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Chapter Thirty-Five: The Text
publish date:
2026-06-17 15:01:54
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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 Thirty-Five: The Text
Valerio’s POVThe city lights of New York blur past the car window as I sit in the back seat, but I barely see them. My mind is still in Tokyo, and still trapped in that hotel suite on the twenty-eighth floor where I had almost crossed every line I had drawn for myself.Zara.Even now, hours after we land, her presence still lingers like a brand. The way she had looked at me during one of the debrief dinners, eyes dark with something deep and painful, body trembling under the weight of all the words we weren’t saying. The way she had whispered, “We can’t do this,” while every inch of her leaned closer.I drag a hand down my face, the scar at my temple throbbing. The rule I created after the accident feels like a cruel joke. Clarity? Control? Those words mean nothing when she is in the room. And three days in Tokyo have only proven how badly I’m failing at both.The car pulls up outside my penthouse building. I thank the driver and head upstairs, the silence of the space greeting me li
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-Four: The Return
Zara’s POVThe morning of our departure, Mr. Nakamura insists on seeing us off personally. He stands at the entrance of his headquarters with his senior team, his translator beside him, and bows deeply. His eyes linger on me when he straightens. "Ms. Matthews," he says in careful English. "You sho
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-three: The Morning After
Zara’s POV"I'm here," I say softly. "I'm not going anywhere."He settles, and his breathing evens out. His hand finds mine on the edge of the bed and holds on tightly.I sit beside him for the rest of the night, watching the city lights fade as dawn approaches. We’ve crossed the line, not in the w
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-two: The Garden
Zara's POVThe morning starts like any other business day in Tokyo. Sharp suits, polished shoes, the scent of green tea and nervous energy in the Nakamura conference room. But something is different about Valerio today. I notice it the moment we step off the elevator, a slight pallor beneath his ta
Valerio's Secretary Chapter Thirty-one: The Partnership
Zara’s POVThe elevator descends in heavy silence. Valerio stands beside me, shoulders squared, eyes fixed on the glowing floor numbers. The professional mask is back in full force this morning, with a crisp dark suit, a perfectly knotted tie, and a controlled expression. But I can feel the tension
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