Nobela ni Naomi Oh

CHAPTER 59 – Mirabella’s POV The balcony doors shut softly behind me, and I walked away before Giovanni’s stare could pin me in place any longer. My pulse was still unsteady, my lips still tingling from the kiss I’d pressed to his cheek. I hadn’t even meant for it to linger that long. But it had, and now the warmth of it clung to me like a secret I couldn’t wash off.Ti amo.The words echoed in my head, sharp as glass. How could a man who kept me caged say he loved me? How could someone who killed without hesitation claim he’d destroy the world for me?Well, he’d kill without hesitation, idiot. I groaned.He didn’t love. He conquered. He took. He possessed.And yet, a part of me whispered, he believed what he said.I shook the thought off violently, muttering a curse under my breath as I rounded the corner, straight into Dominic’s arms.“Mira,” he said, pulling me into a crushing hug. His arms locked around me like a steel trap, he squeezed and I got a whiff of w

CHAPTER 58- Giovanni’s POV The words were already out before I could take them back.Ti amo, Mirabella.For a man like me, that should have been impossible.I’d built an empire on control, on bending men until their bones cracked, and never letting my enemies see anything but steel in my eyes. Love was a weakness, a softness that made men hesitate when they should strike. I’d told myself that all my life. I’d told her that once, not so long ago, when she looked at me with that sharp, defiant gaze that undid me in so many ways. But the moment the words left me, I knew the truth. I had been lying to myself all along.Her silence stretched between us, and I watched her lips part, her breath falter, her eyes wide as if she didn’t know whether to run or fall. I wanted to close the distance, to kiss the disbelief off her mouth, to make her feel what I already knew pulsed in my veins. But I didn’t. Not yet.Because the admission wasn’t only for her. It was for me.I’d been fighting

CHAPTER 57- Mirabella’s POV The nightmare clung like smoke, curling around my ribs, poisoning the morning quiet. Every time I blinked, I still saw her, the girl with pale hair and blue eyes, perched on the edge of that bed, waiting for a monster she couldn’t escape.Waiting for a monster I knew too well.I stayed in my room longer than I should have, pretending to rest, pretending to breathe. But when voices drifted through the hall, my mother’s among them, I forced myself up. I couldn’t hide. Not when she was finally here. Not when she was safe with me. Mama sat at the table when I entered the dining room, her back straight, her hair gleaming silver in the light. For a second, she looked like a stranger. For another, she looked like everything I had ever lost.Her eyes found me immediately, softening in a way that scraped something raw inside my chest. “You look tired,” she said, her voice quiet, almost tender.I swallowed and slid into the chair beside her. “I’m f

CHAPTER 56: Giovanni’s POV Sleep didn’t come easily for her. I knew the difference between a restless body and a haunted one, and Mirabella’s was the latter. Even when her breathing steadied against my chest, her fingers stayed curled into my shirt like she feared I might vanish if she let go.She thought I didn’t see, but I always saw.The nightmare had dragged her under so violently she woke choking on terror. And though she clung to me like I was the only thing keeping her tethered, what cut me wasn’t her trembling, it was the way she looked at me afterward. As if I’d pulled her out of hell but couldn’t burn away the ashes.The person in her dream… I wasn’t a fool. Nightmares don’t appear from nowhere. That bastard was real, or had been once. And if there’s breath left in him, I’ll find it.No man puts fear like that in her and survives.I laid her back down, let her fingers slip from my shirt only when sleep dragged her under again. But I didn’t move. I stayed in

CHAPTER 55: Mirabella’s POV The ride back from the Ferretti dinner felt endless, the silence in the car almost louder than the city outside. Streetlamps flicked across the glass in long gold streaks, cutting shadows across Giovanni’s face. His arm stayed firm around me, steady as iron, and even though part of me wanted space to breathe, I didn’t move. Annalise’s expression wouldn’t leave me. The way her smile cracked when Giovanni slid that black box across the table, the faint tremor in her hand as she realized what it meant. He’d planned it all, every pause, every line, every calculated glance. It wasn’t just dinner; it was a performance, and he’d made sure the Ferrettis understood their place.I’d told myself I wasn’t shaken. That I could sit there beside him, spine straight, hand laced in his, and pretend I belonged at that table. But underneath, my stomach had twisted into knots. Because no matter how hard I tried to believe otherwise, I wasn’t a partner in tha

CHAPTER 54: Giovanni’s POV The first light of dawn crept through the shutters, painting the room in muted gray. She lay curled against me, one hand resting over my chest as though she belonged there. Mirabella breathed steadily, unaware of the war raging in my head.I should’ve pulled away. Instead, I watched. Her lashes brushed her cheeks, dark hair spilling across the pillow, lips parted in a careless softness that had no place in our world. She was dangerous for me in ways bullets never could.My arm was heavy around her waist, and for the second morning in a row, I didn’t want to move. She stirred faintly, lips parting just enough to tempt me to stay right there.But there was work to do. And work always came first.Carefully, I untangled myself from her warmth. The absence felt immediate, cold where she’d been pressed against me. My hand lingered a second longer on the sheet, as if I could memorize the shape of her body there. Then I forced myself up.She sighed