Chapter 20: The morning after the night before

Bianca

Consciousness returned slowly, filtering in through layers of contentment and unfamiliar sensations. Sunlight warmed my closed eyelids. Silk sheets whispered against my bare skin, there was weight, the solid, reassuring weight of a muscled arm draped across my waist, anchoring me to this moment, this bed, this man.

Alessandro.

Memory flooded back in a rush of sensation and emotion that left me breathless. Last night. The gala. Jennifer's cruelty and Max's kindness and Alessandro's burning jealousy. The limo where control shattered. This bedroom where we'd come together with a tenderness and passion that had left me fundamentally altered.

I'd given myself to Alessandro DeSanti, the man I was supposed to marry for business reasons, and somewhere in the hours between midnight and dawn, everything had changed.

The arm around my waist tightened, pulling me back against the warmth of his body, and I felt his lips press against my bare shoulder a gesture so tender it made my heart clench.

"Good morning," he murmured, his voice rough with sleep and satisfaction

"I can practically hear the gears turning in that beautiful mind of yours . Don't overthink this yet, tesoro. Please."

"I don't know how not to think," I admitted, my voice coming out smaller than I intended, more vulnerable than I wanted to be in the harsh light of morning.

"I know." Another kiss, this one to the curve of my neck, and I felt him smile against my skin. "It's one of the things I find most fascinating about you. That brilliant mind never stops analyzing, calculating, protecting."

I turned in his arms, needing to see his face, needing to gauge whether last night had been an aberration or something more. Would he regret it? Would the corporate shark emerge now that passion had cooled, ready to use my vulnerability as leverage?

But when I met his dark eyes, what I saw there stole my breath completely. Tenderness. Wonder ,and something deeper something that looked like the same terrifying hope that was blooming in my own chest despite every warning bell in my head.

"Hi," he said softly, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear with a gentleness that seemed at odds with the ruthless businessman I'd thought I knew.

"Hi," I whispered back, suddenly shy in a way that felt absurd given what we'd shared mere hours ago.

We stared at each other in the golden morning light, and I could see him cataloging every detail just as I was the way his hair fell across his forehead, the vulnerable curve of his mouth, the naked emotion in his eyes that he wasn't trying to hide.

This was Alessandro DeSanti stripped of corporate armor, and the sight of him was almost more than I could bear.

"Any regrets?" he asked, and I heard the tension beneath the casual question, the fear that maybe I'd wake up and realize I'd made a terrible mistake.

Did I? I should. Every rational part of my brain screamed that I should regret giving myself to a man who held so much power over my future, who represented everything I'd spent my life avoiding, who could hurt me in ways I might never recover from.

I didn't. God help me, I didn't.

"No," I said honestly, watching his eyes close briefly in relief. "Not about last night. Not about... what we did together. Alessandro, we need to talk about the fact that we didn't..."

"I know." He pressed his fingers gently against my lips, stopping the flow of words.

"I know we need to talk about protection, about consequences, about reality,but can we have just a little more time before we let the world back in? Just a few more minutes where we're not Alessandro DeSanti and Bianca Morena with all their complications, but just two people who had an extraordinary night together?"

The plea in his voice undid me. This powerful man who commanded boardrooms and bent markets to his will was asking for permission to be vulnerable a little longer.

"Okay," I agreed, settling back against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against my cheek.

"A few more minutes."

His hand traced lazy patterns on my back, and we lay there in comfortable silence as morning brightened around us. It should have been awkward this intimacy between two people who barely knew each other outside of boardrooms and football fields. Instead, it felt natural. Right. Like coming home to a place I'd never known I was searching for.

"I need to tell you something," he said eventually, and I felt his chest rise and fall with a deep breath. "Last night... I wasn't thinking clearly. I should have been more careful, more responsible. I'm so sorry, Bianca."

I propped myself up on one elbow so I could see his face. "We both weren't thinking. It takes two people to forget protection, Alessandro. I'm as responsible as you are."

" the consequences fall more heavily on you," he said quietly, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. "that's not fair. I should have protected you better."

The tenderness in his voice, the genuine concern in his eyes it was almost too much. "I'm on birth control," I said. "It's not foolproof, but it helps. And we should both get tested, just to be safe."

"I was tested three months ago," he said immediately. "Clean bill of health. I haven't been with anyone since you and Amalfi. I'll get tested again today. I'll arrange for emergency contraception to be delivered to your suite, completely discreetly."

Something in my expression must have shifted, because he sat up, bringing me with him, his hands framing my face with urgent gentleness.

"I'm not thinking about appearances or discretion for the sake of image," he said fiercely. "I'm thinking about your privacy and your comfort. What happened between us what's happening between us ,it's not for public consumption. It's ours, Bee. Just ours."

The sincerity in his voice made my chest tighten with emotion I couldn't quite name. "Alesso..."

"I need you to understand something." His thumbs traced my cheekbones with infinite gentleness. "Last night changed everything for me. You changed everything. I know you don't trust easily—God knows you have every reason to be cautious with me—but I need you to know that this isn't about the merger anymore. It hasn't been for a while."

My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. "What is it about, then?"

"You." The single word held a wealth of meaning. "It's about the way you challenge me. The way you see through all my corporate polish to the man underneath. The way you make me want to be better, do better, be worthy of the faith you're placing in me right now."

Tears pricked at my eyes, and I blinked them back furiously. "This is insane. We barely know each other. This wasn't supposed to be real."

"I know." He pressed his forehead to mine, and I felt his breath warm against my lips. "But it is real, Bianca. At least for me. Tell me I'm not alone in this. Tell me you feel it too."

Did I? The smart thing would be to deny it, to rebuild the walls he'd so thoroughly demolished, to protect myself before I got hurt. But when I looked into his eyes and saw the same vulnerability I was feeling reflected back at me, I couldn't lie.

"I feel it," I whispered. "it terrifies me."

His smile was soft and understanding. "It terrifies me too...maybe that's how we know it's worth pursuing."