Chapter 178

• GUSTAVO
• Dawn light slipped through the silk curtains in pale lines across the bed. I lay on my back, one arm behind my head, staring up at the ceiling. The sheets were cool against my skin. My mind kept circling back to yesterday. Valentina standing in my office, folder in her hands, eyes locked on mine. That moment when her voice went quiet and she said she wasn’t telling me to walk away. Vulnerability had been right there in her face, the same kind I felt but never let out. I’d spent years telling myself love was a crack in the armor. A weakness. But lying here now, the truth settled in my chest like something solid. I loved her. Not the idea of her. Not the fight. Her. The woman who looked at me and saw past the title, past the power, and still didn’t run. The realization didn’t scare me anymore. It pushed me.
• I wanted to ask her to marry me. Not in some rushed, quiet way. I wanted her to see exactly what she meant. A private yacht at night, the city lights behind us, stars overhead. Fireworks when she said yes. A handful of people I trusted. No crowd. Just enough to show her she wasn’t a side piece or a prize. She was my equal. My partner. The one who stood beside me in every way that mattered.