Burn For Me

“This is only the beginning. Happy Anniversary, my love.”—A

The doors of the Crimson Syndicate estate slammed open. 

Dominic Russo looked up from his glass of whiskey. The fireplace crackled behind him, but the cold in the room had nothing to do with the weather. It was the woman standing at the threshold–alive, breathtaking, and dripping with ice. 

“Happy anniversary, Dominic.” Aria said, her voice flat. 

“I brought you a gift.”

He blinked. Once. Twice. 

Dead women didn't walk. Dead wives didn't come home. 

And yet….Aria Sidorov, the woman he had buried in his past, stood before him in a sleek black coat, her face sharper than he remembered, eyes colder than any bullet he'd ever dodged. 

Siena screamed from behind him. “She's supposed to be dead.”

Dominic rose slowly, his jaw clenched tight. 

“What the hell is going on?”

Aria stepped forward, dropped a thick envelope on the mahogany table. 

“Divorce papers. And my resignation from the family.”

“The family?” His eyes narrowed. “You think you can just walk away from the Russo name?”

“You never treated me like a Russo,” she replied. “Just a convenient body to keep the syndicate’s alliance intact while you rolled around with my sister.”

Dominic flinched at her words, but Sienna recovered faster. 

“You're crazy, no one will believe you.”

Aria turned, dark eyes blazing. “Really? Then maybe the council should see the security footage from the villa. The tapes you thought were erased? I backed them up.”

Dominic’s hand tightened around his glass until it shattered. 

“I warned you,” Aria continued, voice rising with venom. 

“I told you that if you crossed me again, I wouldn't leave quietly. But the one night you were supposed to be there for me, you chose my sister. Again. And you left me for dead.”

“You know, I never had a problem with you choosing her, I accepted the fact that you didn't love me a long time ago, but all I asked for, was just respect, but you didn't care about my wellbeing at all. So, here we are now.”

“You're bluffing.” 

She smiled. “Try me.”

Three years ago, she had been forced into marriage with Dominic Russo–the heir to the Crimson Syndicate. Everyone thought she was lucky. Marrying a man like him meant protection, wealth, power. 

Yes, she got all that, but she didn't get love. 

Instead, she got silence, betrayal, and a bullet to the soul. 

They had kept the marriage secret. To outsiders, she was just a loyal assistant. Dominic’s right hand. His shadow. Meanwhile, Sienna– the real daughter of Aria’s foster family–paraded around the estate like a queen. 

It was all for an alliance between her family and his own, but she never knew that she would get married and slave away for her husband while he loved her younger sister. 

One month ago, Aria had been kidnapped. By the rival syndicate to threaten Dominic, and try to make him cave, he picked up the phone call once, and when they told him the situation, he said,

———————————————————

“Go ahead and kill her, I don't care. She would be happy to die for the family.”

———————————————————

Those words still rang in her ears. They were about to kill her, but another person showed up and saved her, while her husband was fucking her sister in a villa. 

That person had kept her alive long enough for the pain to become purpose. 

“You don't get to control me anymore,” she whispered. “Not with lies, not with alliance.”

Dominic stepped around the table, his expression unreadable.

“Why come back now?”

She looked at him and smiled thinly.  

“Because I wanted to see the look on your face when you realised you lost the one person who was loyal to you through thick and thin.”

His silence stretched. 

“I was loyal, Dom. Even when you weren't. Even when I knew you loved her.”

He looked at Sienna for a second too long. 

It was all the confirmation Aria needed. 

She turned to leave. 

“Wait.”

She paused at the foot, not facing him. 

“What happened that night?” Dominic’s voice was low. 

“The night you vanished.” 

“You don't get to ask me that,” she said. “You lost the right to care when you told them to kill me.”

He looked stunned but Aria didn't wait. Her heels echoed down the hall. 

Sienna rushed after her. “You think you can come back and ruin us?” 

“I'm not here to ruin you, darling sister.” Aria said with a devilish smile as she turned to Sienna. “I'm here to end you.” She said and her eyes turned cold again. 

Without looking back, she walked out into the cold night, her driver opened the door. 

“Where to ma'am?”

“Take me to him.”

******

Back inside the estate, Dominic opened the envelope she had left. 

Inside was not just the divorce agreement. 

It was a USB drive. 

He plugged it in. 

The screen flickered. 

Then played a video. 

It was him. 

And Sienna. 

Naked. Drunk. Laughing. 

Captured from the corner of the villa bedroom. Clear. Undeniable. 

Dominic’s blood ran cold. 

Sienna watched from behind, pale as death. 

“She said she destroyed all the tapes.”

“She lied.” Dominic muttered, jaw tightening. 

And then the screen went black. 

A message appeared in bold white letters. 

————

This is only the beginning. 

Happy anniversary, love. 

–A. 

————