Chapter 3
His hand rose to my face. His fingers followed my jaw and moved toward my neck, awakening every nerve they crossed.
“May I?”
I did not trust my voice, so I nodded.
Then he kissed me.
It was not hesitant or gentle. It was consuming, the kind of kiss that changed the meaning of everything that had preceded it.
1 hand moved to the back of my neck and into my hair, drawing me closer. The other settled firmly at my waist.
I responded without hesitation, my hands moving over his chest toward his shoulders and feeling the tension beneath his shirt.
When we separated, both of us breathless, he rested his forehead against mine and kept his eyes closed.
“Worth waiting for,” I managed to say.
He laughed softly.
“Every second.”
We remained together beneath the tree. For the first time in days, perhaps years, I felt entirely at peace.
I did not see the person who photographed us.
I did not hear the camera or notice the concealed flash among the trees on the far side of the lake. I was too occupied by Nico, by the warmth of his body and the idle movements of his fingers across my back while we spoke about everything and nothing.
I learned about the photographs the following morning when my phone filled with notifications before sunrise.
The first message came from Maya. It contained a link, 3 exclamation marks, and a skull symbol.
I opened it with trembling fingers.
The headline appeared in heavy type.
Mafia Boss in Forbidden Romance with Son’s Former Girlfriend.
Beneath it were 3 photographs: Nico and me entering the park, sitting close together on the blanket, and kissing.
The final image captured the exact moment with devastating clarity.
My stomach turned.
The phone rang.
Liam’s name appeared on the screen.
I answered before reconsidering.
“What the hell are you doing with my father?”
His voice was uncontrolled and furious.
“Liam—”
“I saw the photographs. Everyone saw them. You’re dating him. You kissed my father.”
“It’s none of your concern.”
My own anger began to rise.
“You lost the right to an opinion about my life when you chose my sister.”
“This is disgusting. You’re doing it to punish me.”
“No.”
I realized as I spoke that it was true. Perhaps it had begun that way, but it was not revenge anymore.
“I’m doing it because I care about him. Because in 3 days he treated me better than you did in 3 years.”
The silence on the line was complete.
“You’ll regret this.”
He ended the call.
Amber called 5 minutes later.
I did not answer, but she left a message.
“So that’s it, Luna? You take Liam’s father because you couldn’t keep his son? How pathetic. I expected you to be destroyed and still crying, but instead you’re pretending to be happy with a man old enough to be your father. It’s disgusting.”
I deleted the message before it ended.
The 3rd call frightened me.
Nico had come to my apartment as soon as the photographs appeared. He stood across the living room when his phone rang.
His expression changed as soon as he answered, the calm surface falling away to reveal something more dangerous.
“Valentina.”
Her voice was loud enough for parts of her fury to escape the phone.
“This is humiliating. With her? Liam’s former girlfriend? Have you lost your mind?”
“Valentina—”
“No. You’re going to listen to me. That girl is using you and destroying our family.”
Her voice broke into something more desperate.
“You replaced me with a woman who isn’t half of what I am.”
“Enough.”
Nico’s voice hardened.
“Do not speak about her that way.”
“You still love me. I know you do. We had 15 years, a son, and an entire life. You’re throwing all of that away.”
“You threw it away when you cheated. This ended 5 years ago.”
“Liar. You never recovered from me, just as I never recovered from you. Come back. Forget this child and rebuild our family.”
“No.”
The word was final.
“I love her, Valentina. You need to accept that.”
The silence on the other end lasted briefly.
When Valentina spoke again, her voice had become lower and more dangerous.
“You’re going to regret this. Both of you.”
The call ended.
Nico remained motionless with the phone in his hand, breathing heavily.
“This is turning into a disaster,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself.
He crossed the room in 3 strides and pulled me against him with a hold that was both gentle and possessive.
“Let it,” he said against my hair. “I will protect you from everything and everyone.”
I believed him.
Still, as I stood within his arms, a cold sensation moved along my spine.
Valentina had not spoken like a mother attempting to protect her son.
She had spoken like a woman fighting for the man she still loved.
The storm had only begun.
The café where I worked was the kind of comfortable place that sold expensive lattes and croissants for 3 times what they should have cost. College students and professionals occupied the tables, pretending to work while endlessly scrolling through their phones.
Ordinarily, I liked the smell of roasted coffee mixed with pastries and the steady hum of conversations I did not need to follow.
3 days after the photographs appeared, every glance seemed burdened with judgment and every whisper appeared directed at me.
I had become gossip, the scandal people consumed with their morning coffee.
I was cleaning a table near the window when the door opened and admitted a gust of cold air along with the last person I wanted to see.
Valentina Rossi entered as though the café belonged to her.
She wore a camel-colored wool coat that probably cost more than my annual salary. Her high heels struck the wooden floor with a precision that seemed designed to attract attention. Her dark hair was arranged in an immaculate knot, and her makeup carried the perfection of someone with sufficient time and money to make perfection routine.
Her eyes found mine across the crowded room.
What I saw made me stop.
It was more than anger. It was controlled fury that had been stored for days and had finally found its intended target.
She walked directly toward me, ignoring every customer and curious glance.
“You.”
The word was quiet enough not to create a scene but contained so much hatred that I instinctively moved back.
“Mrs. Rossi—”
“You dated my son.”
She took another step, entering my personal space.
