He leads me up wooden steps to a wide deck that wraps around the house. Through the glass doors, I can see an open living area with comfortable-looking furniture, all oriented toward the panoramic ocean view.
"I bought it five years ago," he explains, unlocking the door. "After a particularly rough period. Needed somewhere that wasn't... tainted."
I step inside, immediately drawn to the wall of windows overlooking the Atlantic. The interior is surprisingly cozy - natural woods, soft blues and whites, with none of the opulence of the mansion. There are no pretenses here, no image to maintain.
"This doesn't seem like you," I say, running my hand along a weathered driftwood table.
Damiano sets our bags down. "Maybe it's more me than anything else you've seen."
I turn to look at him, this man I thought I knew completely. The man I once planned to destroy, who became my protector, my lover, the father of my child. And now I'm seeing yet another layer.
"Thank you," I say simply. "For sharing this with me."
Damiano steps behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as we gaze out at the ocean. His warm breath tickles my neck as he pulls me closer against his chest.
"I have plenty of things to share with you, lupacchiotta," he murmurs, his lips brushing my ear. "Not just this house."
I lean back into his embrace, feeling the steady beat of his heart against my spine. "Like what?"
He turns me gently in his arms until we're face to face. His dark eyes, usually so guarded and calculating, now look at me with such naked vulnerability that my breath catches.
"Like every part of me I've kept hidden." His voice drops lower, rougher.
His hands come up to cradle my face, thumbs tracing my cheekbones with such tenderness it makes my heart ache.
"You crashed into my life and shattered every wall Ibuilt." His Italian accent thickens with emotion. "Even when you came to destroy me, you ended up saving me instead."
I swallow hard, feeling tears prick behind my eyes.
"Ti amo con tutta l'anima," he whispers. "I love you with my entire soul. Not just pieces of me, but everything I am. The monster and the man. The darkness and whatever light you've somehow found in me."
His forehead touches mine, our breaths mingling.
"Before you, I existed. With you, I live." His voice breaks slightly. "You are the air in my lungs, the blood in my veins. My redemption when I thought I was beyond saving."
One of his hands slides down to rest protectively over my stomach, where our child grows.
"You've given me a future when I was trapped in the past." His eyes shine with unshed tears. "A family when I thought I'd lost my chance. Hope when I'd forgotten what it felt like."
I can't stop my own tears from falling now, overwhelmed by the raw emotion in his words, in his touch.
"You own me completely, Zoe," he says fiercely. "Not because I gave you power over me, but because loving you has become as natural and necessary as breathing. Without you, I would be a fucking deadman walking."
Zoe's naked body is tangled in the sheets, her blonde hair splayed across the pillow like liquid gold. We've spent the last twenty-four hours making love in every corner of this place - against the windows, in the jacuzzi, on the kitchen counter.
Fuck, I never thought I could feel this way about anyone after. But here I am, staring at my wife like a lovesick teenager.
The vibration of my phone on the nightstand cuts through the peaceful silence. I reach for it quickly, hoping it doesn't wake Zoe. My eyes narrow at the screen - Alessio calling at 2:17 a.m. is never good news.
I slip out of bed and pad naked to the balcony, sliding the glass door closed behind me. The cool Atlantic breeze hits my skin as I answer.
"This better be important," I growl into the phone.
"Damiano." Alessio's voice is tight, controlled. I immediately recognize his crisis tone. "We have a problem. A big one."
My body tenses, hand gripping the railing. "What happened?"
"The Venetian Rose. There's been an incident." He pauses, and I can hear muffled voices in the background. "I can't discuss details over the phone, but we are demanding your presence. Now."
