Page 32 of Mine Again
Heartbreak.
She stares at Mateo like someone might look at a star they’ll never touch.
Mateo doesn’t see her. He never has. But she’s been in love with him for years, ever since her sixteenth birthday. He’s her impossible dream.
And now she’s forced to smile through an engagement to a man she doesn’t love while the one person her heart longs for walks into the room, looking devastatingly perfect and completely out of reach.
“I’m sorry, Mari,” I whisper. “I hoped he wouldn’t come.”
She shrugs, but I see the way her throat moves as she swallows. She’s fighting back tears, and even though she manages to keep her expression calm, her eyes are glassy with pain.
“It’s fine. It was bound to happen. It’s not like I ever had a chance with someone like him.”
Silence falls between the three of us as we watch Mateo greet guests, his smile charming, his movements confident. He commands the room effortlessly.
“He’s nothing like his brother,” Mia says. “He’s a total ladies’ man.”
“Playboy,” I correct.
“He’s not,” Mariella says firmly. “He just hasn’t found his person yet. That’s not a crime.”
Mia and I lock eyes for a beat but let it go. Nothing we say can change the way Mari feels. Her heart is already set, and now it’sbreaking.
After the buzz of Mateo’s entrance fades, my eyes track the man who steps forward to join him again. Uberto. Luca’s former mentor andla famiglia’stop hacker.
Honestly, I’m surprised to see him here at all. Whatever he’s working on with Mateo must be important enough for him to set foot in our house.
It’s no secret my father and Uberto don’t get along, not since Don De Marco promoted him only a few years into working forla famiglia.
Brilliant, young, and surgically effective in the digital world, Uberto had quietly played a role in several key operations. Our Don, far more progressive than those before him, recognized Uberto’s value and elevated him publicly.
The role was unofficial but strategic. And it put him on nearly equal footing with Father.
Predictably, Father took it as a personal insult.
Luca once told me that Father lobbied hard against the promotion, scoffing at Uberto’s contributions and calling him a ‘glorified keyboard monkey.’ He argued that real power should never be given to men who hide behind screens. But the Don backed Uberto.
After the announcement, Father apparently cornered him and delivered one last insult.
“You might have the Don’s ear now, but don’t mistake data for power. When real decisions need to be made, men like me won’t be asking you.”
That’s my father. Always looking to assert dominance over anyone he can’t control.
Uberto never forgot the humiliation. Or the disrespect. And honestly, who could blame him?
I try to be subtle about watching him as he leans in and speaks quietly to Mateo. Their expressions give nothing away, but the energy between them is thick with purpose.
My pulse quickens before I can stop it. Maybe it’s the reminder ofLuca, of the world he lived in behind encryption, firewalls, and closely guarded networks.
Luca had a knack with computers. More specifically, for hacking them. Word spread fast about his talent. Most likely, it was his father, Luigi, who bragged first.
After a few tests of his skill, Luca was invited to join the De Marco cyber team when he was just fifteen. Uberto became his mentor. Luca always spoke of him like he was untouchable. But toward the end, I sensed Luca was surpassing him.
That memory stirs something in me. A conversation I once had with Luca surfaces, clearer now than it has ever been.
And suddenly I know.
Uberto is the answer to a question I hadn’t even realized I was asking.
