Chapter 66
SIXTY-SIX
ENRICO FERRARA
The silence followed us from the moment we left Alice’s office until we got home.
Valentina didn’t say a word the entire drive, but her restlessness was obvious in the way she stared out the window, in the way her hands clasped tightly together on her lap.
When we finally stepped into the bedroom—the one that, over the past months, had become ours—I felt the weight of that conversation with Alice press even harder against my chest. I watched Valentina drop her bag onto the chair and walk slowly to the window, staring out at the garden without really seeing it.
My throat tightened at the sight.
It felt like something could slip through my fingers if I didn’t tell the truth right then—fully, openly, without hiding behind control.
“I don’t want you to leave, Valentina.”
My voice came out lower, more vulnerable than I meant it to, filling the room with a soft sincerity that startled even me. Valentina stayed still for a few seconds without turning around, but I saw her body flinch at my words.
She inhaled slowly, still looking outside, then finally turned to face me.
Her eyes were wet, reflecting the full intensity of what we were living.
“I don’t want to leave either,” she said, her voice thick as she took a small step toward me. “I don’t want to go away from here, Enrico.”
Those simple words were enough to make my heart slam hard against my ribs. I moved closer carefully, like I was afraid any sudden motion could break the fragile, delicate truth hanging between us.
“Fuck,” I whispered, staring into her shining eyes. “Thank God.” My voice shook. “I know I don’t have the right to ask for anything after everything that happened. But the idea of not having you and Clara here… every day… it’s unbearable to me.”
Valentina lifted her hand and touched my face, her fingertips warm against my skin.
The contact hit me like peace.
“Enrico… I stayed here for Clara, yes,” she said quietly. “But it hasn’t been only for her for a long time. I stayed for me too.” Her voice trembled. “Because being close to you… it helped me. It healed me little by little, even when I was afraid to admit it to myself.”
My eyes burned with tears I tried—and failed—to hold back. There was no room for pride in that moment. I let them fall, exposed and honest, as I pressed her hand against my cheek.
“Do you have any idea what I’m feeling hearing that?
” I asked, barely above a whisper. “I don’t have words for how sorry I am for what I put you through.
How much I love you, Valentina. How much I want to spend every day of my life proving it—because you’re the only thing in this world that truly matters to me. ”
She smiled—small, delicate, full of emotion—as her own tears finally slipped free.
“I believe you, Enrico,” she said softly. “I believe you because I’ve watched you, day after day, fighting to recover everything we lost. You proved you deserve my trust again.” She inhaled, steadying herself. “And I don’t want to fight it anymore. I don’t want to fight what I feel.”
Her words hit me so hard I nearly lost my balance. I held on to her hands, pulling her closer until our faces were too close, our breaths mixing—hot, shaky.
“Does that mean you…” My voice cracked. “You forgive me? You’re really ready to move forward—with me, with Clara… as a real family?”
Valentina lifted her chin, her gaze locked on mine with conviction and tenderness, and her words finally gave me the redemption I’d been starving for.
“Yes, Enrico. I forgive you.” Her voice didn’t shake. “And I’m ready to start over with you, as a family. I want it as much as you do.”
In that instant, pain, regret, and old wounds began to dissolve.
Standing in front of the woman I loved more than anything, my soul finally felt something close to peace.
I closed my eyes for a second—and when I opened them, Valentina’s bright, tearful gaze was still fixed on mine.
“I love you so much, Valentina,” I whispered, voice trembling. “Thank you for believing in me. For not giving up—even when everything felt impossible.”
“I love you too, Enrico,” she answered, sweet and sincere, squeezing my hands between hers. “I love you.”
I couldn’t hold myself back anymore.
I cupped her delicate face, my fingers brushing her cheeks with reverent care, and leaned in slowly.
Valentina closed her eyes as our lips finally met in a soft kiss full of silent promises.
The softness didn’t last.
It deepened—became urgent in a way that felt real, inevitable—carrying all the longing, all the hunger, all the surrender we’d been holding back for months.
My tongue found hers with slow, passionate certainty, exploring every detail as our breaths turned ragged and broken.
Valentina’s arms slid around my neck, pulling me closer, deepening the kiss until her body fit against mine like it had always known the shape of me.
I pulled back just enough to look at her again, my breathing as fast as hers, our eyes locked—emotion and desire saying what words couldn’t.
“I want you now, Valentina,” I murmured, my voice rough, my gaze pinned to hers. “I want to feel you completely—no walls, no fear. I want to show you with my body how much I love you.”
