Chapter 12 - THE NIGHT I THOUGHT I HAD LOST HIM
The retaliation came quickly.
Several Varenna businesses lost access to accounts.
Executives loyal to Vittorio threatened to resign.
A private security contractor refused to renew its agreement.
Then Luca received a warning.
If he continued challenging his father, people close to him might suffer.
He showed the message to his attorney.
Then increased our security through a vetted, independent firm.
I was frightened.
Not because Luca had become cruel.
But because I understood how dangerous his father's world could be.
One evening, Luca came home exhausted.
He found me sitting in the nursery.
We hadn't finished decorating it.
There was only a crib.
A rocking chair.
And a small stuffed bear my mother had bought.
Luca stood in the doorway.
“Evelyn.”
I looked up.
“Hi.”
He approached.
Then knelt beside me.
“I'm sorry.”
I frowned.
“For what?”
“For bringing you into this.”
My eyes filled.
“Luca.”
He shook his head.
“You married me to save your mother.”
He looked down.
“You didn't agree to a war.”
I took his face in my hands.
“Listen to me.”
He looked up.
“I didn't fall in love with your empire.”
His expression changed.
“I fell in love with the man who stayed awake with me when my mother was in the hospital.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“The man who remembers my tea.”
I smiled through my tears.
“The man who cried when he heard our baby's heartbeat.”
Luca closed his eyes.
I kissed his forehead.
“I love you.”
He froze.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then he whispered:
“Say that again.”
I smiled.
“I love you, Luca.”
May you like
He pulled me into his arms.
And held me as though he'd been waiting his entire life to hear those words.
