The Second Choice Never Stayed

Luca got Mira’s number.

He was in a good mood when he reached for my waist, trying to pull me back into his arms, but I pressed a hand against his chest and pushed him away before getting out of bed to pick up my dress and coat.

His words kept circling in my head.

“Bella, we’re going to get married sooner or later. But do you really expect me to spend the rest of my life with only one woman?”

“I won’t let any of them touch the position of Mrs. Moretti. You’ve always been smart, so don’t make a scene over this.”

He wanted another woman’s number and still wanted me to believe that as long as I stood beside him in the end, everything I suffered along the way should not matter.

My fingers trembled as I buttoned my dress.

Luca watched me from the bed, the marks I had left on his shoulders still visible under the lamplight. Once, they would have made me happy; now they only hurt to look at.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’m going home.”

“It’s late. Don’t start.”

“I have things to do tomorrow.”

Luca clicked his tongue and caught my wrist as he sat up. “Be good. It’s not as if you’ve never stayed here before. I’ll have the driver take you back to the De Luca estate in the morning.”

I pulled free and swept my phone, earrings, and documents into my bag.

I had stayed in this South Dock safe house countless times, but I had no access code. Luca or one of his guards had to open the door every time. Tonight, that small fact finally felt clear: I was only allowed to stay.

When I refused to soften, the last trace of amusement left Luca’s face. He leaned back against the headboard and lit a cigarette.

“Suit yourself. But I’m not sending a car.”

I stopped moving.

His voice cooled. “You’re the one choosing to leave in the middle of the night. South Dock isn’t safe at this hour. If something happens, don’t blame me.”

He used to send two cars after me if I went home late. At seventeen, when the De Luca convoy was followed, he gave me his armored car.

Now he sat in bed with a cigarette in his hand and told me to bear the consequences of leaving.

“Don’t worry. I don’t need you.”

The guard at the end of the corridor froze when he saw me and glanced past me toward the room. Luca said nothing, so the guard lowered his eyes and pressed the elevator button.

By the time I returned to the side wing of the De Luca estate, it was almost two in the morning. Laughter drifted from the guest room as I went upstairs.

Mira sat on the sofa, typing on her phone. Her cheeks were flushed, and she kept trying to hide a smile that would not stay hidden, so I did not need to ask who she was texting.

“Bella, you’re back?” She tucked the phone against her chest. “I thought you were staying with Luca tonight.”

I set my bag down without answering.

Mira was the new singer signed to one of De Luca’s clubs. My mother had put her in the side wing until the club apartment was ready.

She looked at me with a careful smile. “Luca told me you were family. I thought you were his sister.”

My hand paused on my coat.

Brother.

So that was how Luca had introduced me.

The De Luca and Moretti families had done business together for three generations, and Luca and I had grown up beside each other. When I was sixteen, he told me that once he officially took over the Moretti family, he would let me stand beside him.

We had been together in secret for five years. He refused to make it public, saying that family pressure would turn us into a marriage contract before we could breathe. I believed him.

I had seen him flirt with other women before. I had cried, argued, and asked him what I was to him. Each time, he held me and said those women were just entertainment, that I was the one in his heart.

I could not let go of five years, so I swallowed it again and again, until tonight, when he finally said the rule aloud.

He could have others, and I was supposed to wait sensibly for him to come back.

“Bella?” Mira tilted her head.

“I’m fine. Just tired.”

She accepted that quickly and held out her phone, unable to hide the brightness in her eyes.

“Luca said he’ll take me to his private dock tomorrow. He said outsiders never get in there. Since you know him so well, you must know what kind of look he likes, right?”

Luca had told me South Dock was not suitable for me. In five years, he had never taken me there. Now he was willing to bring Mira.

The stone that had pressed against my chest for so long seemed to loosen. It still hurt, but I no longer wanted to fight for it.

From the few dresses she had hung on the rack, I picked out a red silk one. “Wear this.”

Mira took it. “Really?”

I nodded. “He likes beautiful women who know how to make trouble.”