Aerius sat with his arms crossed, his expression blank, but his knuckles were white from how hard his fists clenched. Across from him, Lucifer, Rafael, Gabriel, and Michael loomed like executioners.

Lucifer studied him with amusement, as if deciding whether he was worth keeping alive. "You'll be sent underground," he repeated, voice sharp like a blade. "Once Vicious falls, you can crawl back to whatever remains of the Castillions and take over the French Mafia again."

Aerius scoffed. "And what if I say no?"

Rafael smirked lazily, still scrolling through his phone . "Then we put a bullet in your skull and spare ourselves the trouble."

Gabriel let out a dark chuckle, shaking his head. "Really, Castillion. You should be thanking us."

"For what?" Aerius gritted out.

"For not cutting your tongue out yet," Michael said flatly, his sharp gaze cutting through Aerius like ice.

Aerius's jaw ticked. They thought they had control.

"You don't understand," he said through clenched teeth. "Snow needs me."

Silence.

And then—laughter.

Dark. Cruel. Mocking.

Lucifer exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "You really believe that, don't you?"

Rafael smirked. "She doesn't need you, Castillion. She has us now."

Gabriel stretched lazily. "She's with her family. What use does she have for a man who kept her in chains locked up?"

Aerius's fists clenched, his nails digging into his palms. They were getting to her.

They were poisoning her against him.

He needed to stop this.

"She'll never trust you," Aerius said smoothly, regaining his composure. "You can wave your little DNA test all you want, but you're nothing but strangers to her. You abandoned her. I raised her. I protected her. And no matter what you tell yourselves—she is mine."

Rafael's smirk dropped.

In the next second, Aerius was slammed against the wall, Rafael's hand around his throat.

Rafael leaned in, voice dangerously low. "You dare say that again?"

Aerius let out a breathless chuckle. "You're losing your temper, second-born."

Rafael squeezed just a little harder. "You think she's yours?" he murmured, his tone almost casual. "You think she belongs to you?" He leaned closer, his lips curling into a deadly smirk. "You don't even belong to yourself anymore."

Aerius's body tensed.

Rafael pulled back, releasing him with a shove. "You'll go underground," he said again. "And you'll stay there until we decide otherwise."

Lucifer stepped forward, tilting his head. "Don't mistake our patience for mercy, Castillion. You are alive only because of your father"

Gabriel leaned in slightly, grinning. "Yeah. Mercy isn't really our thing."

Aerius forced a smirk, rubbing his throat. He would play along. For now.

But soon, they'd regret ever letting him breathe.

.

.

The cool breeze rustled through the balcony as she stared at the stars in the sky.

She barely registered the sound of approaching footsteps until a voice, deep and eerily calm, broke the silence.

"You look like someone."

Haven stopped, turning her head slightly. Izrael.

He stood a few feet away, hands buried in his pockets, his sharp gaze fixed on her. Those eyes. They mirrored hers too perfectly, too unnervingly.

"You look like our mother," he said.

Haven let out a dry chuckle, shaking her head. "You mean your mother."

Izrael's expression remained blank. "No. Ours."

Haven exhaled sharply, bitterness rising in her chest. "No. Ammon was my father. Lara was my m-mother. He cared and loved me like his, he never made me felt that I wasn't his daughter"

Izrael tilted his head slightly, observing her.

"What about his wife. Lara?" He asked

"She was .. was good" she replied as if she was trying to convince herself but Izrael saw right through her eyes.

"I don't think She was. That's because you weren't hers, Haven. You never were."

She stiffened. "Oh really! Then whose was I?"

"Our blood. Our family." His voice was so steady, so sure, it made something tighten in her throat.

Haven scoffed, crossing her arms. "Right. Family. The same one that left me? The same one that never came back?"

His jaw clenched. "We didn't leave you."

"Then where the hell were you?" she snapped, her voice rising. "Do you know what I went through? Do you know what my life was like? You weren't there. If you were my brothers, my family as you claim to be, you wouldn't have abandoned me."

Silence.

For the first time, Izrael looked away.

Haven let out a humorless laugh. "Exactly."

