CHAPTER 5 — PRESSURE POINTS

Leo's POV

Cristiano’s question hung in the air like smoke. “Is she just here to help you walk again… or is she helping you forget someone?”

Valentina’s breath caught. Maya froze and I felt heat crawl up my spine — anger, humiliation, and something else I didn’t want to name.

“I said watch your mouth,” I repeated, voice low enough to cut marble.

Cristiano lifted his hands in fake surrender. “Relax, cousin. I’m only observing.”

“Then observe quietly or get out,” I snapped.

He chuckled, stepping back but his eyes never left Maya. He was studying her, measuring her, dissecting her without saying a word. The way he looked at her wasn’t curiosity — it was calculation, the kind that turned people into leverage.

I hated it. “Leo,” Valentina said sharply, reclaiming the spotlight. “We need to talk. Alone.”

“No,” I said instantly. Her lips parted, disbelief flashing across her perfect face. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not doing this behind anyone’s back.” I gestured slightly toward Maya. “This is my house, she stays. If you can't deal with that, that's the door but Cristiano, you may leave.”

He didn’t move. Valentina’s expression cracked, a small but sharp fracture she tried to hide behind a smile.

“Why? Because she’s your… what, exactly?” Maya shifted, uncomfortable. I answered anyway.

“My caregiver. Do you have a listening problem?” I said. “And she’s the only one in this room who is not a leech.”

Cristiano snorted. Valentina’s jaw tightened. Maya stared at the floor like she wished she could disappear, but she didn’t step away from me. Somehow, that steadiness hit harder than all their noise.

Valentina folded her arms, voice dripping with implication. “I see. So that’s how low you’ve fallen.”

Something hot and dangerous rose inside me. “Don’t talk about her,” I said. “If anyone has fallen low, it’s you.” She blinked. “Leo… you may be angry, I get it but you’re not thinking clearly. She doesn’t belong here.”

Valentina pressed on, taking a step closer. “You and I had plans. A future. A life our families built together. You can’t throw that away because you’re—”

“Paralyzed?” I cut in. “Say it.”

She swallowed. Her silence was worse than the word.

Cristiano cleared his throat, amused. “This is getting dramatic,” he murmured.

“Shut up,” Valentina and I said at the same time. Her eyes snapped back to mine. “You pushed me away, Leo,” she whispered. “Not the other way around.”

I stared at her. And the memory slammed into me, the one I’d tried to bury under painkillers and silence. “You stand here unconcerned, as if you’re not the reason I’m like this. Since you’re the one thinking so clearly, take your goofy reasoning back to wherever you came from.”

“So that’s your excuse? That I pushed you away because you wanted intimacy and I didn’t hand it over?” My voice was sharp and shaking.

The truth landed like a blade. She flinched. I didn’t enjoy it but I didn’t take it back either.

Cristiano’s smirk widened, feeding on the chaos. Valentina’s eyes gleamed with venom.

Maya’s breath hitched, her gaze snapping to me; startled, horrified, but steady.

“So,” Cristiano said lightly, stepping forward, “now that we’ve aired all that, what exactly are we doing? Fighting over the heir? Or over the caregiver?”

Maya’s head jerked up at that. Valentina’s eyes went cold. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she hissed.

Cristiano tilted his head, savoring the tension. “Am I? Because from where I’m standing, the energy is… intense.”

Valentina glared at me. “Tell him he’s wrong.” The room tightened. Maya stood beside me, quiet but solid, her shoulders squared like steel.

Cristiano smirked, enjoying every second of it. I exhaled slowly. “Cristiano,” I said. “Leave.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I’m being dismissed already?”

“Now.”

Valentina turned to him. “Go. Please. This isn’t your place.” For once, he listened but not without a final glance at Maya.

“This should be fun,” he murmured, and slipped out. The door shut behind him.

Valentina stepped closer. “Leo,” she whispered, her tone soft again, coaxing. “Don’t let her confuse you. You and I—”

“There is no you and I,” I said. Her breath hitched. “You’re choosing her?”

Maya’s eyes flew to mine, startled. “I didn’t say that,” I replied.

“But you didn’t deny it,” Valentina shot back. I opened my mouth but Maya spoke first. Her voice was soft, gentle, but steadier than both of ours.

“I’m not here to replace anyone,” she said. “And I’m not here to cause trouble.” Valentina turned toward her, surprised. Maya continued. “I’m only here to do my job. If you want to talk to Leo, I’ll step outside. I don’t want to be in the way.”

Something inside me twisted. “No,” I said quickly. “You’re not going anywhere.” The words left me before I could stop them, exposing a truth I wasn’t ready to name.

Valentina inhaled sharply. Maya blinked in shock and I knew, instantly, I’d said too much.

Valentina stared at me like she’d just found a weapon and knew exactly how to use it. “Oh,” she whispered, a slow, triumphant smile forming. “So it’s like that.”

Before I could respond, she leaned in, her perfume sweet and suffocating, but her voice a knife.

“You’re making a mistake, Leo,” she murmured. “A mistake I’m going to fix.” She pulled back, eyes cold. Her gaze slid to Maya, sharp as a needle. “This isn’t over,” she whispered. Then she turned and walked out.

The door closed. Maya swallowed. “Leo… what did you just do?” I didn’t know. Not exactly.

But the truth pressed against the back of my ribs. I didn’t want her to leave, not Valentina or Cristiano. Just Maya. And now Valentina knew it — which meant the war had officially begun.