His to Love, Not to Claim

ARIA POV

It started with a knock.

Not at the front door, Dominic's security would never allow that, but inside her own mind. A memory she couldn't shut out, no matter how tightly she closed her eyes.

Ezra.

The name still made her flinch.

*FLASHBACK*

They'd met in a bar the kind of place that looked cheap on the outside but was full of men in expensive shoes and hollow promises. Ezra was charm wrapped in poison: tousled hair, reckless smile, the kind of confidence that made you think this is the ONE.

He wasn't.

But she didn't know that until two pink lines and one unanswered call later.

Aria hadn't seen him in five months. Not since she stood outside his high-rise apartment, heart in her throat, hand on her belly, and watched a stranger answer the door with his shirt on inside out.

"Ezra?" she'd asked.

The woman blinked. "He's out of town. Who are you?"

No answer she could give would've made her feel less disposable.

He never returned her calls. Never asked about the baby. Never sent a message. It was like she'd never existed.

Until now.

*PRESENT DAY*

Her phone buzzed that afternoon as she folded sheets in the laundry room of the Voss estate.

Unknown Number.

She almost ignored it. Almost.

But something in her gut told her to look.

Ezra: I heard you're living with him. That's dangerous, Aria. We need to talk.

Her heart dropped.

How did he know? How did he find her?

More importantly why now?

She stared at the screen until her hands went numb. Then she deleted the message and tried to pretend it hadn't shaken her.

But hours later, as she was placing Dominic's files on his desk, he looked up at her sharply.

"You're pale," he said. "Something happen?"

She shook her head too quickly. "No. Just tired."

His eyes narrowed. He didn't believe her.

Dominic Voss didn't miss lies he filed them away for later.

That night, she dreamed of Ezra.

He was standing in the rain, just like the last time she saw him, but this time he looked angry. Desperate. And in his hands not flowers, not an apology.

A gun.

Aria woke up gasping, one hand instinctively on her belly. The baby kicked lightly beneath her palm, as if reminding her you're not alone.

And that terrified her more.

Because if Ezra was back...
He wouldn't just want answers.

He might want control.
Of her.
Of the baby.
Of the life she was just starting to rebuild.

And if Dominic found out?

There'd be no more pretending this was just a job. No more pretending she wasn't dragging danger through his front door.