Page 25 of Wrestling With Love

The same unreadable face from years ago.

Her father.

For a second, she thought she was imagining it.

But then his eyes locked onto hers.

Shock. Hesitation. Something she couldn’t name.

Diamond’s breath caught, her pulse hammering harder than it had in the fight.

He was here. Of all places, he was here.

Did he feel guilty? Angry?

Or did he just see a patient and not his daughter?

Her stomach twisted.

Memories crashed over her like a tidal wave. The long silences. The way he’d turned his back when she chose wrestling over the future he wanted for her. The cold, clinical way he’d shut her out.

Now he was standing just feet away, the distance between them stretching so much further than the hospital floor.

She wanted to say something. Anything.

But her throat felt tight, and the words wouldn’t come.

Her fingers curled into fists.

His mouth opened slightly, like he wanted to speak.

She didn’t move.

Didn’t run.

She just sat there, gripping the edge of the seat as the elderly nurse quietly cared for her wounds, oblivious to the storm brewing between them.

CHAPTER SIX

Luca ran a hand through his hair, frustration thrumming beneath his skin. It had been hours… hell, nearly a full day since Diamond had kicked him out, and he still couldn’t shake her from his thoughts.

She had let him in, let him touch her, let him see the parts of herself she kept hidden behind that hard exterior, only to push him away the moment they were done. He should be angry, maybe he was. But more than that, he was restless. He had been willing to do anything for her, to give her whatever she needed, even if she didn’t realize it yet.

And she had shut him out. Again.

His phone buzzed, pulling him from his thoughts. Enzo. He sighed before answering.

“You sound like shit,” his younger brother noted.

Luca exhaled sharply. “Didn’t sleep much.”

Enzo chuckled. “That’s what happens when you’re up all night with a woman.”

Luca’s jaw tightened. “It’s not like that.”

There was a beat of silence before Enzo spoke again, more thoughtful this time. “Then what is it?”

Luca hesitated. He wasn’t sure he had the answer. “Complicated,” he muttered, rubbing his temples. And for the first time in a long time, he didn’t know how to fix it.

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