And now she was standing in front of me, staring back with wide, shocked eyes—eyes full of pain and disbelief.
She had changed very little.
Older, yes. Stronger. More composed.
And somehow even more beautiful than before.
The same intense eyes. The same delicate face. The same mouth I once kissed with obsession.
Something raw and violent opened in my chest—unwanted, unexpected.
That face shouldn’t mean anything anymore.
That woman had no place in my world.
She was a liar. A traitor. A stain.
So why the hell did my pulse feel out of control?
Why did my throat tighten while heat—dangerous, sharp—flooded through me?
“Enrico…?” she whispered, disbelieving.
And something in me reacted violently to the sound of her voice—fragile and stunned.
That single whisper was enough to unleash a near irrational fury through every part of me.
How dare she.
How dare she stand there—breathing the same air as me—confronting me like she had the right.
I straightened, my expression snapping back into the cold, absolute control I wore like armor. I folded my arms across my chest and looked at her with a smile that was pure ice.
“Well, well… Valentina,” I said softly, venom wrapped in silk. “Looks like you finally found your place.” My gaze flicked to her sign, then back to her face. “Fighting to defend ruins—exactly what you’ve always been.”
Pain cut across her beautiful face. Her eyes glittered with tears she refused to shed.
Good.
I wanted her to feel what I had felt when I saw those damn photos years ago.
And even now, after all this time, I was burning—caught in a silent, brutal chaos that threatened every carefully constructed limit I’d built over the years… just because she was standing here.
Valentina was right in front of me, dragging everything I hated about my past back to life.
And it wouldn’t go unpunished.
I had warned her never to appear in front of me again.
And here she was—defying me.
Then she could pay the price.
I wouldn’t settle for unshed tears.
I would have her desperation.
I would have her pain.
