Chapter 8 - The War for Rome
The failed bombing at the gala was the final straw. Lorenzo declared all-out war on the Moretti crime family.
For two weeks, the city became a battleground. Night after night, gunfire echoed in the distance as Lorenzo dismantled Eduardo Moretti’s empire piece by piece—shutting down their illegal docks, seizing their warehouses, and turning their own lieutenants against them.
During this time, I stayed in the fortified estate with Leo, who was now three months old and thriving. He had started cooing and reaching for my face whenever I fed him.
One night, Lorenzo returned home late. He was exhausted, his body covered in fresh bruises and cuts.
I met him in the private study, bringing a basin of warm water and clean bandages.
"You don't have to do this, Clara," Lorenzo said softly as I sat on the footstool beside his chair, carefully dabbing a cut on his cheek with an antiseptic cloth. "You are the mistress of this house. You have servants for this."
"I want to take care of you," I replied honestly, looking into his tired, dark eyes. "You protect this family from the outside world. Let me protect you inside these walls."
Lorenzo reached out, cupping my cheek with his warm palm. "When my late wife died, I thought my heart died with her. I thought I was left as nothing more than a machine meant to kill and lead."
"And now?" I murmured, leaning into his touch.
"Now... every time I enter this room and see you holding Leo, I feel alive again," Lorenzo confessed, his voice thick with raw emotion. "I didn't just fall in love with how you saved my son, Clara. I fell in love with you."
My heart hammered in my chest. Tears prickled my eyes, but they were tears of profound joy.
"I love you too, Lorenzo," I confessed softly. "I didn't want to admit it because I was scared. But you gave me a reason to live when I wanted to die."
Lorenzo leaned down and pulled me up into his lap, kissing me passionately. It was a kiss full of devotion, relief, and unspoken promises. That night, our fake marriage ceased to be a legal arrangement. We became husband and wife in every sense of the word.
However, our joy was cut short at dawn.
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Dante burst into the master bedroom, his face grim. "Boss. Eduardo Moretti has fallen back to his compound in the mountains. But he’s taken hostages—including the lead medical doctor who engineered the poison for Leo. The doctor is willing to testify against Moretti, but Moretti is planning to execute him in one hour."
Lorenzo sat up, his jaw set. "Prepare the men. We finish this today."
