CHAPTER FIVE
LORENZO
Maria stood before me, and suddenly, everything made sense. The boy—Matteo—looked about five. Five years since she left me at the altar. Five years of silence. Five years of trying to erase her from my system like a poison I couldn’t quite expel. And now, here she was, standing in front of me with a child—a child that meant she had another man in her life.
Or maybe not. Maybe she had someone else. Maybe she ran straight into another man’s bed after she fled. I clenched my jaw, pushing the thought aside. It didn’t matter. She had made it clear when she told Luca that she didn’t know the father. It was a fling, then. Just some meaningless encounter that had left her with a child. So why did that thought sting like an open wound?
I shouldn’t care. I wouldn’t care. This was business. I was doing this for my mum, who, by what the doctors consider to be a miracle, was still alive after battling cancer for five years. She is the one who wants me to get married—not because I care.
Then why the hell couldn’t I stop staring at her?
Her hair was longer now, with waves past her shoulders, and her body had filled out in ways that made my hands twitch at my sides. She glowed in a way that wasn’t just beauty—it was resilience and strength. And I dislike that I noticed it immediately when she stepped into the house. I hated that, even now, after all this time, she still had the power to make my blood run hot and my thoughts go dark with want. She takes my breath away.
Matteo. The name hit me in the chest. Maria’s father’s name. Her son had her father’s name. He was named after the man who had hated Shade even till his last breath.
The boy stared up at me with wide, unguarded eyes—curious and hesitant. I knew I had no right to feel this strange pull toward him, but I did.
Something in my throat tightened. I could feel Maria’s eyes on me.
Matteo grinned, and my stomach dropped because it was my grin—the same damn smirk I had seen in the mirror a thousand times.
But I swallowed the thought before it could fully form because it wasn’t possible.
Five years ago, the only woman I had been with was Rose.
The memory hit me in flashes: dark red lipstick smudged on the rim of a whiskey glass, her nails dragging down my arm as she pulled me closer, the scent of expensive perfume—too sweet, too strong, clinging to my clothes long after she was gone.
Rose.
So no.
Matteo couldn’t be mine even if that damn smirk clawed.
I clenched my jaw, forcing my thoughts back into order and logic.
Anything else was impossible. He belonged to her.
Maria.
The name alone had haunted me for years. I had spent too many nights wondering where she had gone, if she was safe, and if she ever thought about me the way I thought about her.
She had cut me off completely. No calls. No message. Nothing. The only reason I even knew she was alive was Luca. He never said much, but every now and then, he’d let something slip—a mention of an email or a vague update. I lived off scraps of information, pretending I didn’t care when, in reality, it was the only thing that kept me sane.
And now, after all these years, she was here, back in my world, looking just as stubborn, just as frustratingly beautiful as the day she left.
She stopped exhaling like she had been hoping to avoid this conversation. Smart girl.
I nodded toward the backyard.
She hesitated. I could see the war in her eyes, the calculation. But then, she squared her shoulders and walked ahead, back straight, head high. Stubborn as ever.
Now that I was standing just a few feet from her, daring to take that leap and kiss her, just as I had done in my dreams, just as I had longed for, Luca interrupted.
Maria jerked back like I had burned her, her eyes darting to her brother, who informed us of her uncle requesting our presence.
I clenched my jaw, inhaling through my nose. Maria nodded quickly, brushing past me like the moment between us had never happened.
But it had.
And I wasn’t about to let her forget it.
******
Enrico sat at the head of the long mahogany table, his fingers steepled and his expression cold. The man always had a way of making everything feel like a courtroom. He peered at Maria, then at me, suspicion practically oozing from his pores.
Maria, on the other hand, looked like she couldn’t care less. She leaned back in her chair, arms folded, and lips curled into something between a smirk and pure boredom. Bold and reckless, that’s how she had always been. And, apparently, that hadn’t changed.
“Maria,” Enrico began, his voice like the scrape of metal against stone, “I must say, your sudden return is… surprising.”
Maria cocked her head. “Missed me, Uncle?”
I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing. Enrico’s eye twitched, his patience thinning.
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you suddenly grew sentimental about your home.”
“Oh, you’re right,” she mused. “I came back for the charming family dinners.”
This time, I did laugh. Just a quiet chuckle, but enough for Enrico to shift his glare to me.
“And you,” he continued, voice clipped. “Still willing to marry a woman who left you at the altar? I must say, Lorenzo, I thought you had more dignity than that.”
My fingers drummed against the armrest. “Well, Enrico, dignity doesn’t really cut it for me. I am more of a practical man, and, practically, Maria is the right fit for me.”
He didn’t appreciate my honesty. But I didn’t appreciate being questioned like some fool desperate for scraps.
