But because, for the first time since the ring slid onto my finger, I see the wounded boy behind the polished man—the boy who counted headlights in the dark and waited for a love that always came home broken.
My cheek rests softly against his palm. His thumb grazes my temple, tender and reverent, like he’s memorizing the shape of something he never believed he deserved.
He exhales shakily, almost in relief.
I don’t pull away.
His other hand rises to cradle the back of my head, guiding me gently toward him. When my forehead meets his shoulder, the contact is so subtle, so impossibly delicate, it feels like touching a live wire wrapped in velvet.
And I let myself stay there.
Just for a breath. Then another.
His heartbeat thuds steady beneath my ear—a quiet, steady rhythm that shouldn’t comfort me, and yet somehow does.
In that moment, against all logic and every warning I’ve whispered to myself, I let the wall between us lower, if only a fraction.
He presses a soft, lingering kiss to the crown of my head—so unexpected, so gentle—it steals the air from my lungs.
And when his lips trail down, barely grazing my temple, I should stop him.
I should step back.I should remember the distance I’ve kept.
But I don’t.
Because tonight—just tonight—I allow myself to rest in the arms of the man whose wounds I finally understand… and whose darkness, for the first time, doesn’t frighten me.
9
MATTEO
The day has finally come.
Giacomo getsto parade himself around—and apparently with the mysterious bride he’s been hyping for months.
I was beginningto think she was nothing more than a convenient rumor, another story he fed us to stay three steps ahead.
I adjust the watch on my wrist and look up to the chandeliers hanging above us in the room, but my mind is on one thing and one thing alone.
That damn dream wrecked me.
It had felt so real.Shehad felt so real, like she’d actually been in my hands.
Wanting her is a mistake. She’s a complication I can’t afford—an intrusion in a life already filled with enemies waiting to strike.
I don’t have room for distractions. Especially not a woman who slips under my skin like a blade.
Stay the course. Keep the focus.
“Looks like all our enemies and friends have gathered under one roof.” Valerio comes to stand beside me with a whiskey in hand. “I’m sure if we had our weapons, half of this crowd would be dead.”
I see many of the men who reveled in my father being gunned down like a bull.
They knowwhat they’ve said, and they will answer for it. Many don’t meet my gaze, and even fewer have the decency to shake my hand and offer delayed condolences.
They know it’s better to make me an ally rather than a foe.
“This is all for show anyway. A façade of good faith from our world to the politicians and businessmen of this city.”
