CHAPTER TWO
LORENZO
The hospital smelled like antiseptic and quiet suffering. I hated it. I hated the sterile walls, the low sound of machines keeping people alive, and the exhaustion in the eyes of the patients and their families. Most of all, I hated leaving my mother here.
She adjusted her silk scarf over her head, the only betrayal of what chemo had done to her. Everything else—her posture, the steel in her eyes, the firm press of her lips—was as composed as ever. A “Bianchi” didn’t break, and this was freaking Isabella Bianchi, a woman of steel.
I walked her to the entrance, already dreading the moment I’d have to turn away. She squeezed my arm before I could say anything. “Lorenzo.”
There was something about the way she said my name, a softness that cut through all my walls.
I sighed. “Sì, Mamma.”
“I don’t want to die knowing you’ve lost yourself.”
A muscle in my jaw twitched. “You’re not dying.” We both knew that was an inevitable truth. It would take a miracle to heal her because treatment was failing.
“Not yet. But I will, one day, and I need to know you will have more than this business. More than power, money, and revenge. More than the darkness you have let consume you since you lost your Papi.” Her eyes locked onto mine, which were the same color but holding so much more wisdom. “I need to know you will love. That you will live.”
There it was. The deal. The absurd condition she had thrown at me when she updated her will.
I gave her a tight smile. “Mamma—”
“You know my terms, Lorenzo.” She patted my cheek like I was still the boy she used to read to at night. “Find a wife. Find love.”
It wasn’t just about my inheritance. She wanted to fix me. As if I wasn’t already too far gone.
I opened my mouth, but she was already walking toward the doors, shoulders squared, back straight. A soldier heading into battle.
I exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand down my face before heading back to my car. My phone buzzed the second I slid into the driver’s seat. Luca’s name flashed across the screen.
Perfect timing.
I put him on speaker and pulled out of the parking lot. “If this is about your latest disaster, I’m busy.” I love Luca, I mean he is my best friend, but he was always getting into one trouble or the other, and he was kind of irresponsible.
“Relax, it’s good news.” His voice was too cheerful. That never meant anything good.
I merged onto the main road. “Coming from you, I doubt that.”
“You remember when you told me about your mom’s… condition?”
My grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Vividly.”
“Well, turns out you’re not the only one with a dead parent who had a twisted sense of humor.” He laughed, but there was an edge to it. I wanted to remind him that my mother wasn’t dead, but I decided to let it go. “Maria’s stuck in the same mess.”
Something in my chest went tight at the mention of her name. Maria. I hadn’t let myself think about her in years. I hadn’t allowed myself to wonder where she was or what she was doing. It didn’t matter. I had burned that bridge myself. I had always had a soft spot for Maria. There was a certain time when I struggled not to feel anything for her because she was my best friend’s sister.
I forced my voice to stay even. “What’s your point?”
“My point is, we can solve both our problems at once.”
I already didn’t like where this was going. “Luca—” I tried to say, but he interrupted me mid-sentence.
“You need a wife. Maria needs a husband. Boom! Marriage of convenience. It could just be for a year. You both get your inheritance, and nobody has to fall in love or do anything stupid. Everyone goes home happy,”
I almost slammed on the brakes. “Are you out of your damn mind?” Luca was always coming up with ridiculous ideas, but this was way beyond ridiculous. It was absurd.
“It’s genius.”
“It’s insane.”
“Oh, come on. You know Maria. She’s stubborn, impossible to control, and would rather die than ask for help. She’s not going to find someone on her own.”
Like, I didn’t know that? Like I hadn’t memorized every little defiant quirk about her before I buried those memories deep?
My voice dropped. “And you think I’m the answer?”
Luca snorted. “You’re not exactly Prince Charming, but you’re better than some creep trying to get his hands on her inheritance.”
My grip on the wheel turned painful. “And she agreed to this?”
Silence.
I laughed, humorless. “You haven’t told her.”
“Minor detail.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I said no, Luca.”
“You didn’t even think about it.”
I have. I was thinking about it now, and that was the problem.
Luca sighed dramatically. “Listen, man. You need a wife. She needs a husband. It makes sense. And let’s be real. You were all about looking out for her. I bet you still are.”
My throat went dry. “That was a long time ago.”
“Uh-huh.”
I wanted to end the call. I wanted to pretend this conversation never happened.
Instead, I said, “Let me think about it.”
Luca whooped like he’d already won.
I ended the call and stared at the road ahead, gripping the wheel so hard my knuckles turned white.
Maria. Could I really do this? Did I have a choice?
This was insane.
Marrying Maria?
I wasn’t in the business of romance. I learned my lesson three months ago in a darkened club with a woman who made me forget—just for a moment—who I was. The way she looked at me before she knew my name? Like I was just a man. Like I was Lorenzo and not SHADE.
