Emilia’s world is crumbling—her brother is in desperate need of a kidney transplant, and she’s sold everything to keep him alive. She’s on the verge of loosing it all when something unexpected happens at the hospital. Mistaken for the mother of a mafia lord’s daughter, Emilia’s life does a 180 turn.. Alaric Castillo, cold and commanding, demanded she became his daughter’s nanny, and she agreed—on one condition. He’ll pay for her brother’s surgery. A tight bond forms between Emilia and the child. But the more time she spends with Alaric, the more she discovers a side of him that’s buried beneath layers of control and power. What started as a reluctant partnership soon became something deeper, but in a world ruled by secrets and enemies, love is a dangerous game. Caught between her past, her present with Alaric, and the deadly feud that is trying to ruin them all, Emilia must decide—will she fight for her heart or walk away from the only family she’s ever known?
View More300Allesio’s POV The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Alaric sat at the head of the long mahogany table, his jaw clenched, fingers drumming impatiently against the polished wood. Around him, his most trusted men stood at attention, awaiting orders.“She only took her car and even that’s untraceable. No flights booked in her name. No trace of her anywhere,” one of the men reported.Alaric exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “I don’t give a damn how much it costs—find them. If they’re hiding, make them regret it.”I sat back in my chair, rubbing a hand down my face. This was getting out of control. I had been barely holding it together as it was, knowing Rosa had shut me out completely. The only thing keeping me from losing it entirely was the fact that Alaric was just as on edge. Maybe more. He was spiraling without Emilia, and I couldn’t blame him. It had been days. No calls. No messages. Nothing. And with Emilia being pregnant? Yeah, he was losing his mind.
299Rosa’s POV. I tried to keep it together. God knows I did. But no amount of pretending, no amount of running, could stop the inevitable.The moment we got back from our trip and crashed out at an hotel nearby, I felt it creeping in. The pain, the longing, the absolute stupidity of my heart. I hated the way I reached for my phone only to remember I’d blocked him, the way my chest tightened at the sight of a dark-haired man on the street, the way I found myself rereading our old texts like a fool.It all came crashing down on me right now.We were sitting on the bed, a ridiculous reality show playing in the background. She had a bowl of popcorn in her lap, her focus barely on me, but she must’ve sensed something was off because she suddenly turned to me with narrowed eyes.“You’ve been weird since we got back,” she said. “What’s wrong?”I shook my head. “Nothing.”She scoffed. “Right. And I suddenly am not angry with my husband.”That made me crack a smile, but it didn’t last. I pre
298Rosa’s POV. The sun was already high in the sky, glistening off the infinity pool as I stretched out on a lounge chair, soaking in every last second of this trip. Our trip. The trip that Emilia and I had taken to escape, to breathe, to exist without the weight of betrayal pressing down on our chests.Emilia sat beside me, oversized sunglasses covering most of her face, her drink in hand as she let out a satisfied sigh. “I’m not ready to go back.”I groaned in agreement. “Same. Reality sucks. We should just stay here forever, become beach bums.”She turned to me with a smirk. “Tempting. But I think Alaric would burn this entire resort down looking for me. And Allesio...” she trailed off, hesitating.I tensed but forced myself to act unfazed. “Allesio is the least of my concerns.”She didn’t believe me, obviously, but she let it slide. “Fine, fine. No men talk. Today is all about us, and we are going to make the most of it.”“Agreed,” I said, clinking my glass against hers. “One la
297Allesio’s POV. I paced the length of the living room, phone pressed to my ear, listening to the endless ringing before it cut off to voicemail. Again.“Rosa, it’s me. Call me back. Please.”I hung up, sighing as I rubbed my hand down my face. This was getting ridiculous. She had shut me out completely—her number wasn’t going through, my texts weren’t delivering, and she was nowhere to be found. It had been two days. Two days of absolute silence. Two days of losing my goddamn mind.And to make things worse, Alaric wasn’t doing any better.“Where the fuck did she go?” Alaric snapped, storming into the room, his phone gripped so tightly his knuckles had turned white.“Still nothing?” I asked, already knowing the answer.His jaw clenched. “No. Nothing. She’s not answering her phone, and none of my men have any clue where she and Rosa went. They just disappeared.”I let out a low whistle. “Damn. You really pissed her off, huh?”He shot me a glare. “Shut up. Like you’re any better? Ros
296Rosa’s POVEmilia got up all of a sudden, a scowl on her face as she paced the length of her bedroom, arms crossed over her chest, her brows furrowed deep in thought.“And Alaric— he— he just acts like nothing happened at all,” she murmured to herself. I kept quiet, not knowing what to say to that, I just continued watching her walk up and down the room.I watched from her bed, one leg tucked underneath me, the other bouncing slightly. “You’re going to burn a hole in that floor if you keep pacing.”She ignored me, muttering to herself. “I can’t just sit here and wait for him to come back like nothing happened.”“You could slap him again.” I shrugged. “That seemed satisfying.”Her lips twitched, but she stayed serious. “No, I want to do something that actually gets under his skin.”I smirked. “Emilia, you are under his skin.”She rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it.I tilted my head. “What exactly are you trying to do here?”She stopped pacing and faced me. “I want him to go crazy w
