Mysterious findings

Rose’s POV

For a moment, I just stared at him, my chest rising and falling faster than it should.
Was it another woman?
Some secret fling?


Or maybe someone more important than me?

The thought burned like acid in my chest. I wasn’t the jealous type — at least, that’s what I’d always told myself. But the way that phone kept ringing, like it was desperate to be answered, made my skin prickle.

And then I saw it.


The name flashing on the screen.
Vicenzo.

My throat tightened. “It’s… Vicenzo?” My voice came out small, almost unsure.
He ran a hand down his face, clearly annoyed, but not at me. “It’s nothing, Rose.”


“Nothing?” I let out a shaky laugh, but it wasn’t funny. “Then why not pick up? Why ignore it if it’s nothing?”

He hesitated. That tiny pause was enough to feed the storm building inside me.
“You know what, forget it,” I muttered, grabbing my purse and standing up.

Before I could take a step, his hand wrapped around my wrist. Firm, warm, steady.


The contact sent a shiver down my arm, my pulse jumping for reasons I couldn’t entirely explain. God help me, I felt… safer like that. Grounded.


“Rose, wait,” his voice softened, almost pleading.

I froze, caught between wanting to yank my hand back and wanting him to never let go.

His thumb brushed my skin, slow, almost soothing. “I’ll call him. Right now. And I’ll put it on speaker. You’ll hear for yourself that it’s nothing.”

My chest loosened just a little, the tension not gone but fading enough for me to breathe again. I searched his eyes, trying to find even a flicker of a lie. But all I saw was determination… and something else I wasn’t ready to name.

Luther picked up the phone, his thumb pressing the call button. The ringing filled the room, and then a sharp, clipped voice answered.

Vicenzo: “About time you decided to answer, Lombardi.”

Luther leaned back in his seat, voice cool and calculated. “I was busy.”

Vicenzo: “Busy playing house with my men?” His tone dripped with venom. “You have something that belongs to me.”

I froze. My men? My throat tightened, but Luther didn’t even flinch.

Luther: “Correction, they used to be yours. And if you were smart, you’d watch your tone with me.”

Vicenzo: “Don’t push me, Lombardi. I need my men back they are the best of my men and you took them away ”

Luther’s eyes flicked to me briefly before he replied, slow and deliberate, “Your best men ?”

Vicenzo: “Yeah. It’s stuck in your territory.”

I could almost see Luther’s smirk in the way he spoke next. “Then I guess you’ve got yourself a problem.”

Vicenzo’s voice sharpened. “Don’t play dumb. I want my men back.”

Luther: “You messed with me first, Vicenzo. You think you can pull what you did and then come crying when your precious cargo called men doesn’t make it through?”

There was a pause on the other end—a pause heavy with fury.

Vicenzo: “You’ve crossed the wrong man, Lombardi.”

Luther: “No, Vicenzo. You crossed me. And now… you’re going to compensate me if you want your men back.”

I couldn’t look away. Their voices were calm but dangerous, like two predators circling each other.

Vicenzo: “Name your price.”

Luther: “You’ll find out soon enough. But let’s just say it’s going to cost you more than you think.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Vicenzo: “You’ve got 24 hours to change your mind before I make my move.”

Luther: “Then I’ll make sure you regret every second of it.”

The call ended with a sharp click. Luther tossed the phone onto the table like it was nothing, but I could see the tightness in his jaw.

I swallowed. “So… all that was just about business?”

His gaze locked on mine. “Rose… nothing with Vicenzo is just business. But you have nothing to worry about. Not with me.”

The way he said it steady, protective should have eased me. But part of me still felt caught in the middle of something

far bigger than I understood.

I wanted to press him, to demand more answers, but instead, I just sat there, staring at him as the tension between us crackled like static in the air.

The call ended with a sharp click. Luther tossed the phone onto the table like it was nothing, but I could see the tightness in his jaw.

I swallowed. “So… all that was just about business?”

His gaze locked on mine. “Rose… nothing with Vicenzo is just business. But you have nothing to worry about. Not with me.”

I wanted to press him, to demand more answers, but instead, I just sat there, staring at him as the tension between us crackled like static in the air.

I crossed my arms, feeling a strange mixture of fear and defiance. “Yunno… you can’t keep things away from me. If I’m your woman, I need to know.”

His expression softened just slightly, though his voice stayed low. “And you think you can handle it?”

“I don’t like being left out,” I said, stepping closer. “So… tell me.”

He studied me for a long moment before leaning back against the couch, like he’d decided I deserved the truth.

“We did a business deal. Seventy–thirty split. No more than two casualties — if it was sixty–forty, fine, we’d talk. But it wasn’t. There were more than two casualties. So now I want my forty percent, and I want payment to the families.

That’s it.”

I felt my stomach twist. “Casualties… meaning men died?”

He nodded once.

My voice was barely above a whisper. “Doesn’t that… make you feel bad?”

He didn’t hesitate. “It wasn’t my fault. I don’t force my men into this. They know the risks. It’s like being in the military — they die there too.”

The matter-of-fact way he said it made me shiver. Part of me wanted to argue. Part of me wanted to understand.

I took a slow breath and let my arms fall to my sides. “I just hope you’re not going to hide too many things from me.”

Something unreadable flickered in his eyes. He leaned forward, his gaze piercing mine like he was searching for something deep inside me.

“Rose…” His voice dropped to a near whisper. “…how come you aren’t running away or judging me badly?”