Adriana's POV
I couldn't sleep.
No matter how tightly I closed my eyes...
No matter how many times I repeated to myself that everything was finally over...
Sleep refused to come.
Because every time I blinked...
I saw Alessio.
Not the ruthless Don.
Not the man whose name made entire cities tremble.
But the man whose hands had been shaking while holding mine.
The man who looked absolutely terrified.
Terrified...of losing me.
I slowly sat up on the bed, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself.
The mansion was unusually quiet tonight.
Almost too quiet.
The silence somehow made every thought inside my head louder.
Was that really the same Alessio De Luca everyone feared?
Or had I finally seen the real man hidden beneath the cold mask?
My heart squeezed painfully.
I didn't know which version scared me more.
A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Come in."
The door opened gently.
Zia Maria stepped inside carrying a tray with tea.
She smiled the moment she saw me awake.
"I knew you wouldn't be sleeping."
I forced a small smile.
"Is it that obvious?"
She placed the tray beside me before sitting at the edge of the bed.
"For women?"
She chuckled softly.
"It always is."
For a few moments...
Neither of us spoke.
Then she looked at me carefully.
"You saw him today."
I frowned.
"Saw who?..Alessio."
"The real Alessio."
My fingers tightened around the warm cup.
"I don't understand."
She smiled sadly.
"No...you do."
I looked away.
Because I did.
She sighed.
"People think strength means never being afraid. But real strength..." She sighed.
"...is having something you're terrified to lose."
Her eyes softened.
"And Alessio found that something."
My heartbeat quickened.
"Zia..." I said. " I—"
Before I could finish...
The bedroom door suddenly opened.
Without knocking.
Alessio.
His dark shirt sleeves were rolled to his elbows.
His tie was gone.
His hair was slightly messy as if he had run his fingers through it a hundred times.
Yet despite looking exhausted...
His eyes searched only for me.
The second they found me...
His shoulders relaxed.
Barely.
Almost unnoticeably.
But I noticed.
Always.
Zia stood.
"I'll leave you two."
She smiled knowingly before disappearing outside.
The room became silent again.
Neither of us spoke.
He walked closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like approaching something fragile.
"You're awake."
"I could say the same."
His lips twitched.
Almost a smile.
"I had work."
"Liar."
That made him actually look at me.
"You haven't worked."
"You've been worrying."
His jaw tightened.
"I don't worry."
I raised one eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"You don't?"
Silence.
I folded my arms.
"So threatening half the security because they let me walk into the garden alone wasn't worrying?"
His expression darkened.
"You shouldn't have been alone."
"I was inside the mansion."
"It doesn't matter."
His voice was firm.
"You stay where I know you're safe."
There it was.
That controlling side again.
Normally...
It would have irritated me.
Tonight...
It only made my chest ache.
I stood from the bed.
Walking until only a few inches separated us.
"You can't protect me from everything."
"I can try."
"No."
My voice came out softer than I intended.
"You'll destroy yourself trying."
For the first time...
He looked away.
That tiny movement hurt far more than any shouted argument ever could.
I gently reached for his hand.
He froze.
His fingers were rough.
Scarred.
Warm.
The hands of a killer.
Yet somehow...
Holding mine like they were made of glass.
"You were scared."
His eyes lifted to mine immediately.
"I wasn't."
"You were."
Another silence.
Then...
Almost too quietly to hear...
"I was."
The confession stole the air from my lungs.
"I thought..." His voice cracked ever so slightly.
"...I thought I was too late."
I had never heard Alessio De Luca's voice break before.
Never.
"I've buried men I've known for years."
"I've watched brothers die."
"I've walked through blood without feeling a damn thing."
His gaze locked onto mine.
"But seeing yours..."
His breathing became uneven.
"I can't survive that."
My eyes stung.
Without thinking...I stepped closer.
Resting my forehead gently against his.
His hands instinctively circled my waist.
Not tightly.
Not possessively.
As though he needed reassurance that I was really there.
"I'm here." I whispered.
"I'm not going anywhere."
He closed his eyes.
"You don't get to promise that."
"I know."
"But I'm trying."
His grip tightened just a little.
"You scare me."
He frowned.
"I do?"
I nodded.
"Because when you love..."
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Love.
His entire body became still.
"...you love so fiercely that you'll burn yourself alive just to keep the other person warm."
The room fell completely silent.
Neither of us moved.
Neither of us breathed.
I realized what I had almost admitted.
Heat rushed to my face.
"I..."
I quickly stepped back.
"I didn't mean—"
Before I could finish...
His hand gently caught my wrist.
Not forcefully.
Just enough to stop me.
His thumb brushed across my skin.
My pulse betrayed me.
It always did whenever he looked at me like this.
Not as his wife.
Not as someone he had sworn to protect.
But as if I had become the center of his entire world.
His dark eyes searched mine, silently asking questions neither of us was brave enough to answer.
"You should rest," he murmured, though neither of us moved.
"And leave you alone again?" I whispered.
A faint, tired smile appeared on his lips.
"I've spent my whole life alone."
His voice dropped lower.
"I just don't think I can do it anymore."
The confession hit me harder than any bullet ever could.
Without thinking, I reached up and gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from his forehead.
For the first time since I'd met him, Alessio closed his eyes and leaned ever so slightly into my touch.
It lasted only a heartbeat.
But somehow...
That tiny moment of vulnerability said more than a thousand words ever could.
Then—
A deafening explosion shattered the silence.
"Adriana."
The way he said my name...
So quietly.
So carefully.
Made my heart tremble.
Our eyes met.
For a long moment...
Neither of us looked away.
Then—
A loud explosion echoed somewhere outside the mansion.
The windows shook violently.
Red emergency lights suddenly flashed across the walls.
Sirens exploded through the corridors.
Gunshots.
One after another.
Alessio instantly pulled me behind him.
His expression transformed within a
heartbeat.
The vulnerable man disappeared.
The Don returned.
"Stay behind me."
His voice turned cold.
Deadly.
The bedroom door burst open.
His guard rushed inside, breathing heavily.
"Boss!"
"We're under attack!"