The Mafia King's Temptation (Dante and Lucia) novel Chapter 63

Chapter 68 – Empty Rooms

Dante The University of Oslo’s website glowed on my serven at three in the morning, pristine and professional, everything laid out in perfect order. The Master of Public Policy program’s acceptance rate hovered at twelve percent. Their endowment totaled just over four billion Norwegian krone A pittance, really, I could quadruple that with one phone call.

My finger hovered over Marco’s number as calculations ran through my mind. The right pressure points, the correct leverage applied with surgical precision Universities always needed funding. Always had weak spots that could be exploited.

The screen blurred slightly as I reached for the crystal tumbler on my desk. The scotch–aged thirty years, perfectly balanced notes of nak and smoke–tasted like ash

What the hell was I doine

I closed the browser with more force than necessary, disgust rising in my throat. This wasn’t a business rival I could simply buy out. Not a political opponent whose secrets could be leveraged. This was…

Lucia

My hands clenched on the desk’s polished surface as her name echoed through my mind. Three syllables that had somehow dismantled every careful defense, every calculated barrier I’d spent years constructing

“Mr. Romano?” Taylor’s voice carried carefully neutral through the intercom. Upilates on the situation you requested.”

1 straightened, adjusting my tie with automatic precision. “Come in

like

He entered with characteristic silence, inanila folder in hand. The kind of detailed surveillance report Id ordinarily appreciate. Now it felt like acid in my stomach.

“Miss Valentini Jel the penthouse at 2:15 PM,” he reported, professional as always. Two suitcases and her personal laptop. Martinez followed her to the Valentini estate in North Hilk

The family home. Where she’d grown up, Where she’d first learned to sketch buildings in the margins of her schoolbooks, dreaming of creating something beautiful.

I shouldn’t know these details. Shouldn’t remember them from late–night conversations when her guard was down, when she’d curl against me in the dark and share pieces of herself I’d pretended not to treasure.

“Her foundation office is nearly cleared out. Taylor continued. “The temporary leadership structure begins next week. And the real estate agent in Oslo vent preliminary apartment listings for ”

“Enough.” The word came om sharper than intended. I forced my voice back to careful neutrality. That will be all ”

He hesitated, something almost like concem crossing his usually stośc features. “Sir…if I may!”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the unprecedented breach in protoral,

“In my experience.” he said carefully, sometimes the most valuable assets can’t be secured through conventional means.“

The words hit with unexpected force because he was right this wasn’t something I could control through my usual methods. Couldn’t fix with money or power or perfectly executed strategy

This required something far more terrifying

“You’re dismissed,” I said quietly. He nodded, withdrawing i

with charneristic discretion.

The penthouse felt different as I moved through its carefully ordered spaces. Emptier, though nothing bad physically changed. Everything remained in its precise place–artwork perfectly centered, furniture arranged at exact angles, not a cushion out of alignment.

Everything except her.

I found myself outside her door before conscious thought registered. The handle turned smoothly under my grip, allowing me into space that still held echoes of her presence.

Her scent lingered that subtle mix of jasmine and something uniquely her that used to cling to my sheets. A half–empty coffee cup sat on the pristine drafting table, lipstick stains marking the rim. Red. Like the dress she’d worn that first night.

Like the blood in my mouth as 1 bit back words that could have inde her stay.

The words fell into empry air, too late and too quiet. Three syllables in our mother tongue that could have changed everything

But I hadn’t said them when it mattered. Hadn’t been able to crack my perfect control enough to admit the trudi – dit somewhere between contract and chaos, between her fire and my ice, I’d fallen completely, terrifyingly in love.

My phone buzzed. Another message from the campaign manager about tomorrow’s press conference, Another crisis requiring the perfect response. Another performance of the controlled, calculated leader everyone expected

Lignored in

Instead, I found myself touching the sketches she left pinned to her idea board. Preliminary designs for the youth center expansion. Dreams of creating safe spares for kids who had nothing. Her heart, expressed in clean lines and careful measurements.

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Chapter 63 – Empty R

Rooms

Everything about her was a study in beautiful contradiction. Precise architectural skill wrapped around passionate idealism. Sharp business actimen tempered by genuine compassion. Fire and grace and strength all contained in one remarkable woman who’d somehow slipped past every defense

usual weapons.

And Ed lost her. Not to a business mal or political enemy. Not to any force I could fight with my

I’d lost her to my own carefully maintained control. To the tealls I’d built so high i couldn’t find my way over them even when it mattered most,

The realization hit like physical pain, making my hands clench on her drafting table. The same table where I’d almost kissed her that first morning she moved in. Where I’d watched her work late into the night, hair messy and eyes light with creative fire. Where I’d stood silently in the doorway countless times, watching her pour her heart into designs that would make the world a little better.