جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 210

IreneMy best friend was kidnapped. That was the only logical conclusion. I didn’t care if Dante Galante was the king of the tech underworld or the devil himself. If he had locked her in a tower, I was going to burn the tower down. I sped my car to its absolute limits through the winding roads just outside the city. I slammed the brakes when the GPS finally announced I had arrived. Then I stepped out onto the gravel driveway. When I looked up, my stomach did a nervous flip. The house looked like a fortress. Modern, sleek, made of glass and dark stone, hidden behind high, unforgiving walls and ancient pine trees. I slammed my car door shut and marched right up to the iron gates. Two men, each the size of a small gorilla and wearing earpieces, stepped into my path. "Can we help you, signorina?" The one on the left asked. "Yes, you can," I snapped, pointing a finger directly at his chest. "You can open these gates. Your boss kidnapped my best friend and I am here to collect

IreneRomeo’s touch was… gentle, warm, and shockingly grounding… all at once. I blinked as his large fingers wrapped loosely around my wrist, pulling my hand away from my chest. He pressed his thumb perfectly against my pulse point. The heat of his skin sent a different kind of jolt up my arm, short-circuiting my brain. "Your heart rate is elevated." He murmured as his thumb stroked a tiny, distracting circle over my racing pulse. Of course, my heart was throbbing faster than ever. And it was definitely not because I had a fight with Adrian. "Your breathing is shallow.” Romeo continued. “Your shoulders are practically touching your ears. Classic sympathetic nervous system override. Fight or flight." I glanced down at his hand on my wrist, then up at his face. I tried to pull away, but his grip was just firm enough to keep me tethered to the spot. "I don't need a medical evaluation." "Good, because that was just the prologue.” Romeo countered smoothly, not letting go. He tilte

Irene Do you love him? I froze. I wanted to scream no just to prove this arrogant doctor wrong. I wanted to scoff and say it was over, that it was black and white. But the truth was messier than a simple line of binary code. My mind raced, flashing through the last few years. I loved the Adrian who used to remember my step-mother’s birthday. I loved the Adrian who brought me soup when I had the flu, the one who sat with me in comfortable silence when the world felt too loud. But the man standing outside my apartment last night? The one weaponizing his own sadness to trap me in a guilt-ridden cage? I pitied him. I feared the suffocating weight of him. "I..." My voice shook and I gripped the marble counter hard to steady myself. Romeo didn't rush me. He stood there, entirely focused, acting as a mirror reflecting every messy, tangled emotion I was desperately trying to hide. "Yes.” I finally breathed out and I hated myself for saying it. I looked up and met his intense hazel

### RomeoThe clinic was too quiet.Usually, I didn’t mind the sterile hum of the private practice in central Rome. It was a reprieve from the chaos of Dante’s world—a place where life was measured in heartbeats and blood pressure readings rather than server breaches and hostile takeovers. But today, the silence felt heavy, like a suit that didn't quite fit.I adjusted the ultrasound transducer, my movements mechanical and practiced. On the monitor, the grainy image of a twenty-four-week-old fetus flickered."Heart rate is steady. 145 beats per minute," I said, my voice sounding distant even to my own ears. "Everything looks perfect, Sofia."Sofia, a long-time patient who had seen me through her first two pregnancies, didn't look at the screen. She looked at me. She was a sharp woman, the kind who noticed the slight change in the weather before the clouds even gathered."You’re quiet today, Dr. Rossi," she noted, her voice soft against the rhythmic *thump-thump* of the monitor. "Usual

IreneThe stranger’s hands were still on my skin. His mouth was still trailing a hot, damp path down to my collarbone. But the second I locked eyes with the man in the corner, his touch began to feel gross."Hey…" the stranger muttered with frustration as I planted my hands against his chest and pushed. "Where are you going?""I need a drink.” I lied as I stepped out from between his legs and the concrete pillar."I will buy you one." He tried to hold my wrist but I pulled it out of his grasp with an apologetic smile."Don't wait up."I didn't give him a chance to argue. I turned my back and waded straight into the crushing sea of bodies. The tequila I had earlier was making the flashing strobe lights blur into dizzying streaks of color. I should have walked out the front door. I should have grabbed my jacket, hailed a cab and gone back to my three deadbolts. But the alcohol in my blood made me reckless. And Romeo's stare practically pulled me across the room like a magnet.I pushed