Chapter 198: Engaged, But Not Safe.

Chapter 198: Engaged, But Not Safe.
Aurora

My chest clenched so hard it almost hurt. I fanned my eyes uselessly, trying to blink away the tears blurring my vision.

“Yes,” I breathed, the word trembling but sure. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He slipped the ring onto my finger, his hands steady even as mine shook. Then he rose to his feet, cupping my face and pressing his lips to mine.

The kiss stole the rest of my breath, soft at first, then deepening into something that sent a heady rush spiraling through me. My fingers curled into his shirt, holding him closer, tasting the warmth and certainty of the future we’d just promised each other.

When we finally parted, the room erupted in cheers and clapping—Emily practically squealing, Lucia whistling, Celeste beaming, and Eleanora’s smile softer than I’d ever seen it.

I turned on the trio of co-conspirators, narrowing my eyes and pointing at them. “We’re going to have a talk after this,” I warned, though the grin tugging at my lips betrayed me.

Leonardo rested his forehead against mine, his thumb brushing my cheek. “If I’m going to be incredibly honest with you, I was scared,” he admitted quietly, “I was scared that with everything that had happened, maybe you weren’t ready. That maybe this was too soon.”

I shook my head, a laugh catching in my throat. “Leonardo, that’s crazy. Of course I’m ready, I love you.”

And then I kissed him again—because I couldn’t not. Because my heart felt like it might burst if I didn’t.

I’m engaged, I thought, dizzy with happiness. Leonardo finally proposed to me.

\~~~~~~

It had been two weeks since Leonardo knelt in front of me and turned my world upside down with a single question. Two weeks of phone calls, guest lists, cake tastings, and endless Pinterest boards. And now, finally, the day had come to find the dress.

Emily, Lucia, Eleanora, and I practically floated into the bridal boutique, our chatter and laughter trailing behind us like perfume.

“I’m telling you,” Emily said, clasping her hands dramatically, “the moment you try on the one, you’ll just know. Like—bam! Lightning bolt straight to the heart.”

Lucia snorted. “That’s not how it works. Sometimes it’s the third dress. Or the tenth.”

“I don’t care if it’s the hundredth,” Eleanora chimed in with a small smile. “We’re not leaving until we find the perfect one for her.”

I grinned at them, warmth pooling in my chest. “You guys are acting more excited than I am.”

“Correction,” Emily said, looping her arm through mine, “we’re just better at showing it. You, my dear, are about to marry Leonardo, and you still haven’t fully processed that.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You might be right about that.”

We spent the next hour pulling dresses from racks, Emily darting back and forth like a woman on a mission, Lucia giving her brutally honest opinions, and Eleanora quietly running her fingers over fabrics, occasionally holding one up for me with a soft, “Try this one.”

It felt like a dream—white silk, sparkling lace, and endless giggles.

At one point, I excused myself to the bathroom. “Don’t pick a dress without me,” I called over my shoulder.

“We’d never!” Emily shouted back, and I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

I washed my hands, took a moment to breathe, and headed back out, still smiling to myself.

That’s when I saw him.

“Raffaele?” I blinked, surprise stopping me in my tracks. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at home.” It was Saturday, which was why everyone was free to come help me. So no work.

He turned, not even looking the least surprised to see me. If I were to guess, I would’ve said he was waiting for me. “Oh… hey, Aurora. I just came here to get something.”

I frowned, glancing around. “Get… something? Raffaele, this is a bridal boutique. What could you possibly—”

The sentence died in my throat as a sharp, chemical-scented cloth pressed against my nose from behind.

I jerked, panic flaring, but a pair of arms pinned me in place, the world tilting violently.

“Raf—” The name tumbled from my lips, slurred and broken.

And then… darkness swallowed me whole before I could fight it.

I woke to suffocating darkness.

For a disoriented, heart-stopping moment, I thought I’d gone blind. My breath hitched, panic clawing up my throat, until I realized something scratchy and coarse was pulled over my entire head.

A bag.

I twisted my neck, trying to shake it off, but it stayed stubbornly in place, the fabric clinging to my damp skin. Each inhale felt too shallow, the stale air pressing down on me, and for a second, I couldn’t get enough oxygen. My lungs spasmed. I sucked in a shaky breath, forcing myself to calm down, to adjust, until my body begrudgingly accepted the limited airflow.

Where am I?

I yanked at my arms only to find out that I was tied up. To a chair.

I tried to think back—the last thing I remembered was the bridal boutique, Emily laughing about a dress that made me look like a cupcake… and then…

Raffaele.

My stomach turned violently.

Was I kidnapped again?

Gosh, twice in one month. What the hell was going on?

I stayed like that for what felt like hours—my body stiff, my breathing uneven, every second stretching into an eternity—until the sound of footsteps echoed somewhere close.

My heart stuttered. “Who’s there?” My voice came out hoarse, trembling, but my mouth was free.

No answer.

The footsteps drew nearer until, without warning, the bag was yanked away.

Light assaulted my eyes, making them sting. A cool breeze brushed against my sweat-slicked forehead, and it took several blinking, disoriented seconds for my vision to adjust.

When it did, my breath stalled.

“Raffaele?”

He stood in front of me, his expression unreadable, illuminated by a dim overhead light. Behind him, a window revealed inky-black sky—it was night.

I swallowed hard. “Raffaele? I don’t… I don’t understand.”

His lips curved into a grin, but it wasn’t the easy, boyish smile I’d seen so many times. It was wrong—sharp around the edges, almost… cruel.

Another set of footsteps.

I turned my head sharply, pulse jumping, and my blood ran cold.

“Hello, darling.” Dario’s voice slithered into the room, followed by the man himself. He stepped out of the shadows with the kind of slow, deliberate gait that made my stomach churn. “Missed me?”

My brain stuttered, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. Dario… and Raffaele?