Semua Bab The Tycoon’s Temptress - Red Flower’s Chase: Bab 21 - Bab 25

Kareem’s POVMy shoulder throbbed—a lingering reminder of the last mission’s failure under Signora Giuliana’s orders.“You remember that escort job for Mrs. Valentina?” I asked Nabil, still keeping my eyes on the shadows. “Thought it’d be routine.”Nabil grunted, scanning the street. “Yeah. We were so wrong.”I chuckled darkly, the pain flaring as I shifted. “Humiliating.””I can’t wait for a rematch” I chuckled, Nabil nodded and understood me perfectly well. We had worked so long together now. “Let’s be sharp,” Nabil answered me. “We need clues on those empty boxes.”I tapped my earpiece into place. “Raffaele won’t like us coming up empty handed indeed,” I muttered, turning it on.“Kareem, Nabil, report,” Raffaele’s voice was clipped, sharp, the usual calm authority. He expected results.“Warehouse is secure, no movement—still deserted. Over,” I replied.Nabil nodded. “Keep a lookout. If this goes south, you know what to report.”“The Trail’s cold,” I told Raffaele via earpiece, eye

Valentina’s POVZahra clasps her hands gently, eyes shimmering with appreciation.“That was… enchanting,” she says with a soft and clear voice. “You truly have a gift, Mrs. Ricchezza—not just with words, but with presence. It felt as though the past had come alive.”Hassan, seated beside her, leans forward slightly, nodding with a thoughtful expression.“Mesmerizing,” he agrees. “Very few people can command a room so wholeheartedly without raising their voice.”Zahra smiles, a touch of warmth—and calculation—in her gaze.“I see now why my husband insisted we meet you. He was right. There’s something… simply unforgettable about you.”“I’m truly grateful for the compliment,” I say with a sugar-sweet smile. “It means the world coming from such cultured and enlightened people as yourselves.”Raffaele looks at me—and for once, he’s at a loss for words.As the final notes of laughter drift across the table and the last of the savory dishes are cleared, a silver tray is brought in—laden with

Valentina’s POVI stood on the edge of it, arms resting against the railing of our room—the master suite in the Ricchezza beach villa perched on the Al-Faw Peninsula, where the Persian Gulf kissed the horizon in bruised shades of blue. I was watching the sunrise wrapped in a cozy robe as it painted the ocean in faint shades of blushed pink, pale gold, and soft coral.The waves lapped soothingly against the shore.My slippers padded softly against the marble floor, and the warm breeze tugged at me as if trying to pull me back inside.Raffaele had been gone for almost a month now.I told myself it was a relief. That I welcomed the silence, the space, the absence of his piercing gaze and maddening precision. But the void he left behind said otherwise. The bed felt colder without his warmth.I hated the way he made me feel.I wanted to resent him, wanted him to grate on my nerves the way he used to—but the more I got to know him, the worse it became. God, I must look like an abandoned