LOGIN┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ Leonardo┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈By late afternoon, the Moretti headquarters was still running at its usual pace. Although I had stopped paying attention to anything that happened beyond my office. I was halfway through a financial report from Milan when my phone vibrated.I glanced at the screen before answering.The head of the logistics.“Sir.”His voice carried the impatience of someone who had been waiting too long.“We've been at Port One since morning.”"And the shipment?" “Nothing yet.”I glanced at my wristwatch. “Remain there until sunset." There was a small hesitation. "Sir, should we expect a dalay?”You should expect nothing. You were instructed to remain there until sunset. Do that." "Understood.”The call ended. I placed the phone beside the report and leaned back.There was nothing coming.There had never been anything coming.The shipment they had been told to expect existed only in a few fabricated report.The carefully constructed lies di
┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ Leonardo┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈By eight the following morning, the city had begun moving beneath my windows.Traffic crawled along the streets, the sound of horns broke through the glass but none of it reached the silence inside my room.I had been there for almost an hour when the doorbell rang. “Come in." Andrei entered first.Alexandre followed a second later carrying a folder thick enough to announce that nobody inside the organization had slept.Neither man bothered sitting and that alone explained the density of what they were here for."What's the issue?”Andrei walked over to my desk and placed several photographs across my desk.“We found three more distribution centers" I looked down.The first photograph showed an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city.Several wooden crates had been left broken open and their contents gone.Black marks climbed one of the concrete walls where something had been burned.The second showed a loading bay; e
❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Natalie ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈The next morning arrived beneath a pale wash of sunlight that slipped through curtains and spread across my bedroom floor.For several minutes I remained beneath the covers staring at the ceiling while pieces of the previous night returned to me in an order I didn't appreciate.Leonardo's arrival, the faint change in his expression when he noticed the mark on my cheek and the way he had taken care of everything.And then our argument in the car.I turned to my side and pulled the blanket tighter.I had been rude to him; very rude actually.He had shown up despite being delayed and defended me in front of everyone and then dealt with the situation in his own terrifyingly calm way, while I had accused him of doing too much for a contract with an expiry date.The worst part was that he didn't argue, he had simply gone quiet.I sighed.I should have thanked him properly.Not with a rushed sentence in the car after I had spen
┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ Leonardo┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈“I wouldn't." My voice crossed the room with such a calm certainty that the hand holding the wine stopped in midair.For several seconds, nobody moved."So the famous Leonardo Moretti finally decided to show up.”Mia rolled her eyes like she owned the air in the room. "Perfect timing.”Natalie looked over her shoulder, and for a brief moment relief overtook everything else in her expression.I walked into the ballroom at an unhurried pace, my attention fixed on the scene ahead.The music had already stopped leaving behind complete silence and an awareness settling over the room that something irreversible had just begun.The guests shifted instinctively, creating a passage toward Natalie, no one blocked my way.Only when I reached her did I notice the faint red imprint on her cheek.The mark was faint but fresh enough to matter.The person responsible would not remain so.I stopped beside her without acknowledging anyone else
❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Natalie ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈Saturday evening arrived in a blink of an eye, I had changed my outfit three times and regretted each decision.It wasn't because I cared about Mia's opinion anymore, at least that was what I kept telling myself as I stood in front of my mirror adjusting the sleeve of my dress.But walking back into the same circle of people who had once watched my life fall apart was different from attending an ordinary birthday party.However, this time I wasn't walking alone.Leonardo had promised he would come and that was the only thing keeping the knot in my stomach from becoming unbearable.The venue was exactly what I had expected from Mia, an elegant private estate overlooking the city with towering glass windows, manicured gardens illuminated by warm golden lights and enough expensive decorations to make it obvious that nobody had been asked to keep the budget reasonable.Leonardo drove to a stop at the parking lot and turned ar
❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Natalie ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈Sleep eventually found me sometime before dawn, although it hardly deserved to be called sleep.Every time I closed my eyes, the same moment replayed with irritating clarity until it became impossible to tell whether I had dreamt it or remembered it.Leonardo's hand against my cheek.The kiss.His calm explanation afterward.Then those four words that should have settled everything, I saw a camera.By the time sunlight slipped through my curtains, I had convinced myself I was done thinking about it.My phone proved otherwise as I picked it up.Notifications from new applications, entertainment pages and social media accounts suddenly seemed far too interested in my existence.I opened the first headline: MORETTI’S PRIVATE KISS DIVIDES THE INTERNET The next one followed immediately:LOVE OR PERFORMANCE? LE
┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ Leonardo ┈◆┈┈◇┈┈•⊰⊱•┈◆┈◇┈┈ The mansion gates parted before the car even came to a complete stop Andrei pulled up to a spot in the mansion, lined with different black cars and I stepped out before he could circle around to open the door, walking straight towards the main ho
Chapter 5 ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Natalie ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ They sent me home after the statement, not gently or kindly; just dismissed. By the time I reached my apartment building, my eyes were swollen and my throat burned from holding back tears. The only thing louder than the echo of my
Chapter 4 ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Natalie ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ A loud bang on my door snapped my eyes open, I rarely get any visitors. I sat up slowly and checked the time, and it was past two p.m. My head throbbed, just how much did I drink? Another bang on the door, “hold on" I said, my voice
❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Natalie ❈─────≪ °❀° ≫─────❈ Tears slipped out of my eyes; not from pain neither humiliation but from relief and joy. A breath I hadn't realized I might've been holding for days rushed out of me in a broken laugh as I sprang off the bed, the sudden movement made me dizzy.







