Maria’s POV
I just got out of the shower. My hair was still wet, sticking lightly to the sides of my face. The air in the room was quiet, soft. I wrapped myself in a towel and sat on the couch in my room.
I just sat and stared.
Into space.
Again.
The business. Yes. That was what I was supposed to be thinking about. What kind of business I could start. Something for me. Something useful. Something Luca could use to clean money, as he called it.
But no idea came.
Instead, Sophia’s voice came.
“I’ve heard things about Luca…”
Her words hit me again like they did yesterday. I tried to brush it off then, but it stayed. Sat in the back of my mind like a weight. She was scared for me. I could hear it in her voice.
And maybe… maybe she was right.
What broke me more than her warning was the truth I knew but couldn't say out loud.
How did I get involved with Luca in the first place?
I closed my eyes.
My mind taking me back to the art gallery.
That was where we met. A luxury space filled with colour and quietness. I was there alone, admiring arts I couldn’t afford. And then Luca showed up, like a storm in a suit.
He looked at the art with me, then looked at me like I was something even more important.
I guess things happened so fast after that.
Too fast.
I tell myself I tried to push him away.
But did I really?
A man like him walks into my world and the moment something dangerous happens, he’s the first person I call. I trusted him. Even after that strange homosexual man came to warn me.
What was his name again?
I froze.
I wonder where he is now?
I blinked. My stomach tightened.
What if Luca killed him?
What if that man really knew something?
I had just… forgotten about him completely. I let it all fade. I didn’t even ask. Not once.
Why did that man look so angry back then? What had Luca done to him, or someone he cared about that gave him the nerve to walk up to me and tell to stay away from Luca?
Luca De Rossi. That name. That man. With a voice so calm it's like it's never rises. That smile that never says what it means.
His reputation is everywhere in this city.
Even before I knew him, I’d heard things. Whispers. But I never paid attention. Why would I? He was not part of my world.
Well, now he is.
I picked up my phone and opened the browser. My fingers hesitated a little as I typed:
Luca De Rossi.
The results came fast.
Investor. Businessman. Philanthropist. That was what most of the pages called him.
He was known for putting money in some of the biggest companies. Tech, food, media. His face showed up in suits, at big events, wearing his usual calm face, standing beside politicians.
But one article caught my eye.
It said no one really knew how Luca got his money. Some called it old money. Some said he came from nothing. One bold journalist had written, “The Dangerously Calm Investor: A Mystery Wrapped in Silence.”
Rumours said drugs. Guns. International networks. They listed other men, men like him with questionable wealth.
But there was no proof.
There never was.
Another article called him a saint. Said he built schools and hospitals in his hometown. Sent food to rural villages in Africa. Donated to cancer centers.
“A lover of art. A man of mystery. A calm force in our city.”
Then I saw a name I didn’t want to see.
Alexa.
There were articles about her too. About her death. One even had a photo of her, stepping out of Luca’s car, like I had done too many times now. They said the police questioned Luca but didn’t find anything to tie him to her death.
One comment read:
“Rich men don’t get tired of women. They replace them.”
Another one said:
“Maybe Alexa found out something and tried to run. Maybe he didn’t let her.”
I dropped the phone on my lap and stared.
Then another headline caught my eye.
“Does Luca De Rossi Have a New Woman?”
I clicked.
And there it was.
A photo of me and Luca, taken a few months ago. We were walking into the gallery with my arm linked in his. I didn’t even know there were a lot of people observing us and even taking taking pictures to post on blogs.
They knew who I was. They wrote about how I used to work at Red Coffee and how I've stopped working there. How I was now “Luca’s woman.”
There were comments.
So many comments.
Some teased me. Some praised me. Some called me lucky while some just insulted me.
I stared at the screen for a long time.
So this was why Sophia was worried. She saw this. She read the things people said. The same blogs we used to follow together for gossip were now gossiping about me.
I put the phone down.
My chest felt heavy. I stood up, slowly. Put on some clothes. A top and jeans.
My mind was still spinning.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message.
Liam.
“Hey, I hope you’re alright. Just wanted to check in.”
I stared at it.
The thought of Liam pulled at me. Like a rope from another life. Another version of myself.
Maybe I could distract myself.
Maybe I could forget all of this for a while.
I typed back.
“I’m good. Just trying to clear my head at the bar again.”
It was a lie. I was still in my room.
But I wanted to see what he’d say.
He replied fast.
“Would you like me to join you?”
I didn’t think long.
“If you want to.” I texted back. And Liam's reply came almost instantly.
“I want to.”
