Semua Bab The Countdown Above My Fiancé: Bab 1 - Bab 10

“Mr. Bellandi, Miss Vale, I’m so sorry. South Dock is blocked off, and I couldn’t get a car anywhere” Mia Crane climbed into the back seat, soaked from the rain. Her satin blouse was wet at the shoulders, and strands of hair stuck to her face, but she still gave Marco a bright smile.Lucian pulled a black silk handkerchief from his suit pocket and passed it over my shoulder. “Wipe your eyes. Don’t let the ice burn your skin.”Mia took the handkerchief. Her fingers brushed the back of his hand, light as a whisper. She smiled up at him through damp lashes. “Thank you, Mr. Bellandi. I knew you wouldn’t leave one of your people out in the snow.”Lucian withdrew his hand and rubbed his thumb over the steering wheel. “A girl running errands for the foundation down at the docks has it rough enough.” The second those words left his mouth, the red numbers above his head twisted.[327 days, 4 hours, 47 minutes.]A pulse of red light flickered, and then it changed.[289 days, 10 hours, 12 minute

By morning, the migraine had eased, but my body still felt hollow. Lucian hadn’t come home all night. At six, his message arrived.[The repair crew never showed. I let her stay in a family safe house for the night. I’m back at the hotel now to handle the dock books. Remember to eat.]I stared at the words. A family safe house. The Bellandi safe houses were not hotels. They were not favors. They were the most private shelters the family owned, reserved only for people the Don had personally decided to protect. I didn’t believe they’d slept together. Lucian had lines he wouldn’t cross. But those words still hurt to look at.That afternoon, I went to the Bellandi Hotel. Ava had borrowed my car the night before and said she’d drive it to the hotel for me. She also asked me to bring over a few contracts Lucian had left at the penthouse. The frosted-glass door to the top-floor office opened into silence. Lucian was downstairs in a casino meeting. Mia sat at the assistant’s desk, sorting t

Lucian spun toward the master bedroom. The door stood half open. He strode in and yanked open the wardrobe.Part of it was empty. My nightgowns, work suits, deep green suitcase, and my mother’s old photograph were gone. The perfumes he’d bought me still sat on the vanity. I had taken nothing from him. Only what was mine.Lucian stood there, chest rising and falling hard. Then he pulled out his phone and called me. Once. No answer came. Twice. Straight to voicemail.That was when he finally realized I had blocked him.At three in the morning, Ava’s townhouse doorbell rang like someone was trying to break it. I sat on the sofa with a mug of hot tea, so exhausted I felt numb. Ava checked the peephole and laughed without humor. “Chicago’s most dignified Don is at my door.” I didn’t move. I only took another sip. “Don’t open it.” Ava gave me a quick got it sign and went back to her bedroom. The knocking grew heavier. Lucian’s strained voice came through the door. “Elena. I know you’re i

Three days later, Rosalind confirmed that my name had been removed from the accounts, property access, and private arrangements tied to the Bellandi family.Lucian refused to accept that I had walked away, and during the weeks that followed, he became a different man.Every morning when I opened Ava’s front door, a thermal meal basket sat on the handle. Lucian had cooked it himself. Smoked salmon bagels I used to love.Thick tomato beef soup. Cinnamon rolls with the edges baked a little too dark, exactly how I liked them.He even knew Ava hated onions and prepared two separate portions every day. I didn’t eat any of it. I threw every basket into the garbage downstairs.Ava watched me dump the polished little containers without mercy and clicked her tongue. “Damn. A Don doing the groveling-fiancé routine. Didn’t know they came in domestic.” I dusted off my hands. “Late love is worth less than bad debt on the docks.” I thought Lucian would give up after a few days. He had been raised a

Lucian developed arrhythmia after staying too long in the cold. He lay unconscious in the Bellandi private clinic for a day and a night. Marco, his underboss, called me with anger barely leashed in his voice.“Elena, do you have a heart at all? Mr. Bellandi nearly died for you, and you won’t even come look at him?”“He kept saying your name while he was out. Do you have to kill him before you’re satisfied?” I held the phone away from my ear until he finished shouting.“Marco.” My voice stayed calm. “He’s a grown man. Standing in the snow was his choice. If something happens to him, that’s on him. Not me.” Marco sucked in a breath. “You’re cold.”“Yes. I am.” Then I hung up. In the end, I still went to the clinic. Not because I was softening. Because I knew that if I didn’t cut the last thread cleanly, Lucian would keep staging this pointless martyr act. In the private room, Lucian lay in bed with an IV in the back of his hand, his face drained of color.Marco sat beside him. When he