Raven's POV – Haunted by the Past
The city lights outside Raven's window blurred as she ran a shaky hand through her hair. She had spent the last six years perfecting the art of survival—keeping Luna safe, keeping herself guarded.
But tonight, the past was clawing its way back.
Aurelio knew.
Maybe not everything, but enough to start pulling at the loose threads she had desperately tried to keep from unraveling.
Raven hugged her arms around herself, staring at the reflection in the glass. The woman staring back at her wasn't the same naive girl who had once dreamed of a future filled with love and possibility. That girl had been destroyed the night she lost everything.
Her father had disowned her. Her mother hadn't fought for her. She had fled the country with nothing but heartbreak and the weight of a life growing inside her.
And now… now she was back.
Not by choice. Not to reopen wounds.
But because the very thing she had been running from all these years—the thing that had nearly killed her—was surfacing again.
The investigation.
Her breath hitched as she reached for her phone, opening the secure email she had received earlier that night. The contents made her stomach tighten.
A name. A company. A connection to the very people who had once controlled her fate.
And at the center of it all?
Santoro Enterprises.
Her fingers hovered over the screen, hesitation clawing at her insides.
If she kept digging, she would unearth things that could destroy lives—including Aurelio's.
And that terrified her more than anything.
A knock on her door made her snap her head up.
This time, she didn't expect Isabella.
But when she opened the door, it wasn't just Isabella standing there.
It was Luna.
And she was crying.
Luna's POV – The Search for Answers
Luna clutched the edges of her oversized sweater, tears burning in her eyes as she looked up at her mom.
"Mom… I—I need to ask you something."
Raven's expression softened, but there was something guarded in her eyes. "Baby, what's wrong?"
Luna's heart pounded. She had rehearsed this in her head a hundred times, but now that she was standing here, she wasn't sure she could say it.
So she just whispered, "Who is my dad?"
The silence was deafening.
Isabella stepped back, giving them space. Raven's lips parted, her throat moving as she swallowed hard.
Luna's small hands curled into fists. "I know. I know it's him."
Raven knelt in front of her, tucking a curl behind her ear. "Luna…"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Luna's voice cracked, anger and confusion twisting inside her. "Why didn't he know?"
Raven inhaled sharply, her hands tightening on Luna's arms. "Because I had to protect you."
Luna's lower lip trembled. "From what?"
Raven didn't answer.
But the haunted look in her eyes said everything.
Luna stepped back, shaking her head. She didn't understand, but she would.
She would find out what her mom wasn't telling her.
Even if it meant going straight to the man she had spent six years wondering about.
Aurelio's POV – The Crack in His Control
Aurelio leaned back in his chair, the weight of the revelation pressing down on him like an iron chain.
He had a daughter.
A six-year-old daughter.
And Raven—his Raven—had been the one to keep her from him.
Matteo had left, but Aurelio barely registered his absence. His mind was spinning, replaying every moment from the past, every sign he had missed.
He wanted to hate her for it.
But more than that… he wanted to know his daughter.
Who was she? What was she like? Did she have his eyes? His stubbornness?
Or was she more like Raven—wild, untamed, burning with secrets?
His phone vibrated on his desk, and when he glanced at the screen, his stomach clenched.
Unknown Number.
He hesitated for only a second before answering. "Santoro."
Silence.
Then, a small, hesitant voice.
"Are you my dad?"
Aurelio's breath caught. The grip on his phone tightened, his pulse roaring in his ears.
"Who is this?" His voice was sharper than he intended, but he already knew.
The little girl on the other end of the line sniffled. "My name is Luna. And I think… I think you're my dad."
For the first time in years, Aurelio felt his world tilt beneath him.
And he had no idea how to stop it from crashing down.
Raven's POV – The Price of the Past
Raven didn't flinch when the message flashed across her screen.
We know you're here. Leave before it's too late.
The words were cold, calculated. A warning… or a promise.
Her fingers tightened around her phone, her heartbeat slow and steady. This wasn't the first time she'd been threatened. It wouldn't be the last.
