But I didn't. And that mistake almost cost me everything.
Gunfire erupted outside the door. My security team had arrived—I recognized the pattern, the disciplined bursts. The attackers returned fire, but they were outnumbered now.
Valentina moved to my side, gun raised, covering the door despite the locks.
We waited in darkness, her shoulder pressed against mine, both of us breathing in sync. Death lurked twenty feet away, separated by steel and locks, as the men bled out in my hallway.
She should have been terrified. Should have been sobbing or frozen or useless.
Instead, she stood ready, finger alongside the trigger guard like I'd taught her, eyes scanning for threats.
"You're full of surprises," I said quietly.
"So are you." She glanced at me. "Most men would have locked me in the panic room whether I agreed or not."
"I thought about it."
"But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Because she'd looked at me with absolute conviction and saidwe're in this together, and something in my chest had cracked open.
Because in five days she'd transformed from terrified victim to warrior, and I'd be damned if I shoved her back into a cage.
Because I was falling for her, and that made me both stronger and more vulnerable than I'd ever been.
I could deflect. Give her the easy answer. Keep my walls intact.
But after what we'd just shared on that desk—her body beneath mine, her gasps in my ear, the way she'd looked at me like I was everything—I couldn't keep lying.
"Because you looked at me and said 'we're in this together,'" I said quietly, "and something in me broke open. Something I'd kept locked down for twenty years."
She went very still, her eyes searching my face in the dim emergency lighting.
"In five days, you went from a terrified woman with a gun to someone who stands beside me covering exits during an attack." My hand found hers, fingers interlacing. "I'd be damned if I locked you in a cage after watching you become this strong. You're not a victim, Valentina. You're a warrior. And I—"
I stopped, the words catching in my throat.
Say it. Just fucking say it.
"I'm falling for you," I admitted, voice rough. "Which terrifies me more than any attack, any blood debt, any threat we've faced. Because caring about someone makes you vulnerable. Gives your enemies leverage. And I've spent my entire life making sure I had no weaknesses."
Her breath hitched. "Alessio—"
"But you're not a weakness," I continued, needing her to understand. "You make me stronger. Braver. Make me want to be the man who deserves you instead of the monster my father trained me to be."
Tears glittered in her eyes. "You're not a monster."
"I've done monstrous things."
"So has every person who's ever survived impossible circumstances." She stepped closer until we were breathing the same air. "You broke a blood oath to protect me. You're risking everything—your family, your position, your life—because you chose me over duty. That's not a monster, Alessio. That's a man capable of love."
Love.
The word hung between us, terrifying and true.
