“That’s not an answer,” I snapped, every muscle in my body trembling.“You tell me what he did.”
She stepped closer, pleading.“He thought she might expose things that would hurt you.He wanted to protect you from the fallout.Please understand?—”
I laughed again, sharp and humorless.“Protect me by killing the only person who loved me without an agenda?Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
Catrina flinched.“Mia, he loves you.In his way.You can’t imagine the lengths he’ll go to keep you safe.”
“Safe?”I repeated, shaking my head.“You call this safety?I call it a cage.The rest of my life might as well be in a fucking prison.”
“You’re angry, and you should be.But please, don’t let this destroy our friendship.You’ve been like a sister to me.”
Her voice broke on the last words, and something inside me cracked with it.Damn it.I wanted to hate her, but I saw it—the fear, the remorse.The same invisible leash that bound us both to the men in our lives.
I took a breath, slow and shaking.“Forgiveness isn’t easy in our world, but maybe it’s the only thing that makes us human.”
She blinked, surprise flickering through her tears.When I stepped closer, she flinched—not out of fear, but out of guilt.I took her hand anyway.
“You’ve been more family to me than anyone else.And in this world… that has to count for something.”
Catrina’s fingers tightened around mine.“You don’t know what that means.”
I did.Because the truth was, I needed her, too.Even if everything between us was twisted now, it was still something real in a house full of lies.
The quiet settled again, heavy but calmer.Then, a chill crept into the room—subtle, but unmistakable.The kind that came before a storm.
“Enrico,” I murmured.“He’s everywhere.”
Catrina nodded.“His love for you is as fierce as his empire.It’s… consuming.That’s what makes it dangerous.I’m worried about the lengths he’ll go to keep you by his side.”
I thought of his gaze last night—dark, hungry, and yet, so full of something I couldn’t name.The way his touch burned through me.The way he said my name like it belonged to him.That same dangerous tenderness that made me tremble, even now.
“Tell me the truth.How far will he go for me?”
Her answer was a whisper.“As far as he has to.He’s already killed for you… so anything goes.”
The weight of that truth pressed down on me, heavier than any diamond ring or silk gown he could ever give me.“Then I need to hear it from him.All of it.”
I set the cup down.My pulse thundered in my ears as I brushed past her.
“Where are you going?”
I paused at the doorway.“To talk to my husband.”
Her inhale was soft but full of dread.“Mia—be careful.”
Behind the study door, Enrico Di Fiore was waiting.This time, I wasn’t walking into his world.He was going to face mine.
17
ENRICO
Curtains were half-drawn against a pale sun, the light cut into long, obedient columns that stopped at the edge of my desk.I had been at there since before dawn, but the ledger laid closed.My father’s chair creaked under my weight when I shifted.The sound was a memory: of his boots on parquet, the thud of a palm on this very wood when a man lied, a lesson snatched out of the air and turned into law.
Control is the only reliable language,he used to say.I always believed him—mostly.Until last night, when Mia said my name in the dark.
Footsteps moved down the corridor: measured, aware, unafraid enough to be reckless.Not Marco.Not a servant.
I didn’t stand.I flattened one palm on the desk and kept my eyes on the door.The handle turned.She entered without knocking.She braided her hair low against her neck.Simple dress, bare throat, no jewelry except the ring I’d placed on her finger in front of half the city’s elite.The light from the hall haloed her for a heartbeat before the dark took her in and made her sharpen.She closed the door behind her.