But this time, she had something to lose.
Luna.
Her stomach twisted as she thought about the man from her past—the one who had whispered threats into her ear as easily as he had once whispered promises. He was still out there. Watching. Waiting.
And she had just walked straight into his web.
A cold breath shuddered through her lips as she shut off her phone and turned back to Luna, who sat curled up on the bed, her small frame tense.
"Mom?" Luna's voice was small, uncertain. "Did I do something wrong?"
Raven swallowed hard. "No, baby. You didn't."
Luna hesitated. "Then why are you shaking?"
Raven hadn't realized her hands were trembling. She forced herself to still them. "I'm just tired."
Luna didn't look convinced.
She was too smart. Too observant. She had always been like that—watching, analyzing, picking up on the emotions Raven tried to hide.
But tonight wasn't the night for truth.
Because some truths could get them both killed.
Aurelio's POV – The Ghost in the Line
Aurelio gripped his phone, his knuckles white as the little voice on the other end sent his world into freefall.
"Are you my dad?"
He barely registered Matteo returning to the office, his voice distant. "Boss?"
Aurelio couldn't breathe.
This wasn't how he was supposed to find out.
He was supposed to know. He should have been there. He should have—
"My name is Luna. And I think… I think you're my dad."
His throat tightened. "Where are you?" His voice was low, measured, but the rage simmering beneath it was sharp enough to cut.
Silence. Then, a soft sniffle. "I… I shouldn't have called."
"Luna." His own daughter's name on his lips felt foreign. Wrong. Because he had never said it before.
He should have been the one to teach her how to write it. To say it. To know it.
"Luna," he repeated, quieter this time. "Don't hang up."
But the line went dead.
Aurelio shot to his feet, his chair scraping against the floor. "Find her." His voice was a storm barely contained.
Matteo stiffened. "Find who?"
Aurelio turned, his eyes burning with something lethal. "My daughter."
Luna's POV – The Man in the Shadows
Luna dropped the phone, her little hands trembling.
She shouldn't have called.
Her mom had told her not to. She had begged her not to.
But she had wanted to hear his voice.
And now? Now she had a terrible feeling she had made a mistake.
A feeling that only worsened when she heard the soft creak outside the hotel door.
Luna's breath hitched.
Mom and Aunt Isabella were in the other room. No one was supposed to be out there.
Her heart pounded as she slid off the bed, moving toward the door as quietly as she could. The air felt wrong. Heavy.
And then she saw it.
A shadow beneath the door.
Someone was standing there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Luna took a step back, but before she could run, the handle twisted.
And the lock clicked open.
Raven's POV – The Devil's Calling Card
Raven's blood went cold the moment she heard the door creak open.
"Luna?" Her voice was sharp as she shot up from her seat.
No response.
Fear struck fast and brutal as she ran toward the bedroom. The door was open. The window was open. And the room? Empty.
"Luna!"
Her heart slammed against her ribs as she ran to the window, her breath shattering as she saw it.
A single black card.
A symbol in the center—a raven with its wings clipped.
Raven's hands clenched as ice spread through her veins.
She knew what this meant.
This wasn't just about her past.
This was a warning.
They had her daughter.
And they were coming for her next.
Aurelio's POV – The Breaking Point
Aurelio was halfway to his car when his phone rang again.
Unknown Number.
He answered immediately. "Luna?"
But it wasn't her.
It was a man.
A voice from the past.
A voice Aurelio hadn't heard in years.
"Looks like we finally have something in common, Santoro."
Aurelio's grip on his phone turned to steel. "Who the fuck is this?"
A low chuckle. "You took something from me a long time ago. Now, I'm taking something from you."
A beat of silence.
Then—
"She's a beautiful little girl, isn't she?"
Aurelio's vision went red.
The sound of his own breathing was deafening. His pulse was a war drum against his ribs.
"You have five hours," the voice continued, amusement laced in every syllable. "Bring me what I want… or you'll never see your daughter again."
Click.
The line went dead.
And Aurelio Santoro had never been closer to murder in his entire life.