Chapter 16: the man who lost her twice

Antonio’s POV

“Play it again.”

My voice comes out hard, cutting through the quiet that settled after the report ended.

One of the men reaches for the remote without looking at me. The screen flickers, then rewinds. The news segment starts over, the reporter’s calm tone grating against my nerves.

“…Dante Romano confirmed married this morning in a closed courthouse ceremony…”

My fingers dig into the edge of the table as the footage rolls. The same blurred images. The same tight formation of security. The same woman in white with her face turned away.

I lean forward this time. Closer. Like distance alone is the problem.

“Zoom in,” I say.

The technician hesitates. “Boss, that’s the clearest feed available.”

“Then slow it down,” I snap. “Frame by frame.”

A woman in white. Her face turned away. Security closing in around her as cameras explode in light.

I lean forward without realizing it.

“That’s not her,” I say quickly.

The footage sharpens for half a second before cutting away.

Her shoulders.

The slight tilt of her head, defensive, instinctive.

My fingers curl against the edge of the table.

“That’s ridiculous,” I add, forcing a short laugh.

“Women like that don’t end up with men like him.”

Serena was weak.

That’s what I told myself when I stopped answering her calls. When I redirected the money. When I decided her grief was an inconvenience I didn’t have time for.

“She had nothing,” I say, more firmly now. “No money. No leverage.”

The reporter continues speaking.

“The bride’s identity is being withheld for security reasons…”

“Withheld,” I mutter.

No name, No close-up. Just the bride.

Something cold crawls up my spine.

Dante Romano doesn’t marry women like Serena. He marries power, Strategy and Bloodlines.

Not a woman who walked out of a hospital with unpaid bills and a dying mother.

I tell myself that again just to reassure myself.

“She disappeared after the incident at work,” one of the men says cautiously. “No calls. No messages.”

I wave it off. “Because she finally understood.”

“She’s lucky,” another man says with a laugh. “Protection like that doesn’t come around twice.”

I’m on my feet before the sound finishes leaving his mouth.

“Shut up.”

My chair scrapes loudly against the floor. The room goes silent.

I pace once, then again, heat building behind my ribs.

The hospital room flashes through my mind. The bills I refused to pay. The look on her face when I told her the money was gone.

Deal with it.

I told myself she deserved it. That I was generous for not ruining her completely.

A darker thought surfaces, sharp and unwelcome.

I should have finished it properly.

The idea that she survived without me irritates me , that she rose to that level twists something ugly and possessive in my chest.

My phone vibrates.

Once.

Then again.

I stop moving.

I pull it from my pocket. Messages stack quickly, rumors sharpening into certainty.

Then I see it boldly.

Serena!!

Just her name.

My breath stutters.

“No,” I say quietly.

The room blurs as images hit me all at once. Serena standing beside Dante Romano. Surrounded by guards. Wrapped in protection I can’t touch.

Untouchable.

Fear replaces irritation in a heartbeat. Rage follows right behind it, hot and useless.

I stare at the phone, my reflection warped in the dark glass.

I didn’t just lose her.

She married my father !!

“ How is this possible.” I yell

I handed her to a man who never lets go.

I look up slowly, eyes hardening as the room waits.

Then I say, quietly and clearly,

“Find out how untouchable she really is.”