Chapter 46

**A L E X**

I had a plan. A solid, airtight plan. When Matteo Rossi told me he was “interested” in Grace Miller’s friendship, I knew exactly what he was doing. It was obvious. The little bastard was poking at the edges of my life, testing how far he could push before I snapped. And this? This was a declaration of war. He thinks he knows my secret, thinks he can play me? Fine. Let him try. But there’s only one way this goes. Grace Miller has to be ripped out of our lives, out of my life, and thrown as far away from us as possible.

It’s not like I give a damn about her. She’s a complication. One I didn’t ask for. One I sure as hell don’t need. Matteo was using her as bait, trying to see if I’d bite, and, yeah, I’m biting alright—just not in the way he expects. I’ve dealt with worse than Matteo Rossi, and I’ll deal with him, too. This ends tonight.

The plan was simple. I had it laid out in my head, every move calculated. I’d meet her at the party, pull out the flight tickets I had in my coat, shove them in her hand, and tell her to disappear. Leave. Go back to wherever the hell she came from and never show her face in my world again. It wasn’t supposed to be complicated. But it sure as hell wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

It started before I even saw her. It’s like the air shifted, this electric pulse when she walked into the room. I felt her before I saw her. And it pissed me off. What the hell is it about her? She walks into a space, and everything stops. Everything goes quiet. It’s ridiculous. She’s not even trying, and yet, here we all are, dancing to her rhythm like idiots. Everyone in the room knew she was here before Sofia even called out her name. But me? I stayed still. Because I knew what she was doing, and I wasn’t about to let her win.

I wasn’t going to turn around. That’s what she wanted, wasn’t it? She wanted me to notice her. To look at her. I wasn’t giving her that satisfaction. She could walk right up next to me, and I’d still act like she didn’t exist.

But when she finally reached the table, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. The pull. The magnetism. Damn her for making me feel this way. I didn’t turn right away, but I felt her presence like a weight on my chest. And then, finally, I let myself glance at her.

Big fucking mistake. She is not alone. Matteo Rossi, the cocky son of a bitch, has his arm around her like she’s some prize he just won. And she—Grace Miller—she’s wearing that dress. Not the lavender one I sent her, but the red one. The red dress that shouldn’t exist outside of my memory. The one I touched. The one that clung to her like a second skin when I last saw her in that shop. She knew what that dress meant. She knew it.

I felt something dark twist inside me. It wasn’t jealousy. It was fury. But not at her. Not at Matteo. At myself. Because I knew better. I should’ve seen this coming. Grace Miller wasn’t some innocent girl swept up in all of this by accident. No. She was smarter than that. More dangerous than that. She knew exactly what she was doing when she walked into the party wearing my dress. With him.

None of this was an accident.

Matteo’s hand on her waist. Her arm through his. It was all a game. A way to needle me. To get me to break. And the worst part? It was working. But I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. I turned away, pretending to answer my phone, and walked out of the room.

I didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t stop moving. I couldn’t stop. Because if I stayed there one more second, I would’ve done something I’d regret. Grace Miller was poison. I knew that from the moment I met her. A sweet, innocent poison wrapped in a pretty little package. But she’s always been a threat, hasn’t she? Even before I realized it. She knew how to worm her way into my life without me even noticing, and now she was right there, standing on the arm of the one person I hated more than anything.

The truth is, she’s been a thorn in my side for longer than I care to admit. Always there, lingering in the corners of my mind, in the shadows of every decision I made. When I was pissed off, I’d watch her from a distance, doing something ridiculous like feeding stray cats, and somehow it would calm me down. When I was dealing with business, I’d catch sight of her in some café, oblivious to the world, and it would... what? Soothe me? That’s bullshit. I don’t get soothed.

She was a complication I should’ve dealt with a long time ago. But I didn’t. And now look at the mess I’m in. I’ve let her get too close, too far under my skin, and I can’t even pinpoint when it happened. One minute she was nothing. Just another face. Just another task. A random girl my sister had asked me to protect. Just another problem. And the next? She was this big stupid… whatever.

It was maddening. And worse? I knew she liked it. She liked knowing she had this effect on me, even if she wasn’t aware of the full extent. She knew how to play her cards. She wasn’t some naïve little girl. No. She was clever. Too clever. And I? I had been a fool.

But not anymore.

She is too powerful to be left alone. Now that others from my world have seen her, noticed her, put their arm around her, I cannot fix this by making her go away, no, now I have to keep her, tight and close. Even if it is uncomfortable and even if I am not allowed.