And then Dante called out my name. He wasn’t aware of her presence, but it changed everything. His voice rang out like a death sentence.
“Shade, we have a problem with the Russos.”
I didn’t even have time to turn before I felt her body tense. She took in a sharp inhale, and then the slow, paralyzing horror crept into her expression.
“Shade?” she’d whispered, her fingers slipping away from mine.
And then, she ran.
I called after her. I didn’t even care who saw. I followed her out of the club, out onto the street, but she was gone before I could get to her. I had lost her in the crowd at the club that night, and all I knew was her name, ROSE, just her name before she disappeared—like a ghost.
For three months, I had gone back to the same spot and same barstool—a damn fool chasing a shadow. But she never returned.
At the sound of my name, she fled like I was a monster.
And maybe I was.
Now, here I was a week after I’d spoken to Luca, after sleepless nights and pondering repeatedly, about to offer my last name to Maria, of all people. It was a practical decision and a solution to a mutual problem.
Nothing more.
I gritted my teeth and drove.
Maria’s house—Luca’s house—stood just as I remembered it. Five years. Five damn years since I set foot here and cut myself off from my old life and everything that once mattered. I would want to say I left because I cared about them too much to have them mixed up in my new world, but a part of me knew that was not the entire truth.
Luca and I had only stayed in touch online, both too stubborn to bridge the distance. I never wanted to cross lines with their father, so I stayed away, even when their father declared war on Shade.
I had let the old man scream, threaten, and curse my name. I never retaliated or struck back because they were family, even when he didn’t know. Because Maria—
I killed the thought before it could form.
Luca greeted me at the door, grinning like an idiot. “You look like a man walking to his execution.”
“I feel like one.”
“You’ll survive.” He clapped me on the shoulder. Pointing at a door upstairs, “She’s waiting in her room. Try not to mess this up in the first five minutes, yeah?”
I ignored him and took the stairs two at a time. The door was slightly open, enough for me to see her standing by the window, arms crossed, a frown pressed into her lips.
Five years.
And she still had that fire in her eyes and held herself like she owned the world. But there was something different now. She turned at the sound of my footsteps, sharp brown eyes locking onto mine.
“Well, well. The lost and found finally returns.”
Her voice hadn’t changed—smooth and rich, laced with sarcasm and a breathtaking undertone.
I leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. “And you’re still as dramatic as ever.”
A brow arched. “And you’re still as insufferable as I remember.”
I smirked. “Glad we haven’t changed.”
A beat of silence stretched between us.
She exhaled, rolling her shoulders like she was shaking something off. “Luca told you everything?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re actually going through with this?”
I shrugged. “Unless you’ve got a better plan.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t.”
Neither of us spoke. It was awkward, but that wasn’t just it. There was something else I was yet to decipher or give a name existing with us in the room.
I took a step closer. “You’re not happy about this.”
“No kidding.” She let out a short, humorless laugh. “But life isn’t about what we want, is it?”
Something in my chest twisted.
Maria.
Fuck! She looked so beautiful, more than I had imagined. I couldn’t stop staring.
Her dress was tailored to perfection—deep emerald green, cinched at the waist, the fabric clinging to every curve like a second skin. Her dark hair dropped down her back in soft waves, effortless and untamed.
But it was her eyes that held me captive. I had seen them blaze with fury, darken with mischief, and soften with amusement. But now, there was something else flickering beneath the surface.
Regret?
Resentment?
Pain or Passion?
“I don’t expect anything from you,” she said, voice quieter now. “This isn’t real. We both get what we need and then we walk away.”
I should have nodded, agreed, and let her keep the wall between us.
But five years had passed—five years of pretending she didn’t matter. And standing here now with her looking at me like I was a stranger, I realized just how much I hated it.
I stepped closer. Close enough to see the flicker of hesitation in her eyes and catch the subtle hitch in her breath.
“We set the terms,” I murmured. “But understand this, Maria. Once we say yes to this, there is no going back.”
Her eyes widened just slightly, just enough.
Then, before either of us could think too hard, I reached for her. She didn’t pull away, and without thinking and against my better judgment, my lips brushed against hers. Soft, but firm. A claim all at once.
Her breath caught, fingers twitching against my chest. And for a second—just a second—I felt it. The way her body melted into mine, the way the space between us vanished like it had never been there at all.
It wasn’t just a kiss. It was five years of silence breaking. Five years of tension unraveling in a single heartbeat.
I could taste her hesitation, anger, and confusion. But I could also taste a deeper longing that mirrored exactly what was burning through my veins. By the time I pulled back, her eyes were darker, and her lips parted. My pulse was a wardrum in my chest.
She swallowed hard, gaze darting to my mouth before snapping back up.
I smirked.
“There is no going back now.”