All Chapters of I Swore Off Men; But My Enemy Wants An Exception : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Cesare’s point of view ~~~The room felt like it had been stripped of air.His hand was still gripping my shoulder, tight and commanding but I didn’t move. My chest rose and fell like a storm. My words were still hanging in the space between us.“If you’re going to kill Rosette, then you’ll have to kill me first.”For a long moment, Blakewood didn’t move. His expression didn’t even twitch. Then he let out a low chuckle, like I had just told him the funniest joke in the world. He patted my shoulder one last time before letting go, the ash from his cigar drifting down between us.“War, then,” he muttered. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried the weight of a fucking hammer. “If you walk out that door, Cesare, you’re no longer my blood. No longer under my wing. You’re an enemy. And I don’t show pity to enemies. Not you. Not anyone.”I clenched my jaw, muscles twitching in my face as I held his stare. I didn't fucking care anymore.“You think I give a shit about your pity? I don’t. I ne

Rosette’s point of view ~~~ A FEW HOURS EARLIER My heart skipped a beat when James said those words through the phone; figured out who killed my father. I pressed the phone harder to my ear, pacing in the narrow road with my heels sinking into the cracks of the floor. “James, what do you mean by that? Tell me now.” His voice stayed calm. “Miss Rosette, please come home first. You’ll understand better if you hear it directly.” “Okay. I'm on my way.” The line went dead. I looked at the screen and back on the road I was on. Cesare that bastard. My chest tightened in anger when I remembered him; he had taken my car and vanished, leaving me stranded on this goddamn narrow road. I looked around. It was empty, too empty, just trees and an occasional flicker of streetlights struggling to stay alive. There was no cab, no passerby. Nothing. My heels ached with each step, stabbing into my bones like punishment. I bit down hard and finally stopped. There was no one here to

Rosette’s point of view ~~~My body went cold. My ears buzzed as though the walls were closing in, muffling every sound but his.“I was there when you died in the hospital.”Those words clung to me, seeping deep into my bones. I stood frozen, staring at him as though I hadn’t heard correctly. As though my brain needed to rewind and replay it until it made sense.But it didn’t.It didn’t make sense at all.I clenched my fists, my voice cracking out of me in a whisper. “What the hell are you talking about?”Cesare’s mouth curved into something caught between a smirk and a grimace. He gave a short, humorless chuckle and shook his head. “You want me to spell it out? Fine. I’ll fucking spell it out for you.”My throat felt raw as I swallowed. His eyes didn’t leave mine; they were too steady, too sure.“Early morning,” he began, his voice low but clear. “I had just landed. Straight from my private jet. I didn’t go home. I didn’t rest. I went right to the hospital. Straight to you.”I fe

Rosette’s point of view ~~~I did not know how long I had stayed there, buried against Cesare’s hard chest. My tears had soaked through his shirt until the fabric clung to my skin. His arm stayed firm around me, steady, like he was anchoring me from drowning in all that pain. It felt like I had lived this before, like a terrible cycle repeating. He had held me this way when I cried after my father died. Always him. Always there.His words kept circling in my head, looping like a curse. He had loved me since college. He had carried that obsession for years, so strong that even death had not broken it. So strong that we had both come back to the past. It sounded insane, but the weight of his voice, the fire in his eyes, told me it was all true.What was I supposed to do with that? Just accept it? Just… fall into his arms and say, alright, let’s live through this madness again together? My chest felt tight. The room seemed smaller.I pulled back suddenly, pushing myself upright. My thr

Rosette's point of view My legs felt weak as I walked back and dropped back into the chair. Suddenly Cesare’s earlier warning for me to walk away from the company began to make sense. Every step I’d been taking, every fight I thought I was winning, was only leading me deeper into the enemy’s reach. I swallowed hard, feeling my stomach twist. But then another thought clawed at me. If that was the case, then why the hell had he agreed to help me at all?I turned toward him. “Why then is Blakewood helping me?”Cesare didn’t look surprised by the question. He let out a low sigh, one hand pushing back his hair before he walked back to me and leaned against the counter with the kind of lazy grace of his.His eyes pinned me where I sat. “He’s not helping you, Rose. He’s trying to get closer… to get close enough to execute his plan.”My lips parted, but no sound came out. A cold shiver shot through me, curling around my spine. “Execute?” I echoed, my voice dropping.His jaw tightened.