"You were a newborn," he finally said. "You were one day old when everything was taken from us. We barely made it out alive that night, Haven."

She swallowed, her fingers tightening around her arms.

"Our mother was in labor," Izrael continued, his voice quieter now, almost distant. "She was vulnerable. We were vulnerable. That's when they came for us. They didn't come for money, or power, or even territory. They came for blood."

Something in his tone made her breath hitch.

"You were crying," he murmured. "That's the last thing I remember before we were forced to leave you behind in Ammon's care. Mom dad were already dead, you living with us could have been dangerous. I still remember, You crying in the chaos, and none of us able to do a damn thing about it."

Haven blinked rapidly, shaking her head.

She didn't want to hear this.

Didn't want to believe it.

She turned away. "This is a waste of time."

Izrael didn't stop her. "If we wanted to lie to you, Haven, we would've told you a story you'd want to believe."

"Then what are you doing with Aerius?" Haven asked, her voice laced with disbelief. How could she trust them when Aerius was living under the same roof? How could she believe a single word they said when they were sheltering the very monster who had ruined her?

Izrael remained silent, his expression unreadable.

"You don't have to be scared of him, Sorellina," he finally said.

Something small landed in her palm.

Haven frowned, looking down to find a silver pocket knife resting in her hand.

She snapped her gaze back to Izrael. "What is this?"

His lips curved into something that was almost a smirk. "A gift."

Haven narrowed her eyes. "What kind of psycho gifts someone a knife?"

Izrael took a slow step forward, his dark eyes never leaving hers.

"If any day," he said, his voice eerily calm, "you feel like he is even trying to breathe near you, or we are being a threat to you—"

He leaned in slightly, his tone dropping to a near whisper.

"—then feel free to slit his throat. Or ours."

A shiver crawled down Haven's spine.

She tightened her grip around the knife, her heart pounding. Was this some kind of twisted test? A warning? Or was he truly giving her a choice?

Izrael didn't wait for a response. Without another word, he turned and walked away, his steps silent, leaving her standing there, gripping the blade like a lifeline.

Haven exhaled sharply, staring at the knife. The metal gleamed under the dim light, dangerously sharp.

Curious, she pressed a fingertip against the blade's edge—only for a sharp sting to shoot through her skin.

A single drop of blood welled up, staining the silver.

She sucked in a breath, bringing her finger to her lips as her gaze flickered toward the direction Izrael had disappeared.

For the first time, a very small, a very little part of her shattered self felt protected.. but she refused to believe it. The only person she would ever trust would be only herself and noone else.

.

.

Aerius stood with his jaw clenched, he had just witnessed her standing in the moonlit garden, listening to that psychopath.

Talking to Izrael.

Taking something from him.

A gift?

Aerius's eyes darkened.

That wasn't just a conversation. That was Izrael planting a seed.

Aerius knew Haven.

He knew her inside and out.

She didn't trust easily. She didn't break easily.

But if she started to believe them, if they got inside her head...

Everything he had built would crumble.

His grip on her.

His plans.

His control.

No.

He couldn't let that happen.

His fingers curled into a fist, nails digging into his palm.

If they were trying to take her from him... he would remind her exactly where she belonged.

His gaze flickered to the security feeds, the cameras installed throughout the mansion.

One screen still showed the garden.

Haven stood alone now, turning the small knife over in her hands, staring at it.

A gift from her "brother."

Aerius's jaw clenched so hard it ached.

The Sinisters thought they were smart.

They thought they could break his hold on her?

He smirked, though there was no amusement in his eyes.

Let them try.

Because if Haven thought she had seen the worst of him—

She hadn't seen anything yet.

(Aerius be like - delulu is the solulu 🥰)

😂😂

Please understand haven's pov here guyz... she has been through a lot, if she is arguing then that doesn't mean she has changed over night.. even with Aerius she used to argue and put up a fight.. you can't expect her to overnight accept the brothers as her family.. she was just a day old so it's impossible for her to form any sort of a immediate connection. The brothers would need to break the walls around her heart.

I love the brothers tho 😭😭😭

What do you think gonna happen next ???