Chapter 97
Chapter 20
Luca’s heart twisted as he watched Nico hiccupping into the pillow, his small body trembling with sobs that felt far too heavy for someone so young. It hit him like a freight train–his little boy’s problems ran far deeper than simple homesickness or exhaustion. Nico wasn’t just upset; he was suffering. He had been silently carrying the fear that his mother was going to abandon him, and Luca hada’s
even realized the depth of his pain until now.
“Nico!” Luca’s voice was thick with emotion, his hands gently cupping Nico’s tear–streaked face, willing his son to look at him. “Tesoro. that’s not true,” he whispered, his throat tight with the effort to keep his own tears at bay. “Your mumma loves you. She would never leave you. She couldn’t even think of leaving you, believe me, Caro.”
He believed it with every fiber of his being. Amber might have had her flaws, but Luca had never once doubted her love for their son. He still remembered the first time he had seen her holding a newborn Nico in her arms, the fierce protective look in her eyes that only a mother could have. When she had left him years ago, she hadn’t taken anything–not a single piece of jewelry, not a dollar from their shared life. The only thing she had taken was Nico, and Luca had known in that moment that whatever else might change between them,
Amber’s love for their son was untouchable.
But Nico didn’t know that. He was too young to understand the complexities, too fragile to grasp that his mother’s absence wasn’t a sign of abandonment. Luca could see the fear etched into his son’s face, the way it distorted his small features as if he were crumbling from
the inside out.
“I heard her…” Nico’s voice broke through Luca’s thoughts, his words barely coherent through the sobs. “I heard her talking to her friend… she… mummy said she was going to leave me here with you!” His little body shook with the force of his grief. “I don’t wanna stay here, Daddy… everyone’s horrible here. I want to live with mummy!”
Luca’s chest felt like it was being crushed under the weight of Nico’s words. The pain was so raw, so consuming, that he struggled to breathe for a moment. His son, his beautiful boy, was breaking right in front of him, and there was nothing he could do to change what had already happened. But he could try to fix this now, to at least soothe the storm raging inside Nico’s heart.
“Shhh… shhh… Tesoro, stop crying,” Luca murmured, pulling Nico into his lap, rubbing slow circles on his back to calm him. He felt the tremors in Nico’s small frame, the bottled–up pain that had been eating at him, festering inside until it spilled out like this. Luca’s own heart broke with every sob, but he pushed his own grief aside. This wasn’t about him. It was about Nico.
“Hey, listen to me, okay? You know what I think?” Luca pulled Nico back slightly so he could look into his son’s tearful eyes. “I think mummy wasn’t talking about leaving you for good. She was probably talking about the summer holidays.*
Nico sniffled, his sobs quieting a little, though his face was still full of doubt.
“Remember last time, when I came to visit you in the States?” Luca continued, his voice gentle. “Your mumma said the same thing to me -that she would let me have you for the summer holidays. I bet that’s what she was saying to her friend. She wasn’t saying she’s leaving you, Caro. She was just talking about spending time with me here. That’s all.”
21:37 Tue, Feb 3 …
Chapter 97
Sico’s sobs had reduced to quiet sniffles, his small hands clutching Luca’s shirt tightly. His wide, tear–filled eyes searched Luca’s face,
looking for reassurance, for some spark of truth he could hold onto.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
