Isabella’s POVI watched Mateo walk back to the bar, his shoulders slumped, leaving his son alone with the nanny again."He is pathetic," I whispered, the realization tasting like ash in my mouth. "I spent five years terrified of a man who is nothing but a hollow shell.""Fear is a trick of the light, cara," Dante said, his hand resting possessively on the small of my back. "Once you turn on the light, the monster is just a shadow."I took a sip of my champagne, feeling steady for the first time in forever. I was ready to leave. I had seen the boy. I had seen the husband. I had seen the misery. I was ready to close the book."Mr. Galante!"A booming, overly eager voice came from behind us.I froze. My blood ran cold, colder than it had when I saw Mateo.I knew that voice. It was the voice that had read me bedtime stories when I was five, and the voice that had told me to "stop crying and be a good wife" when I was twenty.I turned slowly.Standing there, holding a plate of hors d'oeuv
Last Updated : 2026-02-06 Read more