All Chapters of The Billionaire's Woman: Diane & Luca: Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

Diane I spent the rest of the morning getting both of us ready—braiding Anika’s hair while she chattered about her friend Emma and the new crayons Mrs. Taylor had promised to bring to class, making her favorite breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast cut into star shapes, and helping her pack her little backpack with the lunch I’d prepared the night before. By the time we were both dressed and ready, it was already 8:30. “Come on, sweetheart,” I said, grabbing my keys and briefcase. “Time to go.” Anika skipped ahead of me to the car, her pink backpack bouncing against her shoulders, already humming some song she’d learned at school. The drive to her school was quick—only fifteen minutes through relatively quiet morning streets. I pulled up in front of the gates, parking in the designated drop-off zone. “Remember,” I said as Anika unbuckled her seatbelt. “Be good for Mrs. Taylor. And I’ll pick you up right after work for our ice cream date.” “With sprinkles!” she reminded me seriou

Diane I’d spent the entire weekend preparing for this. Jane had delivered an impressively detailed dossier on Luca’s business operations on Friday evening, and I’d spent the weekend studying it like I was cramming for the most important exam of my life. Which, in a way, I was. It was Monday morning, and I sat at my desk staring at my computer screen, trying to focus on the upcoming spring fundraising gala, but the words kept blurring together. None of it was sticking. Because in five hours, I’d be sitting across a conference table from Luca Bellucci. I glanced at the garment bag hanging on the back of my office door; in it was the outfit I’d chosen for this afternoon’s committee meeting. A charcoal gray pantsuit with a deep wine colored silk blouse. I’d changed my mind three times this weekend about my outfit. On Friday night, I’d laid out a navy dress, but it felt too…soft. On Saturday morning, I’d switched to all black, but that too had seemed severe, like I was in mourning. O

Luca I’d imagined this moment a thousand times over the last five years—being in the same room with Diane, and having the chance to explain, to apologize, and to make things right. But none of my imaginations had prepared me for the reality of sitting three feet away from her in this glass-walled conference room, watching her be so completely, devastatingly professional. I knew that she’d changed, but I didn’t think that she could keep up with her new persona with me around. A part of me had expected her to slip and show a bit of nervousness or anything at all to indicate that my presence here affected her. But no. She was flawless and confident. God, she’d changed so much. The blonde hair was the most obvious difference; it was more sophisticated than the black I remembered. It made her look older and more polished, like she’d deliberately shed the girl she used to be and transformed into someone new. Someone I didn’t quite know anymore. But it was more than the hair. It was ev

Diane Saturday mornings were my favorite. I had no board meetings, no urgent emails, and didn’t have to carefully maintain my professional mask for almost the whole day. It was just me, Anika, and the rare luxury of moving slowly through our morning routine. I stood in Anika’s bedroom doorway, watching her sit cross-legged on her bed with her favorite doll clutched in her arms, sunlight streaming in through the window, catching in her dark curls and making them shine. She looked so much like him in moments like this—the way she tilted her head when she was thinking, and the serious set of her little mouth. I pushed the thought away and stepped into the room. “Alright, Princess,” I said, moving to her closet. “Aunty Julia invited us over to spend the day with her. What do you want to wear?” Anika’s face lit up immediately. “Aunty Julia’s house? Yes!” She bounced on the bed, her doll flying into the air. “Are we going now? Can we go now?” “In a bit,” I laughed, pulling out a few