bChapter /bb15 /b

“don’t n to bonio said, his voice calm but firm, eyes unblinking as he looked straight at Alejandro.

Alejandro nowed his pare, jav tight. He didn’t like Antonio’s cryptic responses, but for now, he

Antonio wasn’t finished. “But you haven’t told me who she is, he pressed, voice mild, though there was a glint in his myt

“Get out of my housel” Alejandro bisted, his patience finally snapping

Everyone always thought he was the troublemaker. The vtile, nonchnt sibling who needed to be watched,

The one who couldn’t be trusted not to berak something or been a bridge.

He carried that title proudly even used it to keep people at arm’s length

But what nobody seemed to breale /bwas that Antonio was just as bmuch /bof a menace

Maybe even worse.

The only difference? Antonio never showed that side to anyone else. Only him.

To the world, Antonio was the level bheaded /bbone/b, theposed hoir bwith /bbthe /binfamous bdevilish /breputation.

But Alejandro knew better. Antonio was just as stubborn, just as annoying, and just as much of ba /bpain in the ass—he just knew how to hide it behind charm and diplomacy.

And now here he was, being aplete menace in his house, refusing to take the hint and leave

Another silent showdown bensued/bb, /bba /bfamiliar ons. No words. Just tension hanging heavy bbetween /bthem like smoke.

Alejandro was the first to blink

“She’s Nivera Elton,” he said curtly. “That’s all you’re getting”

if he didn’t tell Antonio what he needed to hear, then there bwas /bba /bhigh bchance /bhe wouldn’tw.

Antonio’s brows lited with interest. “Ebon?” he echoed, his voice almost teasing

“And……...” he said after a bbeat/bb, /bba /bgrin tugging at his lips. “bYou /bbrought her here?”

Alejandro scowled but said nothing as he waited for Antonio to finish.

“This is the first time byou’ve /bever brought a woman to your bhouse/b,” Antonio bcontinued/b, smug nowb. /bb“/bShe’s not ordinary. You hate people in your bspace/b.

Alejandro stayed silent, but Antonio’s wordsnded had. He hadn’t realized it until Antonio said it out loud but it was true.

He’d brought her home.

His house was sacred. Off–limits. A fortress from the world. No women. No guests. No one except his mother band /baunt had ever crossed that line, and

even that was rare.

He hated people. Hated their energy, their noise, their presence lingering in his space like ban /bboil /bstain on white silk. Everything in his house was precisely the way he liked it–minimal, bquiet/b, controlled.

So why had he broughther?

The question at the a stone in his chest.

“You know I hate people in my house, and you to will here,” he muttmeid, ring at Astori

“I love pissing you off” Antonio said with a thing. “Expecially since you love being in mine?

Nejandre muttered something under his breath–probably a cure–and turned toward the disor, Thane was

He barely made it three steps before Antonio’s voice cang out again.

“Why did she stab you in the neck?”

Alejandro stopped. Slowly, he turned around. His eyes narrowed.

“How do you know the stabbed me in the neck!”

Antonio didn’t answer that. He didn’t have to. He simply tied his head and asked again, “Why did she do it?”

Alejandro stared at him, silent.

“Is she a threat?” Antonio asked next, and his tone was no longer yful. “Does the need to be eliminated

“No.” Alejandro said, his voice t, definitive “Til handle her.”

Antonio studied him for a long moment, then nodded. It was enough–for now.

buzz sounded from his bphone/b. He pulled it out, nced at the screen, and frowned. Alejandro squinted at the sudden change

“Zabelle?” he guessed. She was the woman who Antonio was getting married to

Antonio sighed and nodded as he began typing out a reply.

dabito

bAlejandro /bsmirked, a bit of amusement creaping bin/b. “bSo /byou’re really getting married in two days.”

“It’s bsurreal/bb,/b” Antonio muttered with another sigh..

Alejandro shook his head in disbelief. “Didn’t think you’d be the first between us to go down like that

“I didn’t either,” Antonio said with a dryugh, then tucked his phope baway/b. “But here we are

There was a pause. Alejandro turned away, ready to leave, but Antonio’s voice caught him again.

“You know what this means, right?”

Alejandro gave him a wary nce,

“It means,” Antonio bsaid/bb, /bslowly grinning “you’re next”

Alejandro’s face twisted into a scowl. “Don’t joke like that.

“I’m not joking. bYou /bknow how our mothers are: Mipe balready /bhinted that they’re nning to encourage you at the wedding What better ce to introduce you to your future wile, right?”

Alejandro went still. His stomach dropped.

He could see it already the aunties plotting the hopeful nces, the introductions, His mother’s take innocent smiles. The strategically cedelle women. The maniptive smalltalk.

And worst of all the pectation

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered:

Antonio’sughter was instant, unrestrained. “Good luck,” he said gleefully “My condolences, trul

And with that, he finally stood up and made his way toward the exit.

Alejandre stood frozen in ce, binacing. There was no way he could skip Antonio’s wedding.

That would be suspicious. Disrespectful.

He had to g

But he couldn’t walk in alone. Not now. Not after Antonio’s warning.

He needed a shield. A buffer. Something or someone to get their matchmaking ws off his back

Adato

Yes, that was it! He needed a date to the modding

One convincing enough to scare off their mothers. Someone they’d never dare try to rece with a handpicked bride. Someone who would throw their ns into chaos

But also someone who wouldnt take it the wrong way and start thinking it was something serious.

That was the real problem..

bEvery /bwoman he’d been with wanted something from him–statusb, /battention, money, or a title. None of them know how to stay in their

Who could he possibly take that wouldn’t give him a headache afterward?

And then… Ske a spark in the dark, the answer came.

His lips curled into a slow, wicked smile.

Nivera Elton

Beautiful infuriating, impossible to control.

She wasn’t the kind of woman who would mistake his invitation for romance. She hated him too much for that. And she was too proud to ever settle for a manlike him–not without ba /bbwar /b

it was perfect.

She’d y the role effortlessly. Maybe a little too well. But there was no risk of her clinging to him afterward. She wanted nothing to do with him

And besides, there was something poetic about it. dnging her–the same woman who stabbed him in the neck–to his brother’s wedding to pretend the was his date

He could already imagine their mothers‘ reaction

The scandal. The whispered bp /b

gossip. The i

collective sigh of disappointment.

He lived for that kind of chaos.

And maybe…just maybe…it would give him a chance to keep Niver close. Under watch

b23 /bJUI

Where she couldn’t run.

Where he could figure her bout/b.

Because even though he told Antonio she wasn’t a threat, part of him knew that wasn’t true. She had secrets. And he wasn’t done uncovering them yet

One way or another, she was going to the wedding with him.

She just didn’t know it yet.