Chapter 22 #2
She shook her head. "So I left." Silence lingered for a moment. "I lived on the streets for a while." She shrugged "Petty theft. Homeless shelters. Doing whatever I had to just to survive."
She looked down at her hands. "After I left Andros...I wanted to come back." Her voice softened. "Every single morning I'd wake up and tell myself..."
She gave a sad laugh. "Today's the day, Clara. Stop chickening out. But I never did." She swallowed hard. "I couldn't get past the guilt. The guilt of leaving Giovanni." She finally looked back at Adriano.
"I couldn't face him. Or you. Or Leena. Or anyone. I didn't think I deserved to." Adriano never reacted.
He simply continued watching her.
Matteo Pov~
"That still doesn't explain why you were with Andros the night we infiltrated his club," Adriano said, his expression remaining hard and unreadable. "Or why you showed up at my front door."
I knew exactly what he was doing. He was picking apart every piece of her story, searching for the lie hidden between the truth.
I was doing the exact same thing. Clara remained silent. Her eyes drifted toward the concrete wall, her brows furrowing as if she were debating whether to answer at all.
"I don't have much patience." Adriano's voice cut through the silence. "Or did you forget?"
She slowly looked back at him. Instead of answering, she smiled faintly. "Your wife is nice."
I frowned.
"She was very kind to me last night... and again this morning." There was something genuine in her voice. "She's exactly the kind of woman I always imagined you'd end up with."
Adriano's eyes narrowed. "You don't have the right to talk about my wife." His voice was calm, but every word carried weight. "Or my family."
He pointed a finger at her. "You lost that right the day you walked away."
Clara lowered her gaze. "I know." The confidence she'd been wearing began to crack.
"One night, I got caught stealing from a convenience store." She gave a humorless laugh. "I ended up in jail. I was released on bail the next morning, but I had no idea who paid it."
She folded her hands together. "A week later, I got a phone call. From Aldo."
My attention sharpened immediately. "He offered me five thousand dollars to track down a man somewhere in the city."
She shrugged. "I told him to go fuck himself and hung up." She paused. "The next day, someone took a shot at me."
Her expression darkened. "I was walking down a crowded street. The bullet barely missed my head." The room stayed silent. "That night, Aldo called again."
She swallowed. "He told me the next one wouldn't miss." I leaned forward slightly. "So I found the man." She gave a bitter smile.
"The following morning, there was a briefcase full of cash waiting for me. After that...I became his tracker." She looked directly at Adriano.
"So when he found out you were going after Andros, he ordered me to be there. He never told me why. He never explained anything. I just followed orders."
She sighed. "Then you captured me. I spent the next twenty days locked away until someone decided to release me."
Adriano remained completely still. "Is Aldo tracking you now?"
She shook her head. "No. Once I was released, I killed the two guards escorting me and disappeared." A faint smirk crossed her lips. "I called in a few favors from people I'd met over the years. I have a fake passport. A fake driver's license. A fake birth certificate."
She winked. "You're looking at Gwen Stanford."
Neither Adriano nor I reacted.
"So..." Adriano folded his hands on the table. "Why are you here?"
For the first time, Clara looked uncertain. "I..." She hesitated. "I honestly don't know. I didn't have anywhere else to go." She let out a slow breath. "And I didn't want that life anymore. So I tracked you."
Her eyes met Adriano's. "It wasn't hard. I followed you here."
Adriano didn't blink. "Why should I believe you?" Her shoulders slumped. "I can't give you a reason."
She shook her head. "I have nothing." "How long have you been working for Aldo?" I asked. She bit the inside of her lip. "Ten years."
"You ever met him?" She immediately shook her head. "Never. It was always phone calls. Or one of his men."
She rolled her eyes. "Coward."
Adriano was quiet for several seconds before asking his next question.
"Can I trust you around my family?" I turned toward him, unable to hide my confusion. Was he seriously considering this?
Clara looked him straight in the eye. "I have no reason to hurt your family." Her voice was steady. "I'm here for one reason."
"And what's that?" Adriano asked. She looked down for only a second before answering. "To explain everything to Giovanni."
Leena Pov~
"Ready to talk?" I stepped into our bedroom, quietly closing the door behind me. Giovanni looked up from his desk. The exhaustion written across his face made my heart ache.
He sighed before giving me a small nod and motioning me over. I walked toward him, and the moment I was within reach, he gently pulled me onto his lap.
His arms wrapped tightly around my waist. "I missed this," he murmured.
Just hearing the hurt in his voice shattered the wall I'd spent all day trying to keep up. I cupped his face between my hands and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.
"I'm sorry, babe." His voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't know what happened. I just... froze." He shook his head. "I was shocked. Completely caught off guard." His eyes searched mine. And I'm so sorry if I made you think I still have feelings for her."
I let out a slow breath. "I'm not going to pretend it didn't hurt." I traced my fingers absentmindedly over his hand. "Because it did."
His face fell even more.
"But..." I looked into his warm brown eyes. "I also think you still have things you need to say to her." He frowned slightly. "I know you've always wondered why she left. I know you've carried those questions around for years."
I squeezed his hand. "And I'm not going to stop you from getting those answers."
A small smile tugged at my lips. "Because I know you. I know you love me."
His expression softened instantly. "More than you'll ever know, cara." (dear) He leaned forward and kissed me. It wasn't rushed or desperate but it was gentle and reassuring.
The kind of kiss that reminded me exactly why I fell in love with him.
But as it deepened, something in me shifted softer, more vulnerable. My fingers slid into his hair, holding him closer, like I was afraid that if I let go even for a second, the distance from earlier would come back.
He noticed. Of course he did. Giovanni always noticed.
His hand tightened at my waist, pulling me even closer until there was no space left between us. The kiss turned slower, heavier with emotion, like we were both trying to erase the tension of the day through touch alone.
When we finally pulled apart, I was breathless.
He rested his forehead against mine, his thumb brushing my cheek. "I hate when we’re like that," he murmured.
"Me too," I admitted softly. For a moment, neither of us spoke. Just breathing each other in. Grounding ourselves again.
I smiled faintly, running my fingers through his soft brown hair. He let out a low, content sound that made my chest warm.
"I think we should stop before we forget what we were talking about," I whispered, though I made no move to leave his lap.
He chuckled, tired but real this time. "Fair enough." His thumb traced slow circles across my palm, like he needed the contact as much as I did.
"Leena..." His voice shifted towards serious and steady. "I love you with all my heart. Clara is part of my past."
He held my gaze.
"You..." His hand tightened around mine. "You are my future. My wife. The mother of my children. The woman who made me a better man."
His forehead pressed gently to mine. "You keep me grounded. You keep me sane. In this crazy life we live...You are my home. And I honestly don't know who I'd be without you."
Tears filled my eyes before I could stop them.
I quickly brushed them away, laughing softly at myself "You always know exactly what to say."
"I only speak the truth," he said simply. I smiled and leaned forward, resting my forehead against his. For the first time since Clara had shown up at our door...the weight on my chest finally disappeared.
And when he kissed me again, this time slower, deeper, more certain, it didn’t feel like reassurance anymore.
It felt like belonging. Whatever came next, we would face it together.