Silent Scars

CHAPTER 88

LEONARDO HASTINGS

The vibration came first.

Not loud. Not urgent. Just steady, like a pulse.

My hand was already moving before I opened my eyes, fingers wrapping around the phone on the nightstand. I didn’t need to check the time. One glance at the caller ID was enough to snap me fully awake.

Davide.

Perimeter team. Reliable. Efficient. Top five men I trusted with my family’s lives. Never called unless it was important.

I answered in one breath.

"Sir. Domain and Miss Ariana just left the estate."

The words landed like a drop of ice in the center of my spine.

My grip on the blanket tightened. Slow. Controlled.

I didn’t shout. Didn’t curse.

Because rage was useless without precision.

I stared straight ahead, jaw clenched, and said flatly,

"Follow them. Keep your distance. Do not be seen."

"Understood."

I hung up.

Silence settled again.

But it was the kind that watched. That waited for someone to slip.

I sat up. Pushed the covers aside. Walked to the window, barefoot on the cold stone floor. Pulled the curtain open with one hand and sat down in the leather chair by the glass.

And I didn’t move.

Not for a long time.

Just sat there.

Eyes locked on the front drive.

Watching. Waiting.

If Domain took her out….she asked him to.

And he said yes.

Which meant it wasn’t just some reckless idea. It was something he thought she needed more than the rules we laid out last night.

I closed my eyes for a second, pressing my fingers to my temple.

He knows the danger.

Better than most. Maybe more than even Marcus.

Domain’s been through the kind of hell none of them talk about. He’s seen what Victor can do, not just physically, but psychologically. And Volkov?

Volkov is something else entirely.

Calculated. Cruel. Patient.

I rubbed my jaw, tension pushing deep into my molars.

Still… Domain should’ve told me.

But I also knew why he didn’t.

Because if she asked, with that quiet hope in her voice, that kind of fragile joy, there was no way in hell Domain would’ve said no.

Not after what we’ve all seen in her eyes.

And the truth?

I wouldn’t have either.

I leaned back in the chair, my shoulders heavy.

I’ve never taken her out.

Not once.

Not to walk through the streets, not to see the city, not even to feel the morning air without walls around her.

Everything’s been guards and shadows. School. Hospital. Walls.