The convoy glided forward like a dark wave, heading toward the exit ramp.
Then they were gone — disappearing as if they had never been there at all.
Vincenzo didn’t move.
He stood still, eyes locked on the disappearing convoy until the last red taillight vanished into the distance.
Only then did his shoulders drop slightly.
Just enough to reveal the truth beneath the surface.
Helpless.
A man who controlled everything—except the one thing that mattered.
“I have to save my sister,” Vincenzo said, his voice tight and grinding with barely restrained fury.
“Rafael will ruin her... It kills me that I stood there and did nothing while they dragged her away.”
There was something breaking beneath his words — a fracture he couldn’t hide and couldn’t fix.
I stepped closer, careful, as if approaching a wounded animal.
“I’ll stay,” I said gently. “I’ll help you figure out a way.”
He looked stunned, eyes widening with raw disbelief.
“Elena... you’re staying? With me?” His voice dropped, almost hoarse.
“You’re no longer divorcing me?”
“For now, yes,” I answered. “Until we get your sister out of the shackles of that marriage.”
“No one should ever have to experience what I went through under you.”
The words landed hard.
Guilt slammed into him visibly — a flinch in his jaw, a shadow crossing his face.
But he only nodded once, sharply.
His gaze flickered away from me, locking onto the empty space where Loretta had disappeared moments ago.
“She knows nothing of this life,” he said bitterly. “She’s too innocent.”
His fists tightened at his sides until the knuckles bleached white.
“Come, Elena,” he murmured at last, reaching for my hand.
Then—
Without warning—
He moved.
Before I could react, Vincenzo bent down and lifted me into his arms.
Bridal style.
