Chapter 2

Bella sat on the edge of the bed, knees drawn up, with her arms wrapped tight around herself like she could hold the pieces together.

The suite was too quiet now. No sounds but the faint hum of the city far below the windows and the echo of Lorenzo’s last words looping in her head.

She stared at the scattered bills on the floor. Hundreds of them, Like she was some sort of service to be paid for and forgotten.

The thought of her father crept in, uninvited. Alex Seneca, the man who owned Seneca’s Finances LTD, who moved politicians and money like chess pieces. The same man who’d raised her to stand tall, and to command rooms.

Yet last night, he’d sold her future to old men for alliances. And this morning, a stranger had paid her to disappear.

Humiliation burned fresh, deeper than any slap. She was supposed to be powerful, Instead, she felt small and Used.

Bella stood up fast, but her legs staggered beneath her as the room tilted for a second. Her thighs ached, with her inner muscles sore and raw

The man with the blue eyes and perfect face had taken her virginity, then left her feeling used, paid for, and discarded.

Anger surged hot up her throat. She swung her arm out hard, palm smacking the mug on the nightstand. It flew, hit the floor, and shattered into jagged pieces across the hardwood.

The crash echoed sharp in the quiet suite.

Bella froze, heart slamming. Shit. What have I done? She stared at the broken shards, coffee pooling dark around them.

This wasn’t her house, it was his. The same man who’d thrown money in her face and forced pills down her throat. She didn’t want to give him one more reason to look at her like trash.

Her chest tightened. She wasn’t taking another insult. She’d had enough.

She grabbed her dress and pulled it on in a hurry, hands shaking as the zipper stuck before finally sliding up. Panties, heels everything rushed and messy, like she couldn’t get out fast enough.

Her thoughts raced. Stephanie and Angela would be losing their minds by now, searching the club, calling her phone, worried sick. She couldn’t stay here another second.

The broken mug stayed where it was. She didn’t touch it.

The door handle was cold as she yanked it open and stepped into the hallway. Her heels clicked fast against the marble, echoing her pulse.

Bitterness settled deep in her gut,a hard, cold hate for Lorenzo De Luca. She wouldn’t let anyone make her feel this small ever again.

*****

Lorenzo leaned back in the café chair, sunglasses still on despite the dim lighting. He’d invited both of his friends, Marcos and Ethan out to kill time and cool off after the night before, but he barely acknowledged them now. His phone glowed under his thumb as he scrolled, face unreadable.

After a few moments of silence Marcos leaned in from across the table, a smirk already in place.

“So… you disappeared suddenly last night.”

Lorenzo didn’t look up, instead he gave a snark reply.

“Oh really? Did I?”

Ethan stirred sugar into his coffee, the spoon clinking slow and deliberate.

“Yeah. One minute you’re in the VIP section pretending you hate having fun, next thing...poof. Gone.”

Marcos chuckled, leaning back.

“We stayed, by the way. And saw two girls dancing near the DJ booth. The tall one kept looking at you tho.”

Lorenzo finally set his phone down.

“Well. Good for her.”

Marcos raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

“I noticed plenty,” Lorenzo said flatly. “I just wasn’t interested.”

Ethan let out a short laugh.

“Wow. Not interested? That’s new.”

Lorenzo shrugged it off and caught the waiter’s eye, snapping his fingers and demanding.

“Extra sugar in the espresso.”

The waiter nodded and walked away.

Ethan tilted his head.

“So where did you go, huh? Don’t tell me you went home alone.”

Lorenzo paused, then answered casually.

“I didn’t.”

Silence hung for a beat.

Then Ethan and Marcos burst out laughing. Ethan slapped the table.

“Hold on... you took a girl home?”

Marcos leaned forward, grinning.

“I’m surprised you even still remember how to do that.”

Lorenzo exhaled slowly through his nose, jaw tightening as the laughter grated on him. He hated being made into a joke.

“Relax,” he said, voice flat.

Marcos tapped the table.

“So what happened to ‘women are a distraction’?”

“Still true,” Lorenzo replied. “Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy one night at least.”

Ethan squinted.

“Did you at least play it safe?”

“Of course.” Lorenzo’s tone stayed even. “I gave her something.”

Ethan frowned.

“What do you mean, ‘something’?”

Lorenzo replied, voice even, “Contraceptive.”

Marcos’s grin widened.

“Which one? I pray it wasn’t the one I gave you last year.”

Lorenzo’s gaze lifted, sharp, but his jaw tightened for a moment as if weighing his words.

“I… I gave her that one. Isn’t it meant for situations like that?”

Marcos threw his head back and laughed so hard he nearly choked, elbowing Ethan as he gasped for air between bursts. His shoulders shook, eyes watering from how ridiculous he thought Lorenzo’s ignorance was. “No way, man! That thing’s been sitting in your drawer forever!”

Ethan’s grin stretched wider.

“Did you even check the expiry date?”

Lorenzo opened his mouth, then paused.

For the first time, something uneasy flickered behind the sunglasses.

“C’mon,” he said, quieter. “It couldn’t have expired that quickly.”

But the hesitation lingered.

Marcos’s laughter faded.

“Are you sure? Because if you’re wrong…you know this could be a problem.”

The humor drained from Lorenzo’s face. He stood abruptly.

“i...I need to go.”

Ethan blinked.

“Wait... what?”

“I said I need to go,” Lorenzo said, firmer this time, letting no room for argument.

Lorenzo dropped cash on the table, jaw tight, already dialing his phone as he walked away.

Marcos watched him leave, his smile gone.

“Lorenzo… you don’t even know her name, do you?”

Lorenzo didn’t answer. The café door swung shut behind him, leaving both of his friends staring after him.

He strode to the black car waiting at the curb, sleek and silent, the driver already stepping out to open the door. Lorenzo slid into the back seat and shut it behind him.

“Home. Now.”

The driver nodded once and pulled away from the curb without asking a single question.

Lorenzo pushed through the revolving door of his building, jaw still locked. The lobby lights were too bright, the marble too cold under his shoes. He ignored the doorman’s nod and headed straight for the private elevator.

The ride up felt longer than it should have. When the elevator finally chimed at the penthouse, he moved before the doors were fully open.

The bed was still rumpled, sheets twisted. With Shards of the broken mug glittered on the floor like broken teeth.

Lorenzo stopped in the doorway and stared at the mess.

Why the mug? Of all things in the room, why that?

He crossed to the waste bin beside the nightstand and picked up the empty pill pack she’d left behind, holding it to the light. His stomach sank the moment he saw the date. Expired. Completely Useless now.

His hand closed around it, knuckles whitening. He sank onto the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, face dropping into his palms. His breath came slow.

Who was she? He thought to himself.

No name. No face he could pin down beyond wide eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. Just a girl he’d fucked, paid, and dismissed. And now… maybe carrying his child.

His stomach tightened. Not panic. Just the realization that this situation might be out of his hands.

He dragged both hands through his hair, pulling hard.

“Where the hell could she be by now?”

He stood abruptly, pacing once and twice, phone already in his hand. He needed to find her and needed to fix this before it became something he couldn’t control.

For the first time in years, Lorenzo De Luca felt the ground shift under his feet, and it wasn’t because of business, power, or money.

It was because of one nameless girl he’d treated like nothing.