What shocked me most was that some of the photos I didn’t even remember being taken.
They had clearly been taken in secret.
“What are you looking at?”
Dante’s voice sounded from behind me, making me jump.
I turned to see him standing in the doorway.
“These…” I held up the stack of photos, my hand trembling slightly. “Where did you get these?”
For the first time, I saw the mask of composure on Dante’s face crack. He moved to take them, a flash of desperation in his eyes.
“Elena, I can explain…”
But I had already seen the one at the bottom of the pile.
It was a very old photo. In it, a much younger me was handing a lunchbox to a skinny boy.
And that boy was clearly a teenage Dante.
“This is…” I looked at him in disbelief.
Dante lowered his head, his voice trembling. His voice was a bare whisper. “I’ve loved you for fifteen years, Elena. Always from afar.”
“That day, in the alley behind the school, I hadn’t eaten in three days.”
“You gave me your lunch, and you smiled so gently at me.”
“From that moment on, I swore that one day, I would be worthy of you.”
Chapter 11
+25 BONUS
Tears streamed down my face.
So this cold, ruthless man I had married had been in love with me the entire time.
He sat, and for the first time, the walls around him came down as he spoke of his past.
Dante was abandoned by his parents at five and spent a miserable childhood in an orphanage.
He ran away at twelve and began living on the streets.
He did whatever it took to survive.
Stealing, fighting, he even nearly starved to death in an alley.
Until the day I found him.
“I can still taste that sandwich,” Dante said, his voice thick with memory. “It was the best damn thing I’ve ever eaten.”
He looked up at me, his eyes full of tears.
“From that day on, I started to fight like hell.”
“I had to make myself strong enough, rich enough, powerful enough.”
“So that maybe, one day, I could stand before you and no longer be that dirty street kid.”
“But…” His voice broke. “By the time I had built an empire worthy of you… you were gone. You were married to another man, carrying his child.”
“I thought I could never have you.”
Hearing all this, I couldn’t control my emotions any longer.
Tears poured out, and I reached out and hugged Dante.
“I’m sorry, Dante. I’m so sorry I made you wait so long.”
Dante held me tightly, his body trembling slightly.
“Now that you know,” he struggled for the words, “everything… my past… you don’t hate me for it, do you?”
My voice was firm. “Your past wasn’t filthy, Dante. It was cruel. And you survived. You clawed your way out of the gutter to build an empire. You’re the strongest man I know.”
“I love you, and not for your power or your wealth.”
The light in Dante’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.
“Really?” he asked, like a child.
“Really,” I kissed his lips. “I will never leave you.”
Just then, Matteo ran in.
“Papa and Mama are kissing!” he giggled.
Dante’s tears turned to laughter, and he pulled both of us into his arms.
“We’re a family,” he said softly. “Always.
Chapter
The painful past could
finally
be buried for good.
good. From
now on, there would be only happiness
and
love.
