—- Chapter 5 | opened my car door and got out. Every movement was slow, graceful, just like my mother had taught me. Even at your angriest, maintain your composure. Marco and the others tensed up, their hands instinctively moving to the guns hidden under their jackets, like soldiers facing a sudden enemy. But Luciano stopped them with a look. | walked until | was standing right in front of them, just three steps away. Close enough to see the panic in Luciano’s eyes. Close enough to smell the mix of sweat and perfume on Maya.
“Having fun, Luciano?” Luciano opened his mouth, but no sound came out. “Catherine, this isn’t what it looks like-” Marco stepped forward, trying to smooth things over, sweat already beading on his forehead. —- But Maya just let out a smirk. It was full of malice and victory. She deliberately linked her arm with Luciano’s, a possessive gesture, and stared at me with a triumphant glint in her green eyes. She looked glad I’d found out. Like this was what she wanted all along. | remembered her telling me not to marry him. The warnings about him being dangerous.
The fake fight she picked just to leave. Arage | had never felt before threatened to swallow me whole. | raised my hand. And | slapped Luciano across the face. Hard. Crack. His head snapped to the side. A perfect red handprint bloomed on his handsome cheek. “So this is the famous Carbone loyalty,” | said, my voice dripping ice. —- “The engagement is off. We’re done.” Maya’s smile widened. She held Luciano’s arm even tighter, like a lioness claiming her kill. But Luciano suddenly shoved her away, his eyes wild with panic as he lunged toward me. “Catherine, wait!
You can’t-” | turned to leave. “Catherine!” Luciano grabbed me from behind, his grip so strong | couldn’t break free. “Please, just let me explain!” | could smell Maya’s perfume on him, mixed with sweat and something else | didn’t want to imagine. Disgusting. “It was Maya! She seduced me! | never meant for it to happen, | swear!” his voice trembled in my ear. ” She stole a key card to my hotel room when | was in Miami for that negotiation. | was drunk, and we…” | stopped struggling. | turned to look at him, my mind reeling. —- Miami. The last time he went to Miami was a year ago.
And he proposed to me right after he got back. Ayear. They’d been sleeping together for a whole goddamn year. “Catherine, you have to believe me.” Luciano’s eyes were filled with tears. He looked pathetic. “Even if | fucked her, Catherine, my heart is yours. Only yours. You have to know that!” A wave of nausea washed over me. | pushed him off me and turned to face Maya. She was still standing by her bike, that smug smirk still on her face. Not a single word of explanation. No denial. No apology. Just watching me, like it was all a show.
“Aren’t you going to say anything, Maya?” my voice shook. “Ten years of friendship, and you won’t even give me an explanation?” Maya just shrugged. “What’s there to explain? —- Catherine, | told you he wasn’t right for you.” My heart shattered completely. So you’re the one who’s right for him, Maya? | held up my left hand. The diamond engagement ring glittered in the morning light. Ten carats. A symbol of the Carbone family’s power, of our two years together, of the wedding that was supposed to happen. | slowly slid it off my finger.
“Catherine, don’t…” Luciano’s voice was a ragged whisper. “I’m sorry,” | said, looking at the beautiful ring. “I don’t understand your world. | don’t get how a man can say ‘I love you’ and still betray you. Or how a woman can say she cares while sticking a knife in your back. | placed the ring in Luciano’s trembling palm. “I’m clear on one thing,” | said, my voice steady. “The wedding is off. Stay the hell away from me.” —- | turned and walked toward my car. “Catherine!” Luciano yelled, then roared at his men.” Stop her!
Don’t let her leave!” Marco and the others quickly surrounded my car, blocking my path. But | didn’t stop walking. | went straight to the driver’s side, got in, and shut the door. Through the window, | stared at Luciano. His face was a mask of pain and humiliation, his eyes filled with a desperation I’d never seen before. | started the engine. The roar was deafening in the quiet morning. | put the car in drive and began to move forward. Slowly, but without hesitation. Marco and his men looked at me, then at the look on their boss’s face. They faltered. They knew.
When it came to this woman, the Don —- had no authority. Finally, they stepped aside. For the first time, the Don had given an order, and his woman had overruled it. | drove back to the estate, the home full of our memories. Our love nest. It all felt so fake now. Every tree, every flower, had been hand-picked by Luciano for me. He’d hired 100 gardeners just to make sure | only saw the freshest, most beautiful blooms every day. | went inside to pack, taking only what was mine. From the jewelry box, my mother’s necklace. From the closet, the dresses | designed myself.
From the bookshelf, the art books I’d collected since Iwas a child. The rest, he could keep. But the entire wall was covered in photos of us. A gallery of lies that stabbed me in the eyes. —- He said he wanted to travel to a thousand cities with me, to take a lifetime of pictures, that he was only happy when | was by his side. Now, he and Maya could continue their games here. | dragged my suitcase to the door, ready to leave this place forever. My hand had just touched the doorknob when the elevator dinged. Frantic footsteps echoed down the hall.
A familiar voice, choked with tears, called out from outside the door. “Catherine.” Luciano was slumped against our bedroom door, his face streaked with tears, looking like a broken little boy.
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.
