Page 55 of Die for You
Valentina sent man after man, under the orders of Gianna, but she never succeeded. My men are loyal as I have proven to be a fruitful leader, and our empire is strong, stronger than Aldo’s.
But it’s because of him that I am the leader I am today.
Then Gianna backed down, as she knew she couldn’t win against me.
Things were quiet—for a while.
But I knew it was the calm before the storm, and Valentina’s arrival three days ago confirms this.
“I am here because I need you to give up. Gianna is planning a takedown so large, Lennon, you will not survive it.”
She’s lying. This has nothing to do with Gianna. Something bigger is on the horizon. Valentina is simply using Gianna as an excuse. She is pretending to do Gianna’s bidding to get to me for a reason, and that reason has nothing to do with Gianna.
The question now is, what does she want?
I have no doubt Gianna has asked Valentina to come here, but something else is going on.
My phone ringing over my car Bluetooth snaps me back to reality.
“Hello, darling.”
“Hi, babe. Don’t forget to pick up a bottle of red on your way home.”
“I didn’t forget.” I totally did, but Bria doesn’t need to know that.
As I said, I do trust Bria, for the most part.
I trust that her love for me is real, so real that she’s the reason Aldo’s computer was wiped clear of any evidence that he had gathered on Valentina. I went to Italy armed with the truth to show Valentina who Gianna really is.
But when I arrived in Italy, the evidence was gone, thanks to Bria, who deleted every single file.
I had nothing to show. Therefore, I knew Valentina would never believe me.
I came back to America, ready to rip off Bria’s head. But what I came home to was Bria taking control and defending her father’s legacy to the death.
While I was away being a lovesick fool, she was here protecting her name and ensuring our kingdom didn’t crumble.
She showed resilience and strength.
When I confronted her about what I suspected, she owned up and didn’t hold back. She told me to grow up and stop chasing someone who doesn’t want to be caught. She gave me an ultimatum—Valentina or her father’s legacy.
At first, I was enraged and told her that I won’t be forced or blackmailed into making a choice. She replied she was doing neither.
I was either all in.
Or I wasn’t.
This wasn’t a game.
She wouldn’t allow her father’s death to be in vain. She would get her revenge with or without me.
And deleting the evidence from Aldo’s computer was the first step in her destruction of Valentina. Valentina didn’t deserve happiness. She didn’t deserve to know the truth because she was the enemy. It was because of Valentina’s actions that her father was dead.
So again, she told me to choose.
My goal was to destroy Gianna, not Valentina. But Valentina was so far gone, I chose option number three—I chose myself.
I gave up the notion of saving Valentina because Bria was right. Valentina didn’t want to be saved, and I was naive to think I could change her mind.
