جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

My fingers tightened over the paper, crumbling the thick parchment just enough to obscure the dark ink. Cold sweat prickled at the back of my neck, but I forced my face to go dead smooth.“Maya.” Lorenzo’s deep voice dropped into a dangerous register as he took a heavy step toward me on the terrace. His storm-gray eyes locked onto the folded note in my hand. “Who is that from?”“It's nothing,” I said smoothly, sliding the paper behind my back before he could reach for it. “Just a bitter welcome note from one of your syndicate admirers.”“Give it to me,” Lorenzo commanded, extending his long-fingered hand. His jaw was set in granite. “In my world, unvetted letters don't reach my wife's hands unless I clear them first.”“I don't belong to your world, De Luca,” I replied sharply. “And I don't need my mail screened by your lieutenants.”Lorenzo didn't argue. In one swift, fluid movement, his hand shot out and clamped around my wrist, pulling me forward until my chest slammed against his c

The paper felt ice-cold against my trembling fingertips.June 14th. Six months ago.Lorenzo hadn't just shown up at our doorstep as a ruthless collector offering an ultimatum. He had quietly bought out every scrap of my father's IOUs, consolidated the loans under his private umbrella, and jacked up the interest until it reached an impossible five million dollars. He had set the trap half a year before I ever knew his name.He didn't come for the money. He came for me.A heavy boot scraped against the hardwood floor out in the corridor.My heart slammed into my ribs. Panicked, I shoved the ledger back into the hidden compartment behind the mahogany desk, smoothed down the binder, and slipped behind the heavy velvet window drapes just as the door of the study swung open.“We swept the perimeter, Don Lorenzo,” Marco’s muted voice echoed into the dark room. “The breach at the south gate was a false alarm—a decoy set by Moretti’s scouts.”“They’re testing my patience,” Lorenzo’s deep, grav

The interior of the tinted Maybach was dead quiet, save for the rhythmic hum of the engine as we sped down the highway, leaving the De Luca Financial Tower behind.I sat glued to the far side of the leather seat, staring out the darkened window at the passing city lights. Beside me, Lorenzo sat with his legs uncrossed, broad shoulders taking up half the cabin. He had unbuttoned his charcoal worsted wool suit jacket and loosened his jacquard tie, but there was zero relaxation in his posture. He looked like a predator resting between kills.“If you stare at the glass any harder, Mrs. De Luca, you’re going to crack it,” Lorenzo rasped, his deep voice slicing through the heavy silence.I didn't turn my head. “I’m just trying to figure out how far I need to go to escape your suffocating possessiveness.”A low, dry rumble sounded in his chest—a sound that was almost a smirk, though his face remained carved from ice. “You are my wife. When a rat like Jacob leans into your space, I need to re

“Huh? You wish.”I smirked right into Lorenzo’s dark, arrogant face, using two fingers against his midnight-blue suit lapels to push him back just an inch.“Let me remind you of something, Don De Luca,” I whispered, my voice dripping with honeyed venom as I looked straight into his eyes. “This contract is for three hundred and sixty-five days. 3-6-5 days of me enduring your caveman routine, and then I am gone. You don't own the rest of my life. You just bought a twelve-month lease.”Lorenzo’s hand tightened on my chin, his thumb pressing firmly against my jawline with cold, absolute dominance. His gray eyes blazed with a dark, terrifying intensity that made zero effort to mask his possessiveness.“Keep counting the days, little lion,” Lorenzo growled low in his throat, his dark smirk returning with lethal confidence. “By day three hundred and sixty-four, you'll realize the only way you leave this cage is if I open the door. And I never open doors for what's mine.”“We'll see about tha

Night had fallen over the estate by the time the motorcade returned from the corporate tower.The heavy, suffocating silence of the house weighed on me as I stood in the doorway of Lorenzo’s study. The adrenaline from the lobby, the restaurant, and my snappy retorts had completely drained out of me, leaving my limbs heavy.Lorenzo sat behind his massive mahogany desk, pouring two fingers of amber bourbon into a crystal glass. His charcoal worsted wool jacket was draped over the back of his chair, his white sleeves rolled up to reveal the dark ink covering his forearms.“Lorenzo,” I said softly, my voice lacking its usual sharp, venomous edge.He didn't look up immediately. “Speak, Maya.”“I want to see my father,” I said, taking a small step into the room. My voice quavered slightly, a crack in my psychological armor that I couldn't hide. “I’ve been in this house for weeks. I’ve done everything you asked. I wore your ring, stood by your side. I just... I need to see him.”Lorenzo set