Chapter 25 Valentina
VALENTINA
I’m happier than I’ve ever been. But the cloud of my future is never far away.
As much as I try to push it aside when Cristian is with me, it’s always there.
Especially as the wedding draws closer.
Each time we're together is both pure bliss and torture.
I've never felt more alive than when I'm with him, and I've never been more aware of my impending death sentence.
Yesterday, I told Alessandro I wouldn't go through with the wedding.
He stared at me like I'd grown a second head, then dismissed me as if I'd suggested something as trivial as changing the tablecloths.
"It's my life," I'd shouted after him.
"It's the family's future," he'd replied without turning back.
My time with Cristian has become a dangerous addiction, each forbidden moment more intoxicating than the last.
Like yesterday, when I was sorting through wedding invitations in the library, hating each name I wrote.
"Your brother's looking for you," Cristian announced, entering with that serious expression he wears around others.
The moment the door shut behind him, his mask fell away.
In three swift strides, he crossed the room, pulled me from my chair, and pressed me against the bookshelf.
"We have five minutes," he whispered, his lips already finding that spot beneath my ear that makes my knees weak.
Five minutes to forget the wedding. Five minutes where I belonged to no one but him.
It’s a dangerous game we’re playing. Last week, he pulled me into the coat closet.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing as we heard Alessandro walking past, completely unaware his sister was pressed between winter coats with her bodyguard's hand sliding under her dress.
This morning, he cornered me in the pantry while the cook was preparing breakfast just one room away.
The thrill of almost being discovered sent electricity through my veins as he lifted me onto a shelf, hands gripping my thighs.
These stolen moments are tiny rebellions.
Each secret kiss is a middle finger to my brothers, to Maksim, to the entire Mafia world that sees me as property to be bought and sold.
But beneath the excitement lies the truth that we're just postponing the inevitable.
Our time is running out, and we both know it.
I get ready for bed, closing out another day, bringing me closer to my doom.
I climb in bed, settling under the sheets wishing I could fall asleep and then wake up in a different life.
Cristian probably isn’t coming tonight, so I’m alone with my thoughts that always turn to the worst.
I wake to the soft tap on my balcony door.
My body responds before my mind, growing warm with anticipation.
Cristian slips inside.
"I thought you weren't coming tonight," I whisper, already moving toward him.
"I said I'd try not to." His voice is rough with need as he reaches for me. "I'm not very good at staying away from you."
The heat of his palm against my lower back grounds me, makes me feel safe.
"Good," I murmur against his mouth. "I don't want you to be good at that."
His kiss is hungry, desperate, like he's been starving for hours and I'm the only sustenance that will satisfy him. I drink in the taste of him, memorizing the pressure of his lips, the scent of his skin.
"Let me." I push him back toward my bed.
His eyes widen slightly as I'm not usually the one who takes control.
But tonight, I need this power, this reminder that my body is still mine to give.
We discard our clothes and I guide him down onto my mattress, enjoying the way his breath catches as I slowly climb on top of him.
"What are you doing to me, Valentina?" he groans as I trail my fingers along his chest.
"Whatever I want. I think I’ll start—”
A sharp knock interrupts the moment.
Cristian freezes below me, his eyes locking with mine in mutual panic.
"Valentina? Are you awake?" Alessandro's voice comes through the door.
"Shit," Cristian mouths, lifting me off him.
"Just a minute!" I call out, my voice pitching up.
Cristian snatches his clothes from the floor.
I throw on my robe and frantically straighten the sheets.
Another knock, more insistent this time. "Valentina. I need to speak with you."
"Coming!" I run my fingers through my tangled hair. "Just getting decent!"
Cristian grabs his shoes, giving me a quick, hard kiss before slipping through the balcony doors. I close them behind him, checking that the curtains fully cover the glass.
I scan the room frantically.
Cristian's tie is tossed on my nightstand. I snatch it up, shoving it under my pillow just as Alessandro knocks again.
"For God's sake, Val—"
I yank the door open, trying to appear sleepily annoyed rather than terrified. "What's so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"
Alessandro studies my face, and I force myself to meet his gaze hoping he doesn’t see evidence of what I was doing with Cristian.
"Maksim called. He wants to move up the wedding." He steps past me into the room, and my stomach drops.
I fold my arms, positioning myself between him and the balcony doors. "At this hour? It's nearly midnight."
Alessandro pauses, nostrils flaring slightly. "Why does your room smell like cologne?"
My mind races. "It’s perfume. I’m testing ones Maksim might like." I gesture vaguely toward my vanity.
He frowns, and for a moment, I think he's going to call my bluff.
His gaze drifts toward my bed, and I see his eyes narrow at the disheveled state of the sheets.
"I was having trouble sleeping," I say, moving to block his view. "It’s hard to sleep when you’re about to be forced to live with a man who'd just as soon as kill me—”
“Valentina—”
"What couldn't wait until morning?" I ask, now really annoyed.
“He wants an answer.”
I want to tell my brother and Maksim to go to hell, but I’m so worried that Alessandro will learn my secret that I want him out of the room more than I want to fight.
I decide to give in. "Fine, but give me a minute, would you? Then we can discuss whatever urgent matter Maksim has created in your office."
He nods and for a moment watches me, almost as if he wants to say something.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he leaves my room, shutting the door behind him.
I wait to see if Cristian is returning, but I know he wouldn’t have hung around to risk being discovered.
I make my way to the bathroom, needing to splash cold water on my face.
The close call with Alessandro has left me shaken.
One moment of carelessness could destroy not just my future, but Cristian's life.
I flip on the light and reach for my toiletry bag, accidentally knocking it off the counter.
The contents spill across the tile floor.
Makeup, hair ties, and a small box of tampons scatter on the floor.
I bend to collect everything, my fingers freezing around the box of tampons.
When was my last period?
I sit back on my heels, mind racing through the calendar.
It should have come… two weeks ago?
Oh… no…
It’s just stress. It has to be.
My hand drifts to my stomach, flat, and yet possibly housing the most dangerous secret imaginable.
A baby. Cristian's baby.
The thought sends a confusing surge of emotions through me. Terror and something warm. A child born of love, not obligation.
The moment of wonder lasts only seconds before reality crashes back.
If I'm pregnant with Cristian's child and marry Maksim, he'll kill us both when he discovers the truth.
If Alessandro finds out before the wedding, Cristian will be executed, and I'll still be forced to marry Maksim.
There is no scenario where this ends well.
I drag myself up off the floor, my mind trying to reorder the world in a way that this isn’t happening.
But as I stare at my reflection, I know there’s no changing my life.
All I can do is protect those I love.