Page 30 of The Don's Eternal Vows

But as the words leave my lips, something shifts. The air grows colder, and a sick feeling twists in my gut—her image wavers like heat rising from summer-baked asphalt.

"No," I growl, pressing harder against the mirror. "No, don't you dare—"

It's too late. Her face dissolves like smoke, slipping through my desperate grasp. I'm left clutching at nothing but my reflection, my features twisted in anguish.

"Genoveva!" I roar, slamming my fist against the glass. It doesn't even crack. "Come back!"

I race toward the nearest mirror. My hands slam against cold glass, only to meet an unyielding barrier. Desperation floods me as I turn, and I see her in every reflection, haunting me.

“Please,” I choke, my voice shattering the silence. “I’ve come so far. I can’t lose you now.”

But the mirrors stay silent. Her face, a phantom image, taunts me from every angle. I fall to my knees, broken glass surrounding me, broken promises weighing me down. My chest heaves with sobs I can no longer hold back.

"Genoveva!" I shout, my voice echoing off the countless reflections. "Where are you?"

I stand again, my fingers brushing against the cold glass. She's there, just beyond my reach, her lips parting as if to speak. But no sound comes.

"This way," her reflection seems to say, gesturing down the mirrored corridor.

I don't hesitate. I run.

My footsteps thunder against the floor. Left, right, straight ahead. Genoveva's face flashes by, a kaleidoscope of emotions. Pleading. Hopeful. Desperate.

"I'm coming!" The words tear from my throat, raw and primal.

My lungs burn. Sweat trickles down my spine. But I can't stop.

Another turn. Another glimpse of her face.

"Please, be real!" I roar, my voice crumbling. "I can't lose you again.”

Confusion crashes over me in suffocating waves. Was she ever really there? Or have I finally lost my mind in this hellish place?

"I can't do this without you," I whisper, my usual iron control shattered. "How am I supposed to find my way back if you're not here to guide me?"

The mirrors blur together, a dizzying maze of light and shadow. But I press on, driven by a need deeper than breath itself.

"Gianni," her voice whispers, seemingly from everywhere at once.

"I'm here!" I cry out, spinning wildly. "Where are you?"

My heart pounds a frantic rhythm, threatening to burst from my chest. I’ve never felt such fierce desperation.

Just then, I feel the glass give way. I stumble ever so slightly, and then I feel skin. Real, human skin.

I swear the heavens, hell and earth come to a standstill, and I close my eyes, afraid it’s nothing but an apparition. But how could it be when I feel her warmth in my arms, her breath on my neck? I pull back, tears blurring my vision, and meet her gaze. Relief swells in my chest, erasing all fear.

“Genoveva…” I whisper, voice cracking, and take her in my arms. She melts into it, the familiar scent of jasmine and sandalwood wrapping around us like an embrace. Her hazel eyes, filled with tears, search mine with a mixture of joy and sorrow.

“Gianni,” she breathes, her voice a melody that soothes the ache in my soul.

I cup her face, tracing the line of her cheekbone with trembling fingers. “I thought I’d lost you. I couldn’t bear…”

My entire body is thrumming with life, with need, for more of her. I caress her cheeks, reach down to trace her shoulders, reach for her waist, and pull her closer again, praying our bodies could fuse as one.

“Don’t you ever do that again, you understand?” I choke out my words, pressing my lips into her neck.

“Do what?” she asks sweetly, caressing my hair.

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