“I don’t give a fucking shit!Go find her right away!”
His voice hit me like a shot.Rough, commanding, too familiar.
“Alessandro...”I breathed again, but my throat closed up halfway through his name.My vision blurred, and for a moment I thought I’d pass out right there.I blinked fast, trying to hold on to reality, trying to stop my legs from giving out.
Because what scared me more than seeing him alive...was the thought that he might not want me anymore.
By the time my thoughts stopped spinning, I realized the housekeeper had started leading me away.I caught a glimpse of Bruno and Salvatore exiting the room I’d just seen him in.
Instinct kicked in.
I pulled free, shoved past them before they could stop me, and ran straight to that door.My breath hitched when I burst through.
He was there.
Alessandro stood by the window, the skyline bleeding gold behind him.When he heard me, he turned — and froze like he’d seen a ghost.
My chest caved in.Every cell in my body screamed to move, to speak, to fucking breathe.
“Alessandro...”My voice cracked.
Behind me, a shout.“What is your problem?”Salvatore barked.He stormed up and grabbed me, yanking me backward.“Why can’t you just listen to what we tell you to do?”
“P-please...l-let me go,” I stammered, struggling against his grip, tears spilling before I could stop them.
“Salvatore.”
That voice.Deeper now.Harder.
I looked up — Alessandro stood in front of us, hands buried in his pockets, gaze unreadable.His tone was calm, but there was iron in it.
“Let her be.”
Salvatore froze, then slowly released me.His jaw tightened before he turned and left without another word.
And suddenly it was just us.
Silence.Heavy.Suffocating.
I stood there, barefoot on the cold marble floor, staring at him like I’d waited my whole life for this moment — only to have it crush me from the inside out.He was right there, but he wasn’t him anymore.
He looked older, sharper.The beard, the tailored suit, the way he carried himself — this wasn’t the same man who used to laugh at 3 a.m.with a gun in one hand and me in the other.
He wasn’t my Alessandro anymore.
“You’re free to go.”
The words hit harder than a bullet.
That was it?After all the years, all the nights I cried myself to sleep thinking about him — that’s all he had to say?
My lips parted, but no sound came out.Tears burned down my cheeks as I searched his face for even a flicker of the man I loved.Nothing.Just that cold, flat stare — the look of a man who’d buried every piece of softness he ever had.
“Alessandro,” I whispered, my voice breaking.“It’s me...Ariana.”
He stiffened, rage flashing in his eyes.He took a step back, as if even hearing my name burned.
“I don’t care who you are,” he gritted out.His jaw clenched, his voice full of venom that made my stomach twist.“You’re free to go.Leave.”
