Chapter 189

• VALENTINA
• I stirred awake in the soft morning light filtering through the suite curtains. The silk sheets felt cool against my skin as I sat up slowly. My left hand rested on the blanket, and the engagement ring caught the sun in a bright sparkle that pulled me right back to the yacht. Fireworks overhead. Gustavo on one knee. His voice steady when he said he loved me. The joy from that moment felt so close, but last night’s scene kept pushing in—the lounge, him half-dressed on the couch, Gabrielle’s earring on the floor, her lipstick on the glass, that black scarf across his chest. My stomach twisted again. I pressed my palm to it, trying to push the ache down.
• I slipped out of bed and pulled on the robe hanging on the chair. Bare feet padded across the carpet to the window. The grounds stretched out below, green and quiet. The city skyline sat far in the distance, hazy in the morning air. I leaned my forehead against the cool glass. His explanation kept circling in my head. The drugged drink. Her jealousy. The way he said he pushed her off, said my name over and over until he passed out. It rang true. His voice had been hoarse, desperate. But the picture I walked in on was so perfect. So convincing. Doubt clung to me like fog I couldn’t shake. Pride wouldn’t let me run downstairs and fall into his arms. Not yet. Maybe not ever if I kept seeing her standing there, fixing her dress like she’d already won.