Chapter 31
He knew that every moment he lingered in this place tightened the noose around him. Once Mrs. Forentino caught wind of their conversation, she would come after him, armed with her well-intentioned persuasion. He could already envision her gentle yet unyielding resolve, her insistence cloaked in concern, pressing him to reconsider, to see things from her perspective. He needed to avoid that at all costs. There wasn’t a chance he would allow even a whisper—let alone someone—suggest that his son’s conception was anything but precious, anything but an act of love.
He had apologized more than enough.
Navigating his car around the sprawling Forentino villa, he finally parked a block away in a quiet, deserted corner. With a heavy sigh, he switched off the engine and slumped forward, resting his forehead against the cool, smooth leather of the steering wheel. A dull ache throbbed at his temples as he sat there, suspended in the stillness, grappling with how a few short hours had turned his life upside down.
But he wasn’t sorry. Not one bit.
He sat there for what felt like an eternity, eyes unfocused, staring into the void ahead. A small hardware store flickered into view through his windshield, its windows dark and empty of customers, save for the gray-haired shopkeeper hunched over the counter, oblivious to the world as he idly scrolled through his phone.
Time slipped away—ten minutes, an hour, perhaps even two—as he remained ensconced in silence, but with each passing moment, the weight of his earlier turmoil began to dissipate. The more he reflected on Carlotta’s revelations from that fateful afternoon, the clearer everything became. At long last, everything was out in the open, and her bitterness had stripped away the façade he had clung to for far too long. It had liberated him.
Carlotta’s raw and unfiltered feelings had lifted a heavy burden off his chest, illuminating a path he had been too afraid to walk before. He knew what he had to do, and this time, he would do it without a shred of guilt.
His son would never again be separated from his mother. Nor from his father, for that matter.
A fierce resolve ignited within him, burning brightly against the lingering shadows of doubt. He would reclaim what was rightfully his—a life woven together by love, a family forged in the fires of honesty and commitment. No longer would he allow himself to be shackled by expectations or fears; he would seize the moment and carve out the future he desired, one where his son was cherished, and his family was whole. By the time he started driving back home, Luca was convinced the news of their fight had already spread through the family like wildfire. His mother’s calls had begun almost the moment he got into the car, her name lighting up his phone with a sense of urgency. When he ignored the first call, she responded with a relentless barrage, ringing him non-stop for the next several minutes. Each vibration against his leg was a reminder of how quickly word traveled in their tight-knit family. Notifications from his sister, Chiara, began to pop up on his screen too, and despite the storm brewing inside him, he couldn’t help but feel a wry smile creep across his lips. They really had wasted no time.
But the first person he needed to talk to now was Amber; everything else could wait. As soon as he drove into his driveway, he switched off his phone, silencing the relentless noise that threatened to drown out his thoughts. With his heart pounding in his chest, he jumped out of the car and hurried toward the front door,—a very strange and mysterious, almost intoxicating excitement swelling within him as he stepped inside the house.
He had a plan now. A plan for his family—a vision where he could have his son…and a wife.
The moment he entered, he found the housekeeper diligently dusting the old furniture. She smiled as she greeted him, but he barely registered her presence. If he managed a smile in return, he couldn’t remember it; his mind was racing, fixated on finding Nico and Amber. He sprinted up the stairs, each step fueled by a desperate need to connect with the two people who meant everything to him.
But when he reached the top, the disappointment crashed over him like a wave. Neither Nico nor Amber was there. He felt his heart sink as he asked the housekeeper, “Where are they?”
“Senora West took Bambino out for a walk,” she replied, her tone reassuring. “They’ll be back any minute; they only went around the block.” Her attempt to calm him was well-intentioned, but it fell flat against the rising impatience and anxiety roiling within him.
“Thank you,” Luca muttered, though he knew she couldn’t understand the tumult of emotions coursing through him right now. Nobody could. All he wanted was to speak to Amber, to bare his soul and share the truth that had taken root in his heart.
The truth was, he hadn’t gone to Carlotta’s home that night to ask her to accept Nico as their ward once they married. That had never been his intention. No, he had gone there to apologize and plead for forgiveness, because he was ready to break off his engagement with Carlotta.
He wanted his family back—his real family.