295Rosa’s POVI pushed open the door to my apartment, and the silence hit me like a punch to the stomach.It was the kind of silence that mocked me—taunting, suffocating. The kind that made it impossible to pretend everything was fine.I dropped my bag on the floor and let out a breath. I had spent the night at a hotel, needing to be anywhere but here. But now, standing in my own space, I realized that “home” didn’t feel like home anymore.Not with his scent still lingering in the air.Not with memories of him trapped in the walls.I walked to my bedroom, my heart pounding as I opened the closet. And there it was—the evidence that he had been here, that he had once belonged to me.His shirts. His jackets. His stupid, expensive cologne still clinging to the fabric.I yanked a navy-blue dress shirt off the hanger, my fingers gripping the soft material like it was personally responsible for my heartbreak.Then, slowly, I knelt and pulled out the shoebox under my bed. The one filled with
294Allesio’s POVThe house was quiet.Too quiet.Alaric and I stepped into the grand hallway, the exhaust of the day still clinging to us like a second skin. We had just returned from a meeting, one that should have left me focused, but my mind had been anywhere but on business.Rosa.I hadn’t heard from her all day. Not a text, not a call. Nothing. What did I expect after all that had happened this morning?Alaric walked ahead, rolling his shoulders like he was already ready for another fight. “I need a drink,” he muttered.Then we saw her.Emilia.She was sitting in the center of the room, back straight, hands clasped in her lap. Waiting.Her eyes locked onto us the second we walked in, and the rage in them was enough to stop me in my tracks.Shit.Alaric frowned. “What happened?”Emilia stood slowly, every movement controlled, deliberate. Her jaw was tight, her nostrils flaring as she exhaled through them. “You bastards,” she hissed.Before I could ask what the hell was going on,
293Rosa’s POVI don’t remember driving to Emilia’s house.One second, I was breaking down in my car, gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. The next, I was pressing the buzzer at the Castillo estate, my heart hammering in my chest.The guards let me in without hesitation.My legs felt weak as I made my way to the entrance. My head pounded from crying, my chest tight with the weight of everything I had just uncovered.Allesio used me.The thought sent another wave of pain crashing into me.I stormed through the mansion, barely acknowledging the staff as I headed straight for Emilia’s private lounge.I found her curled up on the couch, scrolling through her phone with a glass of wine in hand. She looked up at the sound of my footsteps, her brows immediately pulling together when she saw my face.“Rosa?” She sat up. “What—”I let out a broken sob.And just like that, she was on her feet, rushing toward me.“Hey, hey.” She grabbed my arms, her eyes scanning my f
292Rosa’s POVI don’t know how long I sat on that bathroom floor, but by the time I finally stood up, my legs were stiff, and my face was a mess. I splashed cold water on it, rubbing hard like I could erase everything—the tears, the heartbreak, the betrayal.But nothing could wash this away.I gripped the edge of the sink, staring at my reflection. My eyes were red, my lips slightly swollen from trying to hold in my sobs. I looked like a woman who had just had her heart ripped out of her chest.Because I was.And the man lying in my bed was the one who did it.A fresh wave of anger surged through me.How could I have been so stupid? How did I not see the signs?The way he always changed the topic whenever I talked about my father’s business. The way he sometimes asked too many questions, even when I wasn’t saying much. The way I caught him looking at me like he knew he was doing something wrong but didn’t want to stop.I ignored every red flag because I wanted to believe in him.And
Emilia’s POVI tapped my leg continuously on the floor, my hands pressed tight together as I tried to stop them from shaking. My eyes were locked on the doctor's, and I could hear him talking, but I wasn’t even listening. All that was on my mind was thoughts of how I was going to get twenty-five thousand dollars for Matteo’s surgery. Twenty-five thousand dollars! A shudder ran through me. And that wasn’t all. I still had to pay for the other hospital bills apart from the surgery fee.It seemed like my life was just going haywire at this point, and there was absolutely nothing that I could do to stop it.“Miss Abramo?” The doctor called, snapping her fingers in my face twice. I jumped and then gave her an apologetic smile.“You were saying?” I asked.“Are you okay, Miss Abramo?” She eyed me warily. “You’ve been zoning out.”“Yeah, I’m okay,” I lied, nodding. My hands began to shake, and I clasped them together once again, taking in a deep breath as she continued.“Miss Abramo, it’s get...
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