Semua Bab Shattered Vows: Bab 31 - Bab 40

Alessandro holds my gaze, his usual smirk nowhere in sight. “Hermano, I meant it when I said it’s more complicated than that.”I straighten from the doorway, every muscle in my body pulling tight. “Explain.”“Look, Cristian. You’re just going to trust me,” Alessandro says, his tone dipping into something almost sincere. “Same way you trusted me when you first met Fiona, and those other agents and soccer players were talking shit about her just because she exposed some of their sick rituals. Then, I presented the truth to you. I showed you she was a walking green flag. You need to trust me as well. Give me a little time. I need to check something out properly before I point fingers.”I sigh and run a hand through my hair, frustration simmering low in my chest. Friendship betrayal cuts deeper than anything else. Even worse than a relationship ending. And I know this will crush her. But she has me. She will always have me.“Okay, fine,” I mutter. “But at least confirm that Jenna and Dawn

The group is in. We are just waiting for one more person to arrive. We are all seated around the long dining table in Cristian’s penthouse, plates full, conversation flowing, and I am trying my absolute hardest to look like I belong in this moment. To laugh when someone cracks a joke, to reach for the jug of water like my hands are steady. But they are not. I know something now. Something that changes the way I look at every single person sitting here. And the only excuse I have been able to use... The only cover I have—is that I am still shaken from Amelia getting hurt. That much is believable. The texts, the panic, the fear. It gives me just enough cover to keep breathing through this lunch without flipping the table and demanding answers.Dawn knows. Jenna knows. But the other two? No clue. And honestly, I don’t know how Jenna is doing it. Her composure is borderline presidential. She is sitting across from me, picking at her food like she is bored, but I know her. I know her well

“Dawn, you know I love you. You know, Jenna and I have got your back, right?” I hold her gaze, steady and deliberate, my voice low but firm.She frowns, her eyes darting between the two of us. “Why do I feel like I’m being ambushed by the both of you? Y’all know I’ve got trust issues right now, and the two of you cornering me like this is not exactly helping.”We are all in our pyjamas, tucked inside the bedroom Dawn and Jenna are sharing, while Amelia and Lala are across the hall in the other guest room. “It’s not that,” I say gently, “please don’t take this the wrong way, but ever since Alessandro came back into your life, you’ve been... distracted.”Dawn’s face shifts, and I press on.“I mean it. You’re smart, Dawn. You’re the sharpest person in this whole mess. But I think your hormones and your vagina are clouding your judgement right now.”Her jaw drops. “Excuse me?!”“You heard me,” I say, but my tone softens. “This isn’t judgment. This is me worried that maybe... just maybe..

The deal closes at 2:47 p.m. in Paris.It’s cleaner than I expected. The negotiations took months, but in the end, the board of Olympique Rennais folded. I gave them a number and a vision, and I meant both. That is usually enough.My signature finishes the paperwork, and I rise from the long glass table. I shake hands out of courtesy, nod once at the lead attorney, and then I walk out of the building like it is just another Tuesday. Because to me, it is.The jet is already waiting.Before leaving Paris, I make one last stop. The building stands just off the Seine, in the Sixth Arrondissement. Stone façade, wrought-iron balconies, large windows with views that belong in a painting. I walk through the unit myself. Every room. Every corner. I picture her here—books spread across the coffee table, hair wrapped in a towel as she pads barefoot through the hall, her laugh echoing from the bedroom.This place will be hers. A surprise. A wedding gift. One of many.Twilight cloaks the city by t

By morning, the scent of lavender and stale guilt is already getting on my nerves.Camilla refused to let me go last night and threatened to scream if I even touched the door. So I stayed. Not because I cared. Only because noise draws attention, and I hate attention when it’s not on my terms. Apart from that... it’s my last day, and the last day is always the dangerous one. Her arm still lies across my stomach as if she owns it, her bare leg hooked around mine, her breath soft against my skin. She wears that serene expression women get when they believe they have been chosen, as if the sex meant something. As if they meant something. I feel nothing.My eyes trace the cracked ceiling tile above me, counting the seconds until the nurse shift changes. If I time it right, I’ll have fifteen minutes to grab the rest of my things, sign the discharge papers, and vanish before she cries again.“I had a dream you were gone,” she whispers, half-conscious.I stay quiet.She shifts, her nails lig