Chapter 56
Massimo
“I t was messy. But it was mine, ” Rowan says.
She is glowing. Not from makeup, not from lighting, though Nora’s crew is damn good. No, Rowan glows because she’s speaking her truth. And the world is listening.
I sit beside her, posture relaxed, one arm resting across the back of the couch, but inside I’m coiled tight. Not from nerves. From pride. From protectiveness. From something I haven’t quite put words to yet.
She doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t stumble. When Nora presses gently on the heat outside the hotel, on the speculation, the accusations, Rowan holds steady. She doesn’t look to any of us for help. She doesn’t need to. But I’d give it anyway, in a heartbeat.
Nora turns slightly toward our end of the couch, her expression calm but curious. “Massimo Ricci, you’re known for being the most private member of this pack. And yet, here you are, very publicly bonded to an Omega who, just a few weeks ago, didn’t even know she was one. What made you choose her?”
Rowan’s breath hitches beside me. Not from fear. From emotion. I don’t look at the camera. I don’t need to. My eyes stay on her.
“I didn’t choose her,” I say quietly. “I recognized her.”
Nora’s brows lift slightly.
“She’s ours,” I continue, “from the moment our scents collided. There was no decision to make. Only instinct. Only truth .”
I turn slightly, looking at Rowan, letting the rest of the world fall away for one breath. “ Ti ho riconosciuta nell’anima, non nei dettagli. ”
Nora’s brow lifts again, just a little.
I meet her eyes. “It means, ‘I recognized her soul, not the details.’”
Rowan’s fingers slip into mine, gentle and sure. I squeeze once, then glance back at Nora. “And the truth doesn’t care what the world thinks.”
There’s a beat of silence. Then Nora nods. “Beautifully said.”
She shifts again, this time toward the other end of the couch.
“Laurent, I know you were in the middle of a game when everything changed. What was it like coming into the pack after that moment?”
He chuckles under his breath. “Loud.”
Rowan laughs softly beside me, and I feel the warmth of it ripple down the bond like sunlight on skin.
And just like that, the mood shifts again. Lighter. Still serious but grounded now. Real.
Nora turns her attention gently to Sébastien. “And you, Sébastien... you've been very open about being a registered Omega for years. What has it been like to bond with someone who didn’t even know they were one?”
Sébastien straightens slightly, his fingers still looped through Rowan’s. His voice is soft, but confident.
“It has been beautiful... and heartbreaking,” he says. “Rowan is discovering everything all at once. And yet, she’s handled it with more grace than most could imagine. I feel honored to share this with her.”
He glances at her, and a quiet smile pulls at the corner of his mouth.
“Elle est mon ame s?ur.”
Nora tilts her head. “And what does that mean?”
He looks back at her, still calm but glowing from somewhere deep inside.
“She is my soulmate.”
He says it like a vow.
And I swear I feel Rowan melt beside him. Nora lowers the tablet slowly, letting the silence stretch. Her tone is perfectly measured when she speaks again, too calm to be casual.
“I see,” she says softly, then glances across the couch. “Sébastien believes in soulmates. What about you, Mr. King?”
Xavier’s head turns just slightly. His jaw flexes once, but he doesn’t answer right away.
“I believe in loyalty,” he says, voice low. “In responsibility. In instinct.”
Nora arches a brow. “But not soulmates?”
He leans forward, elbows on his knees, gaze cutting clean through the cameras and Nora both.
“If I didn’t believe in soulmates, I wouldn’t be here.”
That hush returns, the kind that feels sacred. And in that pause, Rowan’s fingers curl tighter between Sébastien’s and mine.
Nora nods, then pauses, just long enough that I feel the shift coming. The weight.
“And Rowan,” she says, turning back to her with that same even tone, “your relationship with your pack has been the focus of much conversation. But your family, the Hart pack... has remained silent. Until now.”
Rowan’s body stiffens. My hand slides back to her waist. Nora doesn’t press. She waits a beat, then lifts her tablet.
“We reached out to your parents for comment.”
The air in the room tightens. Nora glances down, reads.
“‘We love our daughter very much. We only wish she had come to us with the truth instead of making a spectacle of herself. Rowan has always been a creative spirit, but this display is deeply concerning.’”
Rowan doesn’t move. Not a twitch. Not a breath. But I feel the devastation bloom along the bond. Slow. Quiet. Cracking through her ribcage. I see Sébastien’s hand tighten on hers. Laurent shifts closer. Cole sits forward.
And Xavier? He doesn’t blink. But his rage is silent and radiating .