“Now you’ve seduced my former husband. What kind of woman does that?”
The anger I had carried silently during the previous days rose at once.
I placed the cleaning cloth on the table and faced her without retreating further.
“Your son cheated on me with my sister in my bed. Do not speak to me about respect.”
Surprise flashed in her eyes before anger replaced it.
“Liam made a mistake. What you are doing is revenge.”
“It began that way,” I admitted. “There’s no reason to lie. But it became real. I care about Nico.”
“Real?”
She almost laughed.
“You are a child compared with him. You’re 20 years younger. You have no experience and no understanding of his world.”
“He does not treat me like a child.”
Valentina stopped and studied me through narrowed eyes.
Her anger became something more calculated.
She moved close enough for me to smell her expensive perfume. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter and more poisonous.
“You believe I’m here to protect my son. Partly, I am. Liam is weak. He always has been. He needs his mother for everything.”
She paused.
“But that isn’t the only reason.”
My stomach tightened.
“Nico still loves me. He always has.”
She spoke with enough certainty to make me waver.
“I made mistakes. I cheated and lied. But 15 years of marriage do not disappear. He is mine. He always was and always will be.”
“You’re wrong.”
My voice held less confidence than I wanted.
“Am I?”
Her smile was the cruelest I had seen.
“Why has he never become seriously involved with anyone during those 5 years? Why did he come whenever I called and claimed I needed something? Why could he never remove me completely from his life?”
I had no answers.
“You are a temporary distraction,” she continued. “Something new, forbidden, and exciting. When the novelty disappears and he grows tired of playing with his son’s former girlfriend, do you know what will happen?”
She waited.
“He will return to me, where he should have remained.”
Understanding settled in me.
“This is not only about Liam. It’s about you. You still want him.”
“Very good.”
Valentina stepped away and adjusted her coat.
“I was married to him for 15 years. I know every scar, nightmare, and weakness. You believe that several months with a woman 20 years younger will erase our history?”
“Nico chose me.”
“For now.”
She shrugged.
“I’m patient. I have already waited 5 years. When you break beneath the weight of his world, when you understand that your young shoulders cannot carry the danger and that you cannot compete with 15 years of history, I will be waiting.”
Then she turned and left, her heels striking the floor with the same measured rhythm as before.
I remained beside the table, trembling with equal parts fear and anger.
Later, Valentina entered Nico’s office without knocking, disregarding the secretary who attempted to stop her.
His office occupied the highest floor of a glass building in the financial district, the kind of place where consequential business occurred and questions were discouraged.
Valentina knew the route without guidance. During their marriage, she had visited hundreds of times.
Nico sat behind a dark mahogany desk, reviewing documents. He looked up, and his expression closed immediately.
“Valentina. What do you want?”
“Nico, dear.”
She closed the door behind herself and crossed the office.
“It has been a long time since we were alone.”
“What do you want?”
He repeated the question without warmth.
Valentina sat on the edge of his desk and crossed her legs in the manner she knew had once attracted him.
“I heard rumors. You and that little girl? Our son’s former girlfriend?”
She attempted a laugh, but the sound emerged sharp.
“It’s pathetic.”
Nico’s eyes darkened.
“Be careful.”
“Or what?”
She moved closer and placed her hand against his chest, feeling the tense muscle beneath his shirt.
“We had something. 15 years of marriage, a son, passion, and history. Are you truly throwing it away for her?”
Nico caught her wrist and removed her hand with controlled force.
“You threw it away when you cheated, lied, and allowed me to look like an idiot for months.”
“It was a mistake.”
Her voice softened, and tears filled her eyes with the practiced speed of a woman who had produced them many times before.
“A mistake I regret every day. Come back to me. We can rebuild our family. Liam needs it.”
“Liam is an adult.”
“I need it.”
She placed both hands against him and looked upward through her lashes.
“Leave the child. Come home, where you belong. Return to the woman you belong to.”
“No.”
The word was quiet and final.
Valentina’s vulnerable expression disappeared.
“She cannot survive your world, Nico. She cannot withstand the danger, pressure, enemies, and decisions you face every day.”
She paused.
“I can. I’m your former wife, and I still love you. She will break. When she does, I will be here, as I always have been.”
Nico created distance between them.
“You underestimate her.”
“We’ll see.”
Valentina adjusted her purse, walked toward the door, and turned before leaving.
“This war is only beginning. You know I have always been patient in long wars.”
The door closed softly behind her, leaving Nico alone with his hands against the desk and his jaw rigid.
The family dinner was not my idea.
My mother had insisted that we had not gathered in months, that family remained important, and that we needed to speak.
I agreed because delaying it would only make the eventual confrontation worse.
I sat at the table in the house where I had grown up, with my parents present and Amber across from me, smiling like a cat that had consumed something forbidden.
“I heard you’re dating someone,” she said while carefully cutting her food.
Every face turned toward me.
“It’s none of your concern.”
“It is when that person is Liam’s father.”
She laughed too loudly.
“His father, Luna. It’s sad. Desperate.”
My mother dropped her fork.
“You’re dating Nico Rossi?”
“Yes.”
“For revenge,” Amber said. “Because I took Liam. Admit it.”
“It began that way, but it is not revenge anymore.”
I looked directly at her.
“I love him.”
May you like
Silence covered the table.
My father spoke first.
