Page 45 of Anastasia

Every time I closed my eyes, I tried to picture what my life would’ve been like without Valentino. I probably wouldn’t have ever been able to pay off my debt or put my mother in rehab. In some ways, he had made my life better.

After some time, I decided to just let myself fall asleep. My eyes shut, but the sound of the shower turning off made me alert with anticipation. Moments after that, the door opened, and I could feel Valentino walking toward the bed and lying down. He pulled me into his chest like he always managed to do.

It brought a small smile to my face as he ran his hand through my hair. “Goodnight, beautiful,” he whispered.

My body was quick to fall asleep after that. There was a warmth in my heart as I hugged his muscular frame.

Anastasia

When I woke up, Valentino was already getting dressed for the day. I couldn’t help but sigh as I watched him. He was such a handsome man. As I looked at him, I tried to find any flaw, but I came up empty-handed every time. From his black hair to his strong jaw and beautiful blue eyes, I used to dream of finding a man like him.

“I actually wanted to talk about you for once. I noticed we always talk about me, but I would really love to even the playing field a bit,” I muttered sadly as he threw on one of his shirts.

He walked over to me and stood by the edge of the bed. My knees sank into the mattress as I sat up and began to button up his plain white shirt while he just stared down at me. When I glanced into his eyes, he leaned down and pecked my lips. A warmth spread throughout my body and hugged me tightly as a small smile made its way onto my face.

“We can talk later,no?” he asked.

I let out a huff of air before shrugging and throwing myself down onto his bed where I pulled the blanket over my head. When a groan left his lips, I couldn’t help but grin. Turning around, I quickly replaced my smile with a frown to continue my act. His arms wrapped around my waist as he pulled me into his chest.

“I don’t like to talk,” Valentino stated. I wrapped my arms around him in response, before resting my head on his chest. I knew he didn’t like to open up, but I felt it would help me connect with him more. I didn’t know much about him except for the fact that he may or may not kill people, he owns a club, and his half-brother is the Don of a mafia.

“I had a mother. Her name was Agnella, and she was the best woman I had ever met. Her heart was so big that she cared too much about everyone else and didn’t see when she needed care herself. She was the first person I ever loved?no one was like my mother. Not even mybitch of a fathercould match to how much I looked up to that woman,” he explained.

It was exactly how I felt about Alex.

“What’s your favorite memory of her?” I asked.Thatwas the question I wished people would ask instead of how I was doing. I didn’t want to know how sorry they were because of her death, I wanted to know that they actually cared enough to learn about her.

“I was with my brother, Vincenzo. We were down by this lake that was near our house and I told my brother that one time I caught a fish with my bare hands. I never did, but he believed me. It was understandable, seeing as he couldn’t say anything other than ‘papa’ and ‘mama.’ My mother had finished dressing us up to ‘perfezione’ since my stepfather said that was the way men were supposed to dress all the time. So, Enzo was in this nice suit. His hair was combed, and he was wearing these expensive shoes Roberto, my stepfather, had bought him. Enzo always wanted to be better than me, so he walked into the shallow part of the lake and he tried to catch a fish.” He laughed. An actual smile made its way onto his face and it was beautiful. It was so contagious that I wished he would smile more.

“My mama was so mad when he walked into the house drenched in stinky lake water. His father, Roberto, was just sitting on the couch, shaking his head. Mama looked at me and we all just started laughing. Keep in mind that Enzo was just a baby.” He smiled. I bit down onto my lip as my smile only seemed to grow.

Getting on my tippy toes, I grabbed his face gently between my hands and pecked his lips.

“I love, um, I love that you’re talking to me,” I whispered.

Closing my eyes tightly, I could only hope he didn’t notice myalmostslip up. I also couldn’t believe that I had just almost said ‘I love you’ to him.

When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me. I watched as his smile disappeared. He turned to look away from me before nodding his head awkwardly.

“I have to go,” he muttered. My eyes shut as soon as he leaned down and kissed my cheek. At the sound of the door closing, they opened. He knew exactly what I hadalmostsaid to him. It was in my eyes and everywhere on my face. I loved Valentino Romano and I hated it.

A frown came across my face as I sat down and stared at absolutely nothing. Deep down, I knew he would never love me back.

Anastasia

Iregretted that day in his room more than anything. I hadn’t seen Valentino in a whole week. For the first three days, I decided to sleep in his room and just hope he would show up. He never did. Not even when it was nighttime. It made me wonder if he were with someone else. The thought broke my heart so much that I stopped sleeping in his room and returned to mine.

I had never felt so alone. I couldn’t count how many times I cried and wondered why my life had to be so complicated. No matter what I did, I could not be content. Even when I tried to text Jacob about dog-sitting Max like I was supposed to, I couldn’t get a response.

Deciding that today would be the last day of drowning in a pit of my own sadness, I would get dressed and do something productive. I got up and made my way to the bathroom. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and did everything else for good personal hygiene.

After I finished, I wrapped a towel around myself and went to my closet. All of my clothes were either short or tight. With a sigh, I put on my trademark pink lingerie before slipping on a pair of shorts and a pink crop top. Then, I slipped on a pair of socks, since it wasn’t like I had any place else to be other than the mansion.

As soon as I finished, the door opened, and Valerio walked in. I couldn’t help but smile as I shuffled over and embraced him in a hug. I hadn’t seen him since Valentino said I was basically suspended from going into the club.

“How you been, Barbie doll?” he asked, a big smile on his face. I pulled away from the hug with a sad smile.

“As good as I can get,” I responded.

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