Chapter 349

• VALENTINA
• ~•~
• I reached out, my fingers brushing his stubbled jaw, feeling the fever heat of his skin and the faint tremble beneath it. He was human in this moment—not the untouchable Don who ruled New York with iron and blood, but a wounded man clinging to the family he had never planned to have. “I agreed to marry you because Luca was dying,” I said softly, my voice steady despite the tears burning at the corners of my eyes. “Because the hospital bills were mountains I couldn’t climb alone. But I stayed… I chose to carry your child… because I saw something in you worth fighting for. Even when I was terrified. Even when part of me wondered if your world had swallowed my mother whole. I didn’t believe you ordered it, Gustavo. I hoped—prayed—you were better than the monster they painted you as. And you’ve shown me you are. Every time you shielded Luca. Every time you held me after the nightmares.”