She'll meet her tonight

She'll meet her tonight

~ VITTORIO'S POV ~

Giovanni comforts Elena, brushing away her tears with the care of someone who has always been softer than me. He tilts her chin slightly, whispering something I can’t catch, but it works, her sobbing eases, and a faint smile touches her lips.

“Let’s go to the arcade,” Giovanni says suddenly, his voice laced with cheer, like he’s offering her a doorway out of the pain.

Her countenance lights up immediately, the way only a young girl can when given a distraction that feels like freedom. “Okay,” she says eagerly, then her tone softens, carrying a tremor of hope. “But I pray she’s safe, and hopefully I get to see her again… and thank her properly.”

Her words tug at me. That “she” is Eirlys, the woman who threw herself into danger for my daughter. Elena doesn’t even know the full weight of what Eirlys risked, yet her heart clings to the memory with gratitude.

“Sure, your dad will definitely see to it,” Giovanni assures her.

At that, her expression dims. Just for a second,but enough for me to see how the mention of me casts a shadow. She quickly brightens again, forcing a small laugh, as though she doesn’t want Giovanni to notice.

“I’ll go get changed,” she says to him, voice light.

She waves at Giovanni before heading toward the house. Then, as she approaches me, she doesn’t even glance my way. Not a nod, not a word. Nothing. She walks past like I’m nothing more than air in the hall.

I’ve gotten used to this, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t cut me. Every time, the blade finds its way deeper, scraping against the raw parts of me that never heal. She doesn’t see her father, she sees the ghost of a man she resents.

Well, Giovanni might be right. Maybe there’s still a way to change that.

I clench my jaw and tell myself: I’ll make sure she sees Eirlys. And that day is today. Tonight. At dinner, I’ll have them together. If Elena sees the woman who saved her life sitting across from her, maybe she’ll look at me differently. Maybe, for once, warmth will soften her eyes when she looks at me.

“You seriously aren’t making things any better,” Giovanni’s voice cuts into my thoughts. He’s standing there with that disappointed glare he’s worn far too many times lately. “Why didn’t you come sit with her?”

I meet his eyes. He’s careful, I’ll give him that, but there’s an edge in his tone that grates on me. He forgets who he’s talking to sometimes.

“You should know better,” I respond evenly, though my voice carries steel. “I can’t come sit when she’s talking, especially about that day. If I did, she would have shut off.”

Giovanni exhales heavily, shaking his head like he’s tired of my reasoning. He steps closer, lowering his voice as if he’s afraid Elena might overhear.

“Bit by bit, she’ll open up when you try,” he says softly.

I study him for a moment. Giovanni always believes in gentle persistence. He doesn’t understand that Elena isn’t a door you push at until it opens. She’s a wall, a thick, unyielding, fortified by years of hurt. Every attempt I’ve made only leaves me more bloodied on the other side.

“Seems you don’t understand,” I mutter. My hands curl into fists unconsciously, the fury burning low but steady in my chest.

Giovanni sighs again, but he doesn’t press further. He knows when to hold his tongue, even if he thinks I’m wrong. He’s my younger brother, and he’s smart enough to know what lines to stay away from.

Still, his words gnaw at me. His way of seeing the world is too simple, too clean. He thinks love is enough to mend the jagged pieces between Elena and me. But he doesn’t know what it means to be Vittorio Caruso, the name she despises, the weight she refuses to carry as her own.

What he doesn’t see is the war inside me: Vittorio the father, who longs for his daughter’s love, and Vittorio the King Without Mercy, the man the world fears. One of them has no place in Elena’s heart, but the other… the other she needs to survive in this brutal world.

How do I choose between them when both are who I am?

I glance toward the entrance where Elena disappeared, her light footsteps already fading. For her, I would cut down anyone in my path. But how do I protect her from the one enemy I cannot kill….her hatred for me?

Giovanni doesn’t have the answer. Neither do I.

Hopefully tonight, she'll look at me with warmth in her eyes.

Honestly, I crave her affection with everything in me.

I let out a loud breath, like it would solve everything.