Page 95 of Mafia Shade's Reluctant Bride
“No,” he finally whispered, shaking his head. “No, that’s not—” He let out a sharp breath like he was trying to clear his head. “You can’t be.”
A humorless laugh bubbled in my throat. “Believe me, I wish I wasn’t.”
His hands twitched at his sides, his entire body visibly shaking. “Maria… you—”
“That night, I was reckless,” I cut in before I lost my nerve. “I did something I’d never done before. I wore a mask. I let myself be someone else. Just for one night.” I sucked in a deep breath, blinking away the heat in my eyes. “And then we… and it was…”
Lorenzo’s lips parted, but no words came out.
I laughed, but it sounded hollow. “It was the best night of my life,” I admitted, my voice raw. “But then I heard Dante say your name. Shade. And I realized I had just—” My breath hitched. “I had just given myself to the man my father hated most.”
Lorenzo flinched like I had slapped him.
I hated myself for how my voice broke, but it was too late to take it back.
“I ran,” I continued, barely above a whisper now. “Because I knew I had messed up in so many ways. And I knew that if I looked at you again, if I let you explain yourself, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from falling.”
Then Lorenzo exhaled a shaky breath and dragged his hands over his face. “Jesus Christ, Maria.”
His voice was hoarse, strained. He paced once, twice, then stopped right in front of me. “You were her?”
I nodded.
A rough chuckle escaped him, but it wasn’t amusement. It was disbelief and frustration, and it felt numb and aching at the same time.
He raked a hand through his hair, his fingers trembling. “That night haunted me for years. Years, Maria.” His voice cracked, raw emotion seeping through. “I couldn’t understand why you left. I thought I’d done something—” His breath hitched, and suddenly, his hands were on me, gripping my arms. “And now you’re telling me that the woman I’ve been chasing, the woman I can’t get out of my damn head, was you all along?”
I barely had time to nod before his hands slid up to my face. He cupped my cheeks, fingers firm yet gentle. His eyes searched mine, desperate and wild, like he needed to find the truth written there.
“Even in a mask,” he whispered, voice thick, “you have always been the one.”
My breath caught.
“Both consciously or not,” he went on, eyes dark with something dangerously close to longing, “I’ve always gravitated towards you.”
My heart clenched, my entire body tingling under his touch. His face was so close, his breath warm against my lips.
“I can believe it,” he murmured.
His lips were inches from mine.
And then—
“I have one more thing to tell you.”
Lorenzo stilled.
His brows pulled together, but he didn’t pull away. “What?”
My entire body went cold. This was the real storm. The one thing that would change everything forever.
I sucked in a breath. “Matteo.”
Lorenzo’s expression shifted. “What about him?”
I looked up at him, my eyes burning. I knew that there was no going back now, so I let the words fly out of my mouth without thinking about it.
“He’s your son.”
