Chapter 344

• VALENTINA
• ~•~
• “Gustavo,” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion as I brushed my thumb across his stubbled jaw. “I see the monster. I’ve always seen him—the man who dragged me into Inferno, who wrote that contract like it was a cage. But I also see you. The man who stood between Luca and those guns. The one who held me after my mother died and promised to try being better. The father our baby already knows through every kick and every quiet moment we steal in this madness.” Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t wipe them away. “The blood doesn’t define you. Not anymore. Not if we choose something different together. I’m still here. I’m still looking at you the same way—because I love the man fighting to break the cycle, not just the king who rules it.”