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Chapter Eighteen: The Cracks
publish date:
2026-05-28 21:13:54
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Valerio's Secretary Chapter Forty-one: The Distance
Zara's POVThe morning after the statement is everywhere—all the screens in the lobby, the photographer’s face pale and shaking as he admits he was paid, his face plastered on magazine covers. The board is satisfied, the story is dead, but something else is different. Valerio is already in his office when I arrive, standing by the windows, his back to me, hands in his pockets, and doesn’t acknowledge my presence through the glass wall like he always does. Not even a nod. “It’s fine,” I murmur to myself while I settle into my chair, “This is what you wanted, remember? Professional distance and safety.” But I can’t shake the weird feeling pooling inside my stomach. The morning passes in a blur; I handle emails, reports, and scheduling meetings while Valerio stays in his office without a word, and on the few times he comes out, he moves through the office like I am invisible. I try to focus on my work, drowning myself in all the tasks. I update the calendar, file documents, but my m
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Forty: Il Lupo (The Wolf)
Valerio's POVThe phone is cold against my ear as I wait, but he picks up on the first ring, his voice rough and low, like gravel scraping comes through the phone. "Cruz.""Il Lupo." I lean back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. "Ho un problema." (I have a problem.)He pauses, then releases a dry laugh. "Sempre problemi con te." (Always problems with you.)"Questo è diverso." (This one is different.) Then, I switch to English. "A photographer. He took a picture of me and someone I care about, and it's everywhere. I want to find him, want him to confess who paid him, and then I want his press shut down."He pauses, longer this time. "E la donna?" (And the woman?)"Non toccarla." (Do not touch her.) My voice drops, cold and hard. "Lei è off-limits." (She is off-limits.)He chuckles. "Capito." (Understood.) "Il nome del fotografo." (The photographer's name.)I give it to him. “Sei ore," he says. (Six hours)"Tre ore." (Three hours.)He’s silent for a fraction of a minute, then, "Fatto
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-nine: The Fallout
Zara's POVThe magazine cover is burned into my retinas while Clara's threats echo in my ears. The way Valerio had stepped between us, promising to destroy her if she hurt me, should have felt like protection, but it feels like a promise for more destruction.I sit at my desk and stare at my computer screen. The cursor blinks at me, waiting for me to do something, anything, but my mind is blank. I can’t focus, and I can’t breathe.My phone buzzes, and I glance at it. Luca: We need to talk. Emergency stairwell. Now!I stand up on shaky legs and walk toward the stairwell. The door closes behind me, and Luca is already there, pacing, his face pale. "Clara is making calls," he says without greeting. "Board members, senior executives, and anybody who cares to listen. And she is telling them that you are a liability, and that Valerio is being manipulated."My stomach drops. "Manipulated by who?""You." He looks at me with an expression of frustration and pity. "She is painting you as a gol
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-eight: The Photo
Zara's POVThe morning starts like any other. I wake up in my apartment, and Liam is already chattering in the kitchen with Mrs. Rivera. I dress in my usual work clothes, kiss my Liam goodbye, and drive to Cruz Holdings with the memory of last night still warm in my chest.The dinner, the candlelight, and the way Valerio had looked at me across the table like I was the only woman in the world made it all feel surreal. I shake the thought away as I step into the lobby. I need to focus on work and my life without him being the center of it. But something feels wrong.The moment I walk through the revolving doors, I feel all eyes on me. The security guard at the desk looks at me, then quickly looks away. Two women in the lobby stop talking mid-sentence when they see me, and one of them's gaze drops to the magazine in her hand, then back at me, before she nudges her companion and scurries toward the elevators.My stomach tightens.What is happening? Do I look funny? My gaze drops to my
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-seven: The Dinner
Valerio's POVI’m definitely going to lose my mind if I get to her end and she actually doesn’t want to go out with me. I stand in front of the mirror in my bedroom, adjusting the collar of my dark shirt for the third time. The second one was too casual, and the first one was somewhere in between, but I still don’t know if it is right. Cosa mi hai combinato, Zara? (What have you done to me, Zara?)I have closed billion-dollar deals in wrinkled shirts and never thought twice, yet here I am, agonizing over a collar. What is wrong with me?I check my watch, and it’s seven forty-five; fifteen minutes until I pick her up. I’ve been ready for an hour. I walk to the living room and pour myself a glass of water, avoiding the whiskey. I need a clear head tonight. No excuses, no blurred lines, just her. I want to have this one night imprinting her if that’s all I’m ever going to get. I feel for the photo from her drawer, and go to grab my keys on the table when I see her hair band. The one t
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-six: The Confrontation
Zara's POVThe next morning comes too soon.I have barely slept after getting home from the airport. Liam had woken up in the middle of the night and crawled into bed with me, his small body curling against mine like he knew I needed him. I held him close, breathing in his familiar scent, trying to find strength in the one pure thing in my life.Now, as I walk into Cruz Holdings, the weight of Tokyo and the text I woke up to from him clings to me. He wants to take me to dinner? I would have thought it was a wrong message if not for the fact that he mentioned Tokyo. But still, I am not going to take any chances. I will just ignore it. If he wants to take me out for dinner, he will have to ask me properly.I sit at my desk and try to focus on the mountain of follow-up work from the trip. Emails, reports, updated projections. But my betrayer of a mind keeps drifting back to the night in his suite, where his hand had hovered near my cheek and kissed my tears away.The pain of it hits me a
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Nine: The Space Between
Zara's POVThe next day also blurs into another test of endurance. Valerio changes deadlines again at midnight, another impossible rework, and another late night that stretches into early hours. I know what he’s doing; he’s pushing me, and watching how I’ll break, and every single time I deliver,
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Eight: The Late Hour
Zara“I should get back to my desk,” I say, trying to step around him.His hands come out, not grabbing my arm but brushing lightly against my waist as I move past. The touch is accidental, barely a touch, but it burns through my blouse like fire. I freeze for a second, and he does too. “Sorry,” h
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Five: The Touch
Zara’s POVThe apartment is quiet when I finally push the door open a little after ten. The living room lamp casts a soft yellow glow over the second-hand couch and the small pile of toy cars scattered across the rug. Mrs. Rivera looked up from her knitting, smiling that gentle, knowing smile she a
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Four: The Cage
Zara’s POV My feet are killing me by the time the clock hit eight-thirty, but I keep typing. The Harrington proposal stares back at me from the screen, marked up with more red ink than black. Valerio had thrown three more files at me after lunch, each one more complex than the last. He was testing
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