Chapter sixty three
Rafaello’s POV
I woke to harsh sunlight spilling across the room.
Alora slept deeply, her soft breaths brushing my chest. I lifted myself carefully, slid a pillow beneath her head, and eased away.
I checked my phone.
“Shit,” I muttered. It was already 11:50 a.m. Damn it. I hadn’t slept this deeply in a long time. A small smile tugged at my lips as I wondered where this stubborn woman found the nerve to seduce me last night.
Every restraint I had cracked.I’d completely lost control.
I slipped from the bed carefully, letting her sleep, and headed for a long shower.
When I returned, she hadn’t stirred. Good thing she was on break. She needed the rest.
I dressed casually and locked the door behind me.
When I reached the dining area, Santino and Luka were already there in their gym attire. They turned to look at me, Santino wearing an obvious smirk, Luka looking genuinely surprised.
“Well, look who finally crawled out of hell. Did someone drug you last night?” Santino mocked, gesturing to the chair.
“Morning,” I replied, dismissing his attempt to provoke me.
“Afternoon, boss,” Luka added.
“You’re definitely high on something,” Santino smirked, sipping his juice.
I opened my mouth to respond when
“Good afternoon, Rafe. Should I bring yours and Alora’s lunch?” Maria interrupted.
“Just mine. I’m starving.”
“What about her?”
“She’ll come down later.”
“No one disturbs her,” I warned.
Santino rolled his eyes while Luka shot him a warning look, chewing slowly.
Maria nodded and walked away.
“How was the morning workout?” I asked, pivoting the conversation.
“Good. Just wondering why the guy who ordered it didn’t show. Was that intentional?” Santino asked.
“Maybe,” I replied with a smile.
“I expect compensation for the damage,” he complained.
“What about the arms, Luka?” I asked, ignoring Santino completely.
“Everything went smoothly, Don.”
I nodded as my plate was set down and started eating.
Ten minutes in, Luka excused himself and left.
I tried to ignore Santino’s stare, but it burned a hole through me.
“What?” I asked, leaning back.
“So… things worked out between you two?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“You’re covered in love bites.”
I scoffed and kept eating.
“I’ll be in the lounge. Some intel came in last night,” he said. He strode off.
\---
I entered the lounge to find Santino nursing a glass of whiskey, visibly unsettled.
“Didn’t think I’d live to see you brooding,” I said, taking the seat across from him.
He frowned and poured another drink.
“I never imagined a woman turning me down,” he said heavily. “Especially after flowers. Something I’ve never done.”
“What the hell?”
I tried to hold it in, but laughter exploded out of me.
“She made me beg for it,” he muttered.
That sent me into another fit of laughter.
“So who is she?” I asked once I regained control."I would like to personally give her an award,"
“Nora.”
“What? My domestic staff?”
“How many Noras do you know?”
“You don’t mess with my staff,” I said sharply.
“I can’t help it. She’s curvy in all the right places,” he argued.
“Irrelevant.”
“What do you want from her?”
“Just a taste.”
“Good. It’s better she said no.”i said “So stay away from her.”
“Whatever.” He handed me a blue file. “Alessio sent it.”
I flipped it open. The words stared back at me like a calculated insult.
“What am I looking at?”
“A dead end.”
“No parents?” My jaw tightened. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“There’s no record from thirteen years ago in the orphanage database. No child listed as Alora.”
No record. No parents. No past. Just a void.
The silence stretched, thick as smoke. I’d seen gaps in records before, men who paid to disappear, women erased for their own protection, but this was different. This wasn’t a wipe. It was an absence.
My mother’s face surfaced uninvited. Her measured voice. Her insistence that some children were “better off knowing less.” I’d never questioned her then. I was too busy learning how to obey before I learned how to rule.
Alora didn’t carry herself like someone who’d grown up sheltered. She watched corners. Counted exits. Ate like food was once a privilege. That kind of vigilance was taught by fear, not foster parents.
Thirteen years ago put her at too young to choose disappearance but old enough to remember what had been taken from her. The body forgets comfort long before the mind forgets loss.
I exhaled slowly, forcing the familiar calm back into place. Panic was useless. Emotion was dangerous. But even discipline had limits.
If someone had gone through the trouble of erasing a child, it meant one thing. She mattered. Not sentimentally, but strategically.
And if she mattered then
I’d married into a story that wasn’t finished. And unfinished stories always came back for blood.
I dropped the file onto the table. “She lived there,” I said slowly. “That much we know.”
“Different name, maybe. Protective placement.”
“My mother,” I said. “If anyone knows, it’s her.”
Santino shook his head. “That's definitely another dead end.”
He was right. My mother’s silence was a weapon sharpened over decades.
I’d promised Alora answers. Instead, I was staring at a bigger mystery.
“Wow,” Santino scoffed. “You’re married to someone whose real name you don’t even know.”
“Have Alessio dig up everything,” I said coldly.
Silence settled between us.
“So how do you impress a woman who doesn’t want money or looks?” he asked.
“Wrong department,” I replied.
“I need you to train Alora. Basic combat this winter break.”
He looked up sharply. “Why me?”
“Because I can’t. And because she needs discipline, not comfort.”
“You trained me.”
“And now you’ll train her. You start tomorrow. That’s an order, not a suggestion.”
He smirked. “Just say you don’t want gym sessions turning into sex.”
“Glad we’re aligned.”
“Now excuse me,” I said, rising. “I have a wife to attend to.”
“Traitor,” he called after me. “I won’t be single forever.”
I nearly collided with Luka in the hallway, sweat pouring down his face.
“Don,” he whispered urgently. “We have a serious problem,"
If Luka was worried, it meant we were already late.
Whoa, things just got intense, didn’t they? I need to hear your thoughts—what do you think Rafaello will do next? Drop a comment below and let me know your theories, favorite moments, or burning questions. Your feedback fuels the story, so don’t hold back!🥰