Page 25 of Shattered Engagement

The heat of his touch sends electricity racing along my nerves. My breath catches as his thumb brushes across my lower lip, a ghost of intimacy that makes my body remember with visceral clarity what those hands are capable of.

“And if you had known?” I whisper.

His eyes darken, pupils dilating as he stares at my mouth. “It wouldn’t have mattered,” he admits, his voice rough. “I still would’ve wanted you. That’s the problem.”

The confession hangs between us, charged with implications neither of us can afford to acknowledge.

I should pull away. I should demand more answers, threaten to expose him, do anything except lean into his touch. But self-preservation abandons me the moment he walks back into my life.

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, my voice barely audible.

His grip gentles, fingers sliding from my chin to curl around the nape of my neck. The possessive gesture makes my pulse jump. “Because you’re smarter than they give you credit for. And because whatever happens in the next week, I need you to know I never meant for you to be caught in the crossfire.”

“What’s going to happen?”

“Justice,” he says simply. “Long overdue.”

Before I can question him further, a sharp knock at the door forces us apart. Alessio moves with fluid grace, putting appropriate distance between us as my mother’s voice calls through the door.

“Isadora? Luca is asking for you.”

“Just a moment,” I call, smoothing my hair with trembling hands.

Alessio watches me compose myself, his expression unreadable. As I move toward the door, he catches my wrist, his touch burning through my skin.

“Be careful, Isadora,” he murmurs. “Luca is more dangerous than you know.”

“So are you,” I remind him.

A ghost of a smile touches his lips. “The difference is, I’m dangerous for him. Not for you.”

The certainty in his voice shouldn’t comfort me—not when I’ve just discovered he’s hiding his identity and plotting against my future family. But as I walk downstairs to meet Luca, the warmth of Alessio’s touch lingers on my skin, a reminder of the choice now looming before me.

I can expose Alessio’s deception, possibly saving the Calviño-De Angelis alliance but condemning myself to a life with Luca.

Or I can keep his secret, becoming complicit in whatever vengeance he has planned, risking everything my family has built and getting a chance to extricate myself from this marriage I never wanted.

As Luca’s arm circles my waist possessively in the study, his fingers digging into my hip with unnecessary force, I catch sight of Alessio watching from the doorway. The heat in his gaze when our eyes meet makes my decision for me.

Seven days until my wedding. Seven days to discover the truth about the man who’s awakened parts of me I didn’t know existed. Seven days to decide if his revenge is worth risking my world for.

And God help me, I’m already leaning toward yes.

9

Alessio

I pace the perimeter of my temporary quarters at the Calviño estate, my mind racing with calculations and contingencies. The clock chimes past midnight, which marks six days until Isadora’s wedding to Luca. Six days until my carefully constructed vengeance culminates in Giancarlo’s destruction.

And now she knows too much.

The photograph burns in my pocket—evidence of a past I’ve kept buried for twenty years. A past where I wasn’t Alessio Gravano, feared enforcer for the Calviño family, but Stefano Calviño, the son Giancarlo tried to murder alongside my mother.

She’s clever, myprincipessa.Too clever for her own safety.

I could silence her. In my world, loose ends are typically cut with ruthless efficiency. One phone call to Vittorio, and the problem would disappear before nightfall.

But the mere thought of harm coming to her makes something primal and protective surge within me. I’ve spent two decades becoming a monster to hunt a monster, but with her, I can not cross that line.

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