His lips lingered on mine long enough to blur the edges of my thoughts, to wrap me in the haze that always followed whenever Lorenzo kissed me. When he finally pulled back, my breath was shallow, my pulse wild beneath my skin.But his words—the ones he’d left hanging between us before—stayed sharp, echoing in my head.‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to give you.’I couldn’t ignore it. Not with the way his eyes had darkened when he said it, as if it weighed on him more than he wanted to admit.“What is it?” I whispered, brushing my thumb across his lower lip before leaning up to drop a feather-light kiss on it. His mouth twitched like he wanted to deepen it, but I pulled back just enough to search his expression. “You can’t say something like that and leave me hanging.”For a second, he looked like he might tease me, maybe distract me with another kiss. But instead, he exhaled slowly and reached into the pocket of his suit pants.My brows furrowed as I watched him pull out somethi
The door had barely clicked shut after Alessandro left when Lorenzo walked back in.I could tell instantly from the scowl tugging at his mouth, the tension in his shoulders, and that little storm brewing in his eyes that he wasn’t pleased. But what undid me wasn’t the scowl—it was the pout. That ridiculous, boyish pout that somehow made his sharp, dangerous face look almost soft. Almost vulnerable.I bit down on my lip, but it was useless. A giggle slipped out before I could stop it.Lorenzo froze. His eyes narrowed even more. “It’s not funny, Emily.”That only made me laugh harder. The way he said it—so serious, so offended—when his lips were pushed forward in that faint sulky curve, like a child who hadn’t gotten his way, was too much. My ribs ached as I clutched my stomach, shaking my head, but the laughter bubbled up anyway.He folded his arms across his chest, glaring at me, the dark weight of his presence filling the sterile hospital room. “Another man wants my woman, and you’re
Alessandro's PovLaughter.Soft, airy, and warm—the kind that could light up even the darkest corners of a man’s soul.I froze in the hallway the second I heard it, the sound filtering through the door like a melody I had no right to hear. Emily’s laughter.It wrapped around me the way it always did, tugging at something inside my chest I had spent months trying to chain down. But chains were weak against her. One smile, one look, one word from her, and I was undone.My hand hovered halfway to the doorknob, flowers clutched tight in my other hand, petals trembling as though they too could sense the storm inside me. I should have turned around. I should have walked away before it was too late. Instead I raised my hand to knock.But then another voice answered.Not hers.Lorenzo’s.“Come in,” he called, the two words heavy with authority, with possessiveness.The sweetness of her laughter curdled into bitterness in my mouth. My chest tightened. He was in there with her. Again.Of course
Pain was the first thing I felt when I woke, and the last thing before I drifted back into uneasy sleep. A deep, bone-deep ache that seemed to ripple through every inch of me, as though my body had been put through a war I couldn’t remember signing up for.But worse than the ache was the heaviness. My limbs felt like stone, weighed down, sluggish and unwilling to obey even the simplest command. Every breath dragged fire through my ribs. Even blinking took effort, my lashes sticking together before I forced them apart.The only thing keeping me tethered to sanity was the presence beside me.Lorenzo.He hadn’t moved. He hadn’t left. I didn’t even need to open my eyes fully to know he was there. His hand was warm where it rested on mine, fingers curling around my knuckles as though by sheer grip alone he could keep me from slipping away. His voice, low and steady, had been a constant murmur through my head—sometimes words, sometimes just the rhythm of his breathing.I cracked my eyes ope
For a split second, my world collapsed.Her voice—those three words—cut through me sharper than any blade ever could.Who are you?My chest constricted, my breath stuck in my throat as my entire body went cold. The room spun. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but stare at her as though my mind was desperately trying to convince me I’d misheard.But her eyes—those beautiful, confused eyes—looked at me like I was a stranger.“No,” I whispered, my voice breaking, my hand still trembling against her cheek. “Emily… it’s me. It’s Lorenzo. Baby, it’s me. Look at me.”I leaned closer, cradling her face with both hands now, as if by holding her gently I could somehow force her memory back. Panic stormed through me, wild and uncontrollable.“Where does it hurt?” My words tumbled out frantically, my thumb stroking along her jaw as I searched her expression. “Tell me. Please. Don’t move too much. Just—just tell me what hurts.”Her lips twitched. Her eyes glistened. For a lo
The moment I stepped into the room, the sterile chill of antiseptic hit me, but it couldn’t drown out the sound of my heartbeat—violent, unrelenting, as if my chest was too small to contain it. There she was. Emily. My Emily. Her frame looked smaller against the stark white of the hospital sheets, the pale green gown swallowing her delicate shoulders. Her skin, normally warm and glowing with life, was marred with faint scratches and the cruel bloom of bruises along her arms. Nothing severe, thank God. No casts. No monitors screaming alarms. But still—still too much. Even one scratch on her was a crime, one that burned through me like acid. I had failed her. Every muscle in my body coiled tight with regret as I lowered myself into the chair beside her bed. My hand hovered over hers, afraid to touch her at first, afraid I’d break her somehow. She looked so fragile—my fierce, stubborn girl who had laughed just last night in my arms. This should have never happened. Amanda should