THE MAFIA KING BROKEN ROSE novel Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Carmen nodded, sensing my unraveling. “Alright,” she said, stretching her legs out on the couch. “How about we watch your favorite movie?”

That made me smile a little. “You remember?”

“Of course I do,” she grinned. “You used to make us rewatch it every weekend.”

I laughed, a real one. “It’s comforting. Don’t judge me.”

“Aria, it’s a 2003 coming of age drama with an unnecessarily dramatic soundtrack and the cheesiest ending ever.”

“Exactly,” I smirked. “It’s perfect.”

She clicked her tongue, already standing and moving to her shelf. “You and your soft girl tragic love stories. I’ll never understand.”

I settled back on the couch, arms hugging a pillow. “It’s not about the love story. It’s about the girl. She was broken, and soft, and angry… but she still believed something good could come out of all the mess.”

Carmen turned, remote in hand, pausing for a beat. “You see yourself in her.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

She popped the disc in, and the opening credits rolled, the familiar theme music curling around the room like an old blanket. I closed my eyes for a second, letting it wash over me.

“You still draw?” Carmen asked after a moment.

I smiled faintly. “Not as much. I sketch sometimes when I can’t sleep.”

“I used to find you asleep on the club couch with charcoal all over your fingers,” she said, laughing. “You’d draw dancers mid–spin or drunk guys falling out of their chairs.”

“I liked capturing people when they didn’t know they were being seen.”

She glanced at me. “Because that’s when they’re the most real.”

I nodded, staring at the screen but not really watching it anymore. “Yeah. That’s when you see what they’re actually made of.”

“Do you think you’ve seen what Dominic’s made of?”

My throat tightened.

“I’ve seen parts,” I said quietly. “But I don’t know if any of it’s real.”

The movie played on. But the real film was running in my head were questions with no answer.

What if Nico was the one?

What if I was just a ticking clock to everyone?

I pulled the blanket higher over my legs and leaned against Carmen’s shoulder.

For now, I just wanted to be a girl in a hoodie, watching an old movie with her best friend.

Before everything snapped again.

Dominic’s POV

The vase shattered against the wall, glass exploding like gunfire.

Another chair went flying, thudding hard against the bookshelf and knocking down three leather–bound volumes. The room looked like a hurricane had hit it and I was the storm.

“Emilia!”

My voice thundered through the house.

No answer.

My jaw clenched, breath ragged as I grabbed the edge of the desk and slammed it, papers scattering like falling leaves. I’d told her warned her that Aria wasn’t to leave this house. Not alone. Not without my word.

And she was gone.

Successfully unlocked!

“Where is she?!” I roared again, just as Emilia appeared of

way hereyes wide but face carefully blank.

“You screamed?” she asked coolly, like she hadn’t just broken the one goddamn rule that mattered.

I stalked toward her, every step deliberate, restrained only by the sliver of control I hadn’t shattered yet. “Don’t play dumb with me, Emilia. You were on watch.”

1/3

Chapter 111

“She was asleep the last time I checked. Maybe she went for a walk in the garden. You know she likes the air,”

I slammed my hand against the wall beside her, making her flinch for just a second. “She didn’t go to the garden. She’s been gone for hours.”

Emilia’s lips parted, hesitation flashing across her features. “Maybe… maybe she needed space. After the funeral after everything-”

“She’s sick. And grieving. And being hunted.” My voice dropped to a lethal calm. “And now she’s gone. Because of you.”

“I didn’t let her out,” Emilia said defensively. “She didn’t come to me. Maybe one of the guards-”

“They answer to me.” I pointed at her, chest rising and falling. “And you were supposed to be her shadow.”

She looked down for a second, just one second and that was all I needed.

“You knew,” I said quietly. “You knew she was leaving.”

“No,” Emilia said quickly, shaking her head. “I swear I didn’t. I just-”

“You hesitated,” I snapped. “You hesitated because you’re lying.”

“I’m not,” she insisted, her voice tight now, eyes flicking around like she was trying to find an escape. “Dominic, I would never betray you.”

I stepped back, pacing once across the room, dragging a hand through my hair as I tried to steady my pulse. The rage still swirled in my gut like poison.

Every second she was out there–alone–was a second someone could reach her. Mikael. Victoria. Or worse.

I should’ve put trackers in her shoes. I should’ve posted guards inside her room.

I should’ve-

Footsteps.

I spun toward the hallway as a voice called out.

“What’s going on?”

Aria.

Her voice.

My heart stopped for one brief, burning moment.

She was back.

I crossed the room in seconds, blood still thrumming under my skin as I stepped into the hall and there she was.

Messy hair. Tired eyes. A hoodie zipped up to her throat. Her arms crossed like a shield.

She froze when she saw the wreckage behind me.

And then I said the only thing I could think to say, my voice rough, too loud, too much.

“Where have you been?”

Aria barely blinked. She pulled the hood down from her head and met my stare head–on like I hadn’t just torn the entire office apart looking for her. Like she hadn’t vanished without a damn word.

“I was in the garden,” she said simply, voice calm. Too calm.

The lie hit me like ice water.

I took one step forward, then another. My fists clenched at my sides.

“You… fucking liar,” I said under my breath, teeth gritted.

She raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

I laughed humorless, low, bitter. “Really, Aria? The garden?”

She shrugged, crossing her arms again. “You didn’t check there properly, I guess.”

I let the silence stretch a little longer than I should have. Let her watch as I reached for the remote on the hallway console, pulled up the security feed from the last six hours, and hit play.

No garden. No side paths. No greenhouses.

No Aria.

“Guess what,” I said, not bothering to hide the fury now. “Security cameras don’t lie.”

10

Her jaw twitched, but she didn’t back down. She just looked away, casually, like she was bored of this entire confrontation. Like I was the one making a scene.

And maybe I was.

Chapter 111

“Where. Were. You,” I growled.

She rolled her eyes. “Why does it matter, Dominic?”

“Because you don’t get to disappear!” My voice echoed down the hallway. One of the guards shifted uncomfortably near

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