LOGINLorenzo moving suspicious in the last scene. I thought this should be his first time 🤔🤨😒 I feel bad for Anya, two adult stress her life…I imagine her with long dark hair, sharp nose and cheekbones…wait why am I talking about Anya too much…bye 😭👋
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE FACE OF ITLouis's lips were swollen. He could feel it, the tender numbness spreading through his mouth, the way every breath pulled at the skin. They'd been kissing for what felt like hours. Every time Louis tried to pull back, tried to catch his breath, Lorenzo's hand would tighten in his hair and pull him closer, deeper, like he was trying to swallow Louis whole.Louis's hands were on Lorenzo's chest, pushing weakly, but Lorenzo didn't budge. His thumb traced the curve of Louis's jaw, tilting his face up, and Louis made a sound he didn't recognize."I have to…" Louis started."No." Lorenzo kissed him again."I need to…""No.""This is ridiculous…"Lorenzo smiled against his mouth. "You talk too much.""I talk a normal amount…."Someone cleared their throat.Anya stood in the doorway. She took one look at them and rolled her eyes so hard it was almost audible.Lorenzo didn't stop kissing Louis. His eyes flicked open, staring across the room at her like she w
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE MORNING AFTER. “Let’s make love tonight, baby. I can’t hold back myself anymore…” Louis’s breath hitched at the thought of that. The words wrapped around him like silk and steel at the same time. ‘Make love.’ It sounded soft, but the way Lorenzo said it—raw, shaking with barely-leashed need…felt anything but gentle. This was it…tonight he was going to sleep with a man for the first time. The thought sent a nervous flutter through his stomach. He had never let anyone inside him. Never even imagined it until Lorenzo crashed into his life and turned everything upside down. Lorenzo kissed him again before he could overthink it…deep, devouring, tongue sliding against his like he was trying to claim every inch of Louis’s mouth. Hands roamed greedily. Lorenzo pushed the already-loose robe fully off Louis’s shoulders, letting it pool at his feet. Cool air kissed Louis’s bare skin, but Lorenzo’s palms were hot as they skimmed down his chest, his waist, his hi
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE TRUTH WITH TENSION The hospital smelled like flowers and antiseptic, the same as always, but something felt different today. Maybe because Louis had walked through the doors without asking permission or because for the first time in weeks, he was doing something because he wanted to, not because Lorenzo allowed it. Anya had arranged everything..the car, the security, the excuse if Lorenzo came looking. "Take all the time you need," she'd said, and Louis had almost hugged her. Now he stood outside Chloe's door, a bouquet of sunflowers in one hand and a stuffed wolf in the other, and tried to steady his breathing. She was okay. She was safe. She was here. He pushed the door open. Chloe looked up from her drawing, and her whole face transformed…eyes wide, mouth open, colors dropping from her fingers. "LOUIS!" She launched herself off the bed, and Louis dropped the flowers and the wolf to catch her, pulling her into his arms, lifting her off the gro
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE AFTERMATH The gala was a blur of crystal chandeliers and murmured Italian, of women in gowns that cost more than Louis's old life and men who looked at him like he was a painting they couldn't quite figure out. Louis stayed close to Lorenzo's side, accepting the glasses of wine Lorenzo handed him, eating only the small bites Lorenzo placed on his plate. He nodded when Lorenzo nodded, smiled when Lorenzo smiled, and felt the walls closing in with every passing minute. He just wanted the night to end. Lorenzo was pulled away for a moment…someone important, someone who needed a word…and Louis stood alone by the bar, pretending to study the rows of expensive bottles. His jaw ached from last night and his throat... he didn't want to think about it. "Signor Volterra?" Louis turned. A woman stood beside him, late twenties maybe, with dark hair swept off her face and eyes that looked at him like she was already designing something around his bone structure. She
CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE VACATION AND CAMERAS Anya's hand was on the door handle when she heard the voice inside. Low, cold and familiar in a way that made her stomach clench. She pushed the door open. Isabella Volterra stood in the middle of Chloe's hospital room, her hand halfway into her expensive leather bag. She turned slowly, her icy eyes landing on Anya with the kind of disdain she'd been perfecting for eighty years. "Signora Volterra." Anya stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Her voice was calm, professional, the voice she'd used to face down CEOs and mobsters and everyone in between. "What a surprise to find you here. Visiting the sick? How charitable. I never knew you were this nice." Isabella's hand emerged from her bag…empty. "Anya. Still hovering in the background like a servant who forgot her place." "Still treating children like business negotiations, I see. Some things never change." Chloe sat frozen on the bed, her purple crayon still in her hand, h
CHAPTER TEN: THE GIFTS AND RING. Lorenzo sat behind his desk, staring at the same document for the past twenty minutes without reading a single word. His cheek still tingled where Louis had slapped him. He should be angry but wasn't. Anya stood by the window, tablet in hand, waiting for him to speak. She'd learned long ago that silence was sometimes the loudest thing in the room. "How do you make someone forgive you?" Lorenzo asked finally. "Someone who might be angry at you." Anya's eyebrows rose. "You apologize." "Apologize." Lorenzo tested the word like it was foreign, because it was. He couldn't remember the last time he'd said sorry to anyone. His grandmother didn't raise him to apologize, even when he had done something wrong…she'd hit him and forbid him from saying sorry. She raised him to win. "There are other options," Anya offered when the silence stretched too long. "Tell me." "Buy gifts. Grand gestures and then apologize." She paused, watching him carefully. "Le







