LOGINADRIANA’S POV“You.” That single word hung in the air like a blade. Garcia stared at me with pure contempt as fear locked my feet to the floor. I knew exactly why she looked at me that way. The memory rose without mercy and pulled me five years into the past.I had stood in her sitting room only days before the wedding to Roman De Santis. The Rossi and Orsini families had never approved of Alessandro and me. When our relationship became public they tried to force a separation, but we refused and continued dating in secret. Garcia had fought hardest against it, she was always approaching me because she could not move her stepson to break up with me. By the time I went to her that final time five years ago she had begun to soften, accepting that Alessandro found peace with me.But I destroyed that fragile acceptance with deliberate cruelty. I told her I had never loved him. I claimed I had used him for protection and status while my heart belonged to Roman. I said the wedding would fi
ALESSANDRO’S POVThe image of the scorched club and the painted message still burned behind my eyes as Rocco lowered the tablet. Anger coiled tight in my chest, sharp and familiar. The De Santis family had crossed a line that demanded blood in return. I had never been the kind of man who absorbed an insult and stayed quiet. Years ago weakness had cost me my father, but that version of me no longer existed.Adriana remained beside the bed, her hand still resting near mine. Her presence made the conversation I needed impossible. Rocco would never speak freely while she listened. I kept my expression neutral and waited. She studied my face for a long moment and seemed to understand. “I should check on Luca,” she said quietly. “Stay in bed, Alessandro. Do not do anything drastic.”“I will not leave this bed, Sunshine,” I answered with a smile.The promise tasted false even as I spoke it. She leaned in, brushed a soft kiss against my cheek, and left the room. The door closed behind her wi
ADRIANA’S POVThe words still echoed in my ears as I sat on the edge of the hospital bed. “Marry me Adriana Rosa Rossi.” Alessandro had spoken those words with quiet certainty, and the room seemed to hold its breath around us. Happiness flooded through me so strongly that my chest ached with it. After everything we had endured, after the long years that tore us apart, he wanted me back in the fullest way. I wanted him just as fiercely. The life we once shared for two years before the lies and manipulation of the people that hated our union ripped it away still lived inside me, and now it felt within reach again. “Yes,” I said, the single word leaving my lips with complete conviction. “Of course I will marry you Alessandro Vincenzo Orsini.”A slow smile spread across his face, softening the hard lines that surgery and exhaustion had left behind. He reached beneath the pillow with careful moves and drew out a small velvet box. My breath caught when he opened it. Sitting in that box
ALESSANDRO’S POVI jolted awake the second the door clicked open. Years of training still controlled my body even after the surgery that had left me sore and drained. My hand shot straight to my waistband in search of the familiar weight of a gun that was not there. That space was empty. I had no gun on me. A nurse stood frozen in the doorway with a tray trembling in her hands. Her eyes widened as color drained from her face. She stared at the way I sat up with my shoulders squared and my gaze locked on her as though I was already calculating how to put her down.“Signore Orsini,” she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of fear. “Sono solo io. Sono venuto solo per i controlli mattutini. Per favore, non uccidermi.”“It’s only me. I only came for the morning checkups. Please don’t kill me.”Her legs shook so hard that the tray rattled against her palms. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes because she knew exactly who was sleeping on this bed. She knew the man who ran t
ADRIANA’S POV“Mrs. Orsini?” he called out, his voice calm. “The surgery is complete,” Doctor Moretti said. “It was long and difficult but—“ Then he stared at me for a long second as if he was studying me. Then he smiled, a genuine, tired smile that reached his eyes for the first time all day. “The surgeries were successful.”The words hung in the air between us. My brain refused to process them at first. Successful. Both of them. Alessandro and Luca were alive. I started crying, not pretty tears. This was raw, body-shaking sobs that tore out of my chest. My legs buckled completely. Mrs. Drew caught me before I hit the floor. Her arms wrapped around me tight and strong. Rocco stepped forward on instinct, his fists clenched at his sides, before he stopped himself and stayed back. I laughed through the tears. I could not stop. The sound came out broken and wet. “Thank you,” I kept repeating between sobs. “Thank you.” I did not even know who I was thanking. Was it the doctors. Or the
ADRIANA’S POVI stood frozen in the hallway as the heavy operating room doors closed with a soft click that echoed louder than any gunshot. The red light above the doors blinked on. Surgery in progress. Alessandro and Luca were both behind those doors now and I could not follow them. My legs felt weak. I sank into the nearest plastic chair and stared at the floor until the tiles blurred. The waiting room smelled of stale coffee and cleaning solution. A clock on the wall ticked loudly. One hour passed. Then two. I counted every second while my hands twisted together in my lap. Nurses walked past pushing empty stretchers. Other families huddled in corners crying or laughing or praying. Life moved around me but mine stayed stuck in place. Mrs. Drew arrived carrying a small bag. Alessandro must have called her immediately he knew that he was going into surgery with Luca. He didn’t want me to be lonely. She sat beside me without a word at first and placed a warm hand on my shoulder. Her
ADRIANA’S POVI shoved through the club’s back door and ran straight into the pouring rain without looking back. My heart hammered wildly as Alessandro’s cruel words replayed in my mind with every splash of my heels through puddles. The way he had stared at me with such hatred, the degrading offer
ALESSANDRO’S POVI stood motionless in the middle of the bloodstained VIP room, the echo of the gunshot still ringing faintly in my ears. The smell of gunpowder mixed with spilled whiskey and cheap perfume clung to everything. My eyes locked on Adriana where she pressed herself against the far wall
ADRIANA’S POV I gripped the tray until my fingers ached and stepped through the heavy velvet curtain into the VIP section. Thick cigar smoke curled through the air like ghosts, and the dim amber lights barely pushed back the shadows. Low conversations hammered around the long table where several m
ADRIANA’S POVThe hospital room smelled of antiseptic and exhaustion. My heart hammered painfully as Doctor Cassian flipped through Luca’s chart with a grave expression that made my stomach twist. Rain pattered against the window, blurring the city lights outside into streaks of neon. “Miss Rossi,