She smiled, caressing my face with a softness that felt like surrender and trust at once.
“Then show me, Enrico,” she whispered, touching her lips to mine again. “Show me everything you feel for me.”
I gathered her into my arms, lifted her gently, and carried her to the bed.
I laid her down carefully on the soft sheets, never breaking eye contact, completely consumed by the sight of the woman who had always owned my heart.
“I’m going to take care of you forever, Valentina. Forever,” I promised, sliding my hand along her side and feeling her shiver. “I want you to feel—in every touch—how much I need you. How much I love you.”
She sighed softly, eyes half-lidded, a satisfied smile lighting her face.
“I already feel it, Enrico,” she whispered. “In every touch. In every word. I feel all of it.”
I lowered my mouth to her neck and kissed her gently, listening to her soft sigh as her hands moved over my back, drawing me closer.
Every kiss, every caress was a vow I renewed—to never hurt her again, never let her doubt us again.
Our bodies found each other without hurry.
My hands slid over Valentina’s warm curves, exploring every inch of her skin with a pleasure so deep it almost hurt.
The need to feel her was nearly unbearable; every second my fingers touched her, every low sound that escaped her lips, made my desire spike harder, pulsing between us until restraint felt impossible.
I slid my hand beneath her blouse, feeling the soft heat of her skin as I lifted the fabric and revealed the fullness of her breasts.
She wasn’t wearing a bra.
I leaned down and took a rosy nipple between my lips, sucking with a mix of firmness and tenderness as Valentina exhaled a deep, helpless sigh and arched up, chasing my mouth.
“Enrico…” she whispered, her voice shaking as her fingers tangled in my hair, tugging me closer with urgent need.
I tasted her skin as my mouth traveled down her abdomen, leaving a warm, wet trail.
My hands moved to her waistband, pulling her pants down along with her underwear in one swift motion and sending both to the floor—leaving my woman completely exposed, vulnerable, magnificent.
“You’re perfect, Valentina,” I murmured against her skin as I kissed the inside of her thighs, teasing, taking my time, savoring every tremor I drew out of her.
When my mouth finally found her, she moaned loudly, clutching the sheets as she surrendered to the pleasure I was determined to give her.
I tasted her slowly, exploring her with my tongue, feeling every shiver, every pulse as she writhed beneath me.
“My God… Enrico, please,” Valentina begged, breathless and raw, her trembling legs framing my head, pulling me tighter against her heat.
I lifted my face, meeting her eyes—clouded with need—then stripped out of my clothes quickly, my erection aching, rigid, throbbing with hunger.
Valentina watched me with hungry eyes as I moved back over her, fitting our bodies together perfectly.
“I want to make you come slowly,” I said, and she looped her arms around my neck. “Just so I can hear you saying you love me with a shaking voice.”
“Do whatever you want to me, Enrico,” she whispered. “Just don’t stop telling me you love me while you do it.”
I kissed her, letting her taste herself on my mouth—then I pushed into her slowly, filling her completely, feeling every hot, tight inch of her wrap around me and accept me.
Valentina’s deep moan fused with mine, echoing through the room as we began to move together in a slow, sensual rhythm—perfectly synchronized, fitting like pieces that had waited too long to finally lock into place.
“Every time you moan my name,” I whispered against her lips, “I understand exactly where I belong in this world.”
“I waited so long to feel this again,” she admitted, barely a whisper. “Your mouth… your dirty voice in my ear telling me I’m everything to you.”
Gradually, our pace turned deeper, harder, more intense.
My hands gripped her hips, guiding every thrust with purpose, giving her every ounce of pleasure she deserved.
“I love you, Valentina,” I groaned into her ear, our breaths mixing into rough, broken sounds. “More than I can say.”
“I love you too, Enrico,” she answered, clinging to me, her nails marking my back as our bodies moved faster—more urgent, more desperate.
I felt her hit her peak, her body arching hard against mine, her walls squeezing me tight, dragging my own release out of me.
“There’s nothing more beautiful,” I confessed, shaking, “than watching you fall apart beneath me and still tell me you love me between one moan and the next—”
And then I came inside her, my hoarse groan filling the room as my body collapsed over hers, both of us fighting for breath.
For long seconds, we stayed like that—still joined, hearts pounding in the same frantic rhythm.
I lifted my face, kissed her softly, and traced her sweat-slick skin with gentle fingers.
In that moment there was no doubt. No past. No bitterness.
There was only us—two people who had finally found their way back to each other, reaching for the happiness we’d both been starving for.