Chapter 21
POV: Amanda
Adrian’s silence was the worst thing I’d ever felt. Until it broke.
A sound tore from him—an animalistic scream, guttural, raw, shaking the walls. A roar of rage and heartbreak that didn’t sound human, didn’t sound like the man I loved, but like something ancient being ripped apart.
It echoed down the hallway, and within seconds, footsteps thundered closer. The door burst open—Bella, wide-eyed and terrified, Riccardo right behind her.
My shame multiplied, burning through my skin. Having them see me like this—destroyed, cornered, exposed—it was unbearable.
Adrian pressed his palms to the desk, chest heaving, trying to cage the fury that wouldn’t be caged. Then he snapped his eyes to me. Those brown eyes that once held warmth and devotion were shards of ice now.
“It’s true?” he demanded, his voice sharp enough to slice me in half. “You’re a fucking officer? A police officer?”
Tears blurred everything. My body shook as I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.
Bella gasped, covering her mouth with trembling fingers. Riccardo’s face crumpled in confusion and sorrow, like a child realizing the world was not safe after all. Giuliana only leaned back in her chair, arms folded, her expression unreadable but victorious.
Adrian’s voice broke again, louder, jagged. “So everything you told me—everything you gave me—was a lie?”
“No!” I cried, shaking my head violently. “Not everything. Adrian, every time I said I loved you, it was true. Every moment I touched you, every kiss, every word—that was me. That was real.”
He laughed, but it was a hollow, broken sound, his lips curling in disbelief. “Real? You used me.”
“I didn’t,” I begged. “At the beginning—yes. At the beginning, I was a police officer. I was sent here. I was blinded by the name De Lucca, by the family I swore I hated because of what happened to my father.”
My chest convulsed, my words spilling uncontrolled.
“But Adrian, I told you I didn’t tell you all lies. That’s true. My father was a police officer. What I didn’t tell you…”
I looked straight at him, at the man I loved more than my own life, and let the truth fall like a blade between us.
“…was that the man who killed him was your father. Lorenzo De Lucca. He shot him when he was investigating the mafia. And that’s why the FBI sent me. That’s why I was chosen. I wasn’t just undercover—I was the weapon they aimed at you.”
Riccardo staggered back like the words had physically hit him, his innocence cracking. Bella whispered, “Dio mio…” her voice trembling.
Adrian’s face went pale, like I had stabbed him with his own bloodline. His fists slammed against the desk, the sound making me flinch.
“So when you disappeared,” he seethed, his voice trembling with restrained fury, “when you told me you were visiting your friend—you were feeding them. You were reporting on us.”
My tears soaked the satin of my dress as I nodded, shame strangling me.
“Yes. But I didn’t tell them anything, Adrian. Nothing. I swear to you—I couldn’t. I didn’t. The FBI thinks Riccardo is dead. I never told them about him. I couldn’t. I didn’t give them anything, I just… I kept waiting, asking for more time,
because I didn’t know how to stop without destroying everything.”
He glared at me like I was a stranger. “And what were you waiting for, Amanda? For me to hand you my heart so you could put a bullet in it, just like your Bureau wanted?”
I shook my head violently, sobbing. “No! I was waiting for the casino dinner, for this to be over—because after yesterday, after last night, I decided I couldn’t do it anymore. I was going to leave them. I was going to leave the police for good. For you. For us.”
He stared at me, disbelief etched deep. His hands dragged down his face as if to erase everything, as if to wake up from this nightmare.
“And you were never going to tell me,” he said, voice low, venomous, final. “You were never going to tell me the truth about why you came into my house, into my bed. Because you were a cop. Because I was the target.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
I crumbled to the floor again, my sobs ripping from my chest, my body shaking. “Adrian, please… please believe me. I love you.”
Bella cried quietly behind her hands. Riccardo stood frozen, his innocence shattered, silent tears sliding down his cheeks. Giuliana only exhaled slowly, almost satisfied, like a queen who had just won a war without lifting a sword.
But Adrian…
Adrian didn’t move. Didn’t touch me. Didn’t save me.
He only looked at me like the man he loved had died in front of him.
Adrian moved before I could breathe. His hand clamped around my jaw, rough and unyielding, forcing my face up to his. His grip wasn’t crushing, but it held the weight of his fury, of his betrayal, of every word he couldn’t yet form.
He yanked me upright, so close our chests nearly collided, and then he shoved me back against the wall. My skull thudded lightly, but the real pain was in his eyes.
Because they weren’t just furious. They were wet. His rage collided with heartbreak, shimmering in the tears he refused to let fall. And that broke me more than his hands on me ever could.
Bella gasped, taking a step forward. Riccardo did too, his hand half-extended like he wanted to protect me, but neither of them could move closer. They were both trembling, paralyzed, broken by the sight of us tearing apart.
Adrian’s breath was ragged, chest rising and falling like a storm. For a moment I thought he would scream, that his roar would tear through me again—but instead, his words came as a whisper. Broken. Cracked.
“I trusted you. I loved you. You were my queen.” His jaw flexed, his fingers trembling against my skin. “And it was all a lie.”
“No,” I choked, sobs shaking me so violently I could barely stand.
I raised my hand, gripping his wrist, desperate, pressing his palm harder to my throat, to me.
“No, Adrian, not a lie. I lied about why I came here, yes. I lied about the reason I stepped into your house. But I never—never—lied about loving you. Every word, every touch, every night in your arms was true. It was the only truth I had left.”
His eyes burned through me, his teeth gritted like he was swallowing glass. “You infiltrated my life. My family. My home. You stood in this house and made me believe you were mine.”
“I am yours,” I sobbed. “I always was. Even when I fought it, even when I told myself I couldn’t—my heart belonged to you. That’s not a lie. That’s the one thing I’ll never take back.”
His hand faltered, just for a second. I felt it—his grip loosening, his thumb brushing unconsciously against my skin, like his body remembered what his mind wanted to erase. His tears spilled, one sliding down the sharp edge of his cheek.
And then, suddenly, he dropped his hand. As if even touching me burned him now.
He turned his back to me, shoulders heaving, the weight of his silence louder than any scream.
“Leave.” The word was low, hoarse, final.
My knees buckled. “Adrian, please—don’t do this. Don’t send me away.”
“Leave.”
“Please,” I begged again, stepping toward him, my arms reaching helplessly for his back. “Just hear me, just—”
He spun, his face twisted in grief and rage, and his voice exploded like a gunshot.
“LEAVE!”
The sound shattered me. My body jolted like the force had struck me physically. My sobs strangled me as I stumbled back.
There was nothing left to say. Nothing left to save.
So I walked. I walked past Bella’s tears, past Riccardo’s broken stare, past Giuliana’s cold silence. My heart stayed behind in that room, on that floor, in his hands.
And I left.