I straightened up from the table and braced my hands on either side of her. Chloe tilted her head back to look at me, and in those honey-colored eyes, all the fear had melted away. What replaced it made my chest tighten—love.
She'd believed every single word that came out of my mouth. The engagement's off, wait to marry me—she'd swallowed every lie I'd fed her, then handed me her biggest secret.
And I was using her innocence to deceive her.
"Enzo?" Chloe's hand covered mine. "What are you thinking about?"
Thinking about what a fucking mess I've made.
"Thinking about what to name the baby," I said.
Chloe smiled. Her whole face glowed. She pulled my hand to her stomach, covered it with her own palm, and said seriously, "We don't need to rush the name. Let's just get him born safe and sound first."
I tightened my arms around her and rested my chin on top of her head. Her breath came warm against my collarbone, soft and steady, like a silent kind of trust.
The fireplace burned hot, warming the whole living room. We didn't end up continuing on the dining table. After a while, Chloe's breathing deepened, her fingers loosened their grip on my shirt, and her whole weight sagged against me.
She'd fallen asleep.
But my brain was still running at full speed. This surprise had disrupted my plans. I needed to rearrange everything.
No one could know about Chloe's existence. If Julian's peoplefound out I had a pregnant mistress, they wouldn't let that leverage slip by. The alliance with Valentina's family had to speed up, too. I needed to deal with these problems as fast as possible.
Then, after the dust settled, find a way to break the engagement with Valentina. It'd probably cost me, but with the right price, nothing was impossible.
The only wild card—Valentina Lombardi wasn't a woman who let go easily. She had an almost obsessive hunger for power. Breaking things off with her meant going to war with the entire Lombardi family.
That would be one hell of a headache.
But it was all worth it. I held my sleeping beauty with one arm, pulled out my phone with the other, and sent Luca a message.
"Send people over. Beef up security at the villa. Anyone suspicious within a one-kilometer radius—don't wait for clearance. Handle it."
Luca replied in three seconds. "Copy that."
Chapter Fifteen
Chloe
The next few days were the happiest of my life.
I knew that sounded cheesy, but I couldn't think of a better way to put it.
Enzo bent down every morning before leaving to kiss my forehead. Sometimes I wasn't even awake yet, just felt that warm brush against my skin before it pulled away.
He came home at random hours—early some nights, one or two in the morning others. But no matter how late, he'd stand by the bed first, watching me for a bit before hitting the shower.
How did I know? Because I always pretended to sleep.
I loved peeking through half-closed eyes at Enzo when he thought I was out. He'd linger there forever, no lights on, just staring in the dark. I couldn't make out his expression clearly, but I felt his gaze. It was gentle enough to make my heart race.
Enzo changed a lot after learning about the baby.
He stayed hard as steel, but tiny details showed the shift. Like how he got naggy. One time I grabbed just a coffee for breakfast, and that night he told Anna no more caffeine for me. I protested for a full twenty minutes. He listened stone-faced, then flat-out refused.
"No."
"You know what this is? Control freak." I raised my fist.
