounge, like a piece of someone else's life.
• My skin still smelt like the perfume my mother chose – delicate and floral.
• It felt just like the woman I was expected to become.
• Lucien’s estate was quiet, heavy with the scent of cigars and Italian cologne.
• I stood barefoot, as I always did when meeting him without armour.
• I stared at the closed bedroom door that separated us.
• My husband and I... She swallowed hard.
• Not because I feared him, but because I feared my own feelings.
• I pressed my palm against the door.
• It wasn’t locked. I pushed it open.
• The room was dim, lit only by the flames in the fireplace casting shadows on the walls. Dark wood, cold marble, and a single glass of whisky sat untouched on the bedside table.
• The curtains were drawn tight, hiding a secret.
• Lucien Moretti sat in the corner chair, still in his wedding suit, his shirt unbuttoned at the neck and his jacket discarded.
• He watched me like a king waiting for a sacrifice or a wolf watching its prey.
• My feet moved before my mind caught up.
• I stepped inside slowly, my heart racing, every nerve on edge.
• "You didn’t change," I said quietly.
• He didn’t smile. "Neither did you."
• I crossed my arms, a faint chill running down her spine.
• "Am I supposed to?" Lucien stood up.
• His movement was smooth, as if he were made of tension and fire.
• "You’re my wife now," he said.
• His voice wasn’t loud, but it wrapped around me like smoke.
• "And that makes me what?" I asked.
• "A weapon," he said.
• "A weakness, a temptation."
• I blinked.
• "I haven’t decided yet."
• My lips parted, shocked by his honesty.
• "Is that how you see me?"
• He stepped closer. Then closer.
• "I see a girl no one thought would survive."
• I stiffened. "And you plan to break me?"
• "No." His voice lowered, sounding dangerous.
• "I plan to see what you do when no one else controls you."
• He was close now, just inches away.
• The firelight made him look warm, but his eyes were cold and ruthless.
• Still, I couldn’t turn away.
• "Are you going to touch me?" I asked, barely a whisper.
• His gaze travelled down my body.
• Not in a lustful way.
• Evaluating. Dangerous.
• "No," he said. "Not tonight."
• "Why not?"
• "Because you don’t know yet if you want me for me or because everyone told you to obey."
• Silence hung heavy.
• "I want you to choose," Lucien said.
• "When you come to my bed, it should be because you want to, not because you’re scared or broken or looking for meaning."
• At that moment, I hated him.
• Hated him for seeing parts of me I hadn’t even recognised, and yet I exhaled slowly.
• "Then I’ll sleep in the guest room?"
• He nodded once.
• "To the left end of the hall."
• I turned to leave but paused in the doorway.
• "You talk like a man who controls everything," I said. Lucien’s eyes met mine, a brief glimpse of something unguarded shining in our depths.
• "But you wouldn’t need a cage," I said softly.
• "If you weren’t afraid of what’s inside it."
• Then I walked away, and for the first time, the man who built empires through fear felt something break.