Semua Bab Contracted: The Billionaire’s Husband From The Commercial: Bab 21 - Bab 30

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: HIGHER UPS Hours had passed and Louis still wasn't back. Lorenzo paced the penthouse, checking his phone every few minutes, telling himself he wasn't worried. Louis was with Lucy and was fine. Louis was just…the doorbell rang. He yanked it open. Louis hung off Lucy's shoulder, drunk and stumbling, his cheeks flushed and his eyes half-closed. Lucy smiled awkwardly, her face red. "I'm so sorry, Leonardo, is it? I think I let him drink too much." Louis mumbled something incoherent and patted Lucy's cheek. "He won't even notice I was gone. He's probably doing billionaire things. He gets clingy though… he would yell at me." Lorenzo's jaw tightened. He grabbed Louis's arm and pulled him inside, then turned to Lucy. His voice was cold. "You don't come near him again. You understand? He's not one of you anymore. He's a Volterra." Lucy's face went from apologetic to furious in seconds. "You know what? I was trying to be nice. I was trying to apologize but you're

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE: THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US. The mansion felt different with Chloe in it…brighter, louder, like someone had turned up the volume on a song Louis didn't realize had been playing too low. She sat in a wheelchair, not because she couldn't walk but because she tired easily, her body still rebuilding itself after months of fighting. Her legs would get weak and her balance shaky, but the chair was temporary, a bridge between the girl who had been sick and the girl who was getting better. Louis didn't care about the chair but he just cared that she was here. "Lou, this place is insane," Chloe said as he pushed her down the hallway, her head swiveling left and right trying to take in everything at once. "There's like fifteen rooms. I got lost coming back from the bathroom." "That's because you went the wrong way." "The hallway looked the same!" Louis laughed. It was the first real laugh he'd had in days. Chloe's room was at the end of the east wing…far from the

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: IF I FALL Matt's finger touched Louis's lower lip and a wave of nausea hit him so hard his stomach lurched. He turned his face away, his hand coming up to push Matt's hand aside. "I can't," he said, his voice thick. "I can't do this." Matt's expression didn't change. He just nodded slowly, pulling his hand back. "It's okay. No pressure. Ever. I'm sorry even telling you about this." Louis stood up too fast, the room spinning around him. "Where's the restroom?" "Down the hall, second door on the left." Matt's voice was calm and understanding. "Take your time." Louis walked away with his legs unsteady and his stomach churning. He didn't see Matt's smile. He didn't see Matt pick up his wine glass. He didn't see the white powder dissolve into the red liquid like it had never been there at all. ***** Louis barely made it to the toilet before he was sick. His body heaved and his head pounded and his eyes watered and he couldn't tell if he was crying or just

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: AN UNHAPPY QUESTION The executive office was all dark wood and floor to ceiling windows, the Milan skyline sprawling behind Lorenzo's desk like a kingdom he had built with his own hands. Anya stood by the screen clicking through quarterly reports while Lorenzo sat with his elbows on the desk and his fingers steepled, his eyes moving across the numbers faster than anyone could speak. "The port acquisition in Genoa is facing opposition from the local council," Anya said. "They're citing environmental concerns." Lorenzo didn't blink. "They are citing whatever Marcello Rinaldi paid them to cite. Pull the environmental impact assessment from our lawyers. It's already approved at the national level. Local council doesn't have jurisdiction." "The railway expansion in Turin…." "Is over budget because the contractor is skimming. Replace him with the firm from Verona. They owe me a favor from the bridge collapse last year." Anya nodded and kept typing. "The r

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: LOVE BOMBING The private jet cut through clouds painted gold by the setting sun. Louis sat by the window watching the world shrink below, still not sure how he'd been talked into this. "You need to get better," Lorenzo had said, already on his phone arranging everything. "Two weeks. Just us. Pick anywhere. I would take you around the world, mio gattino." Louis had blinked at him. "Anywhere?" "Any country. Any city. Any spot." Lorenzo didn't look up from his screen. "Romantic. With golf and horse rides. You pick." Louis picked a place he'd seen in magazines as a kid…white sand beaches, water so blue it looked fake, villas perched on cliffs overlooking the sea. "I would pick this one but honestly I'm fine with anything so far you are there," Louis said in all sincerity. He hadn't expected Lorenzo to actually book it. But here they were. The villa was ridiculous…three bedrooms, a private pool, a staff that appeared and disappeared like ghosts.