“That’s exactly my concern, your practicality,” Enrico said, leaning forward. “I have consulted with my lawyers, and there is one glaring issue.” He paused, letting the silence stretch. Dramatic as ever. “You know the terms in the will. This marriage must be real.”
Maria let out a breath as if already exhausted. “And?”
Enrico’s gaze sharpened. “And I must be convinced of your love.”
My lips parted. “Excuse me?”
Maria shot up straighter in her chair. “That’s ridiculous. Who exactly are you that we have to convince you that we are in love?”
“Ridiculous?” Enrico’s smirk was slow, smug. “Maria, your track record isn’t exactly convincing. You ran once before. What’s stopping you from doing it again?”
Maria scoffed, “And that questions my love for him?”
“Yes,” Enrico hummed, eyes gleaming with amusement, “Love, dear niece—is unpredictable.”
Maria and I exchanged a glance.
I wasn’t sure what was worse: pretending to love Maria in front of Enrico or pretending I hadn’t spent years trying to bury the very real feelings that still crawled under my skin whenever she was near, the real feelings that felt like I wasn’t pretending.
The lawyer cleared his throat. “The court, however, will have to assess the legitimacy of this marriage. If there is suspicion, the inheritance could be contested.”
Maria inhaled sharply. “You’re insane.”
“Insane,” Enrico echoed. “Or thorough?”
Maria exhaled, rubbing her temples. “So let me get this straight. You want me and Lorenzo to prance around, play house, be happy in front of people, and convince you and some lawyers that we are madly in love?”
“Precisely.”
I nearly winced at the look Maria shot at me. We stood up and left him without any other word.
“Well,” she muttered, turning to me, “ready to fall in love, darling?”
I smirked, masking the way my pulse quickened. “Only if you don’t leave me at the altar this time.”
She rolled her eyes. “No promises.”
Maria walked beside me with her arms crossed. She had a deadpan expression. That, of course, wasn’t unusual.
“So,” Maria started, exhaling sharply. “We’re really doing this.”
“Apparently.”
“We need a plan.” She turned to face me with her chin lifted in that stubborn way that told me she had already decided how this would go. “Public dates, couple interviews, the works. If we’re going to sell this, we have to make them believe we’re crazy about each other.”
I smirked. “That shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve always been irresistible.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Right. That’s why I left you at the altar.”
A muscle in my jaw twitched, but I let the comment slide. “So, we wine and dine in public, smile at the cameras, maybe hold hands here and there. Simple.”
Her lips pressed together. “And what about…intimacy?”
I blinked. “What about it?”
She hesitated, and for the first time, she looked almost shy—a rare sight.
“The media expects a couple to act like one,” she continued, clearing her throat. “Are we kissing in public? Or, I don’t know, are we—”
I arched a brow, enjoying this a little too much. “Are we what, Maria?”
She shifted on her feet, looking anywhere but at me. “You know.”
“I really don’t.”
She let out an exasperated breath. “Are we going to…sleep together?”
Silence.
I hadn’t thought that far. Or maybe I had, and I just didn’t want to admit it. I took a step closer, watching as she stiffened slightly but didn’t move away. “Are you asking if we should?”
Her eyes snapped up to mine. “I’m asking if it’s part of the arrangement.”
I let the silence stretch, just to see her squirm. Then, I smirked. “We’ll share a kiss or two in public, nothing more. Unless, of course, you’d like to negotiate that term?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Immensely.”
She huffed. “And if we get married? Are we sharing a bed?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Her lips parted like she had something to say, but then she just nodded. “Fine.”
I expected her to change the subject, maybe storm off the way she always did when something didn’t go her way, but instead, she squared her shoulders with her gaze sharp.
“I would also want to learn how to run the kind of business we do from you. You have a similar business, right?”
I blinked. “What?”
“My inheritance, my father’s properties. If I’m going to fight for them, I need to know how to manage them. I want you to teach me how to run it.”
I ran a hand down my face. “Maria, no.”
Her expression darkened. “No?”
“Luca can handle running the business.”
Her nostrils flared. “Luca, really, why?”
Because you don’t belong in that world. Because if you step too far into it, I won’t be able to protect you. Because I didn’t want you close to the dark side that I was trying to hide from everyone. I didn’t want you close to Shade.
Instead, I shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
Her hands curled into fists. “Oh, I see. It’s because I’m a woman, right? You and Enrico, always thinking with your prehistoric brains—”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“No?” She glared at me, her voice sharp. “Then, what is it about, Lorenzo? You don’t think I can handle it? You think I’m too weak?”
I exhaled, frustration creeping in. “Maria, it’s dangerous. You and I know it is not a linear business.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Not in this.”
She shook her head, laughter void of humor. “You’re just like them.”
“Maria—”
She turned on her heel and stormed off before I could say another word.
I let her go, watching as she disappeared into the house, anger rolling off her in waves.
What the fuck just happened? This was getting messy.