LOGINRoman’s POVLuca rose beside me and placed a hand against my arm."Sir, allow me to handle it."I glanced at him."No.""But…""I said don't worry about it."He removed his hand, though I could tell he wasn't happy about letting me handle the situation myself.I walked toward the man.He was shorter than me, with an average build and a face that had already turned red from shouting. He looked annoyed rather than frightened, which told me he had no idea who he was dealing with.I stopped in front of him."Why did you hit the boy?"He looked me up and down before scoffing."How is that any of your business?"I tilted my head slightly."It's my business because I paid for this place. I asked everyone to leave so I could have some privacy. Your order was packed by mistake, and I've already offered to pay for another one."I took one step closer."So if you're upset because your ice cream was thrown away without your permission, you can have another order. You don't get to put your hands
Roman’s POVI looked at my phone again, hoping to see a call or even a text from Gianna, but there was nothing.Not a single message.I tossed the phone onto the bed and ran a hand over my face. I had spent the entire afternoon trying to figure out what had gone wrong between us. Why had she looked at me with so much pain in her eyes? Why had she called me a killer?I knew what I was. I had never pretended to be a good man, and I had never promised any woman a future with me. Marriage, children, and having a woman to call my wife had never been part of my plans. I had built my life around one thing, and there was no room for anything else.Then Gianna came along.Somehow, she had managed to get under my skin without even trying. Our lunch together, our arguments, and the way she had finally admitted that she wanted me had made me reconsider things I had never thought twice about before.She had told me she missed me. She had shown me that she wasn't being forced to stay with me.Fo
Roman’s POVI looked down at her.My first instinct was to kick my legs back. To throw her off me.To remind her who the fuck she was touching.I didn't do it. She was pregnant. As much as she irritated the hell out of me, I wasn't going to put hands on a woman carrying a child. Too much blood had already been spilled in my life. I wasn't going to add more."Let go, Raina," I said. My voice was flat."No," she sobbed, her fingernails digging through the fabric of my trousers. "Not until you agree to listen to me!"I closed my eyes for a second, letting out a low, rough breath."Okay, I will. I promise."Slowly, her fingers uncoiled from my skin."You always promise," she whimpered, wiping her wet face with the back of her trembling hand. "You always promise and then do something else.""I promise this time," I said, staring straight down at her. "I'll listen to you."She didn't stand up. She stayed right where she was, cradled on her knees on the cold tile."See... I’m not asking you
Roman’s POVMy grip tightened on the steering wheel, I almost pulled out my phone right then. I almost called Luca and ordered him to install hidden cameras in every single corner of Gianna’s new house.She was behaving strangely. Unpredictable. Snapping out at me over the smallest inconvenience.And then she called me a killer.I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief second at the red light. I couldn't even process how we had spiraled down to that point. One second she was soft in my arms, and the next, she looked at me like I was a monster straight out of her worst nightmares.I wanted to keep an eye on her. My instincts screamed at me to watch every breath she took.I should install those cameras.I need to know what she’s doing when I’m not there.I forced the dark thought down.No. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was dealing with something personal. Something that she didn't want to burden me with yet. Of course I wanted her to burden me. I wanted to carry
Gianna’s POVI snatched the phone straight from his hand.My fingers were trembling so hard I almost dropped it onto the floor.If this dragged on for one more second, everything would blow up in my face. The terror in my chest was suffocating. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to shake his shoulders and demand the truth.Was Viola really your girlfriend? Did you actually pull the trigger on the woman you loved?The questions burned in the back of my throat like acid. But I choked them back down. I couldn't bring myself to say her name out loud. Not yet."You don’t just invade my privacy like that," I snapped, keeping my posture rigid.I made a sharp move to walk past his broad frame, desperate to head to my room. Roman moved like a shadow.Before I could even take a single step, his hand shot out. His fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, pulling me backward with a soft, ruthless drag until my breast slammed flush against his solid chest."You look remarkably okay for someo
Gianna’s POVHearing him say those words felt like he didn’t mean any of it and just maybe it’s the influence of the wine he had."But... what if he didn't mean for her to die?" I asked, my mind reeling, trying to process the absolute nightmare spilling from his lips. "What if it was a mistake?"Roman scoffed, a dark, vile sound."I don't care," he growled. "My father is a sickening, vile man. Why would he even orchestrate a hit like that in the first place? Just to frame them.”“Just to spark a bloody war and force me to prove I was ready to work for the Bellini family. To turn me into a killer."He closed his eyes for a second, rubbing his forehead as if the weight of the memory was physically crushing him."I have never told anyone this before, Gianna," he whispered. "I swore I was going to take it to my grave. I don't even know why I'm telling you.""I'm so sorry, Roman," I breathed, my hand trembling against his chest. "I really am."I forced myself to keep going, using the delic







