Chapter 238 Six Months Later

Chapter 238 Six Months Later
MIA

It has been six months since everything happened, since Alessandro lost one hand. Life didn’t go back to what it was, but it found a strange kind of peace.

He isn’t the same man I used to fear. Even though he is still a mafia boss, there is something different in the way he moves now, in the way he speaks, in the way he looks at Elara and the children like the world only makes sense when they are close.

I watched them from a distance, standing by the edge of the beach. Elara was laughing as the kids ran around her, sand sticking to their feet, their voices mixing with the sound of the waves. Alessandro stood a little behind them, not loud, not dominating the moment like he used to, just… there. Watching. Like he was afraid to miss even a second of it.

A family that shouldn’t have survived everything it went through… yet somehow did.

Only people who lived their story would understand what it cost them.

I exhaled quietly and leaned back in the car seat, my thoughts drifting, until I saw movement near the parking area.

My uncle and Adrian were the first people I saw, and the moment my eyes landed on him, something in my chest tightened without permission.

Of course.

My uncle didn’t even slow down. He only glanced at me once, then gave a small wave like he wasn’t about to ruin my entire day before casually turning away.

“I’ll leave you two,” he said, already walking off before I could even react.

“Wait” I started, but he was gone, leaving me standing there alone with Adrian.

My stomach tightened instantly.

I refused to look at him. I couldn’t. Because I already knew that the moment I did, I wouldn’t be able to pretend I didn’t feel anything anymore.

“I’m not doing this,” I muttered under my breath, more to myself than to him.

But then I felt it him stepping closer, closing the space between us in a way I couldn’t ignore.

“Why are you avoiding me, Mia?” Adrian asked, his voice lower than usual, calm but certain, like he already knew the answer and just wanted me to admit it.

I kept my eyes on the sand, like if I stared hard enough it would swallow me up and spare me from this conversation, but I still felt him close enough that the air between us didn’t feel empty anymore.

“I’m not avoiding you,” I said again, faster this time, like saying it quickly would make it more believable.

There was a pause after that, not an awkward one, the kind that makes your skin feel exposed. I knew he was still looking at me, unmoving, patient in a way that made it worse.

“Yes, you are,” Adrian said at last, like it was the simplest truth in the world.

My fingers curled slightly at my sides. I hated that my body reacted before my mind did.

“Why don’t you want to accept my love?” he asked.

That sentence hit differently, and my head snapped up before I even thought about it.

“What?” I blinked, sure I had misheard him. “You can’t just say something like that after everything that happened between us.”

For the first time, I searched his face properly, waiting for a smirk, a mistake, anything that would make it feel less real, but there was nothing.

No hesitation either.

And that was what unsettled me.

Because Adrian never spoke without meaning it.

He stepped closer again, not rushing me, not trapping me, just closing the space like he had already decided I wasn’t walking away.

My breath caught a little, and I hated that I noticed it.

“You once told me I never really saw you,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. “That I treated you like I didn’t matter. And now you’re standing here saying this like I’m supposed to just forget all of that?”

His jaw tightened slightly, like the memory wasn’t easy for him either.

“I dated her because I thought she was close to harming you,” he said.

That made me stop completely.

My brows pulled together. “What are you talking about?”

His hand was still holding mine. Not tight enough to hurt… but firm enough that I felt him there.

Like he was afraid if he let go, I would disappear into the same distance I’d been keeping.

“I needed her close,” he continued, voice lower now. “And far away from you. I made her believe you were just Elara’s friend. Nothing more.”

My heart slowed, then stopped catching up altogether, and for a moment the sound of the waves behind us felt too far away.

“So all this time…” my voice broke slightly, and I didn’t finish the sentence.

I didn’t need to.

His eyes didn’t leave mine.

“I’ve loved you for a long time, Mia,” he said quietly. “I just didn’t know how to keep you safe and still not lose you.”

Something tightened in my chest at that—not pain, not relief, but something in between.

I looked at him again, properly this time, searching for even the smallest crack in what he was saying, but there wasn’t one.

It was just Adrian. Raw. Steady. Too honest to be an act.

My throat felt dry.

“I… I don’t even know what to say,” I admitted.

For the first time, something softer crossed his face, not his usual control, something real.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “Just don’t keep running from me.”

The silence that followed wasn’t empty, it was full of everything we never said before.

The wind moved past us, brushing against my skin, but I barely felt it.

Then, before I could stop myself, it slipped out.

“I love you too,” I said quietly.