Not Afraid of the Mafia Heir’s Threat Chapter 06
I couldn’t stop shaking.
I shoved him away with everything I had and bent over, dragging in big, desperate breaths as panic clawed at my throat.
Something flickered across Lorenzo’s face, surprise, even a flash of pure disbelief. “Did you just push me?”
He stepped back as I crouched onto the floor, my ears ringing as I tried to steady my racing heart.
After a long moment, Lorenzo let out a slow sigh and dropped himself into a crouch beside me, his voice softening with that familiar, patronizing warmth. “Fine. Forget the apology.”
“It’s just… Gianna’s in a bad place right now.”
“I want to take her out for a few days, help her clear her head so it doesn’t affect the competition. Is that okay?”
It felt like a giant vice tightening around my chest.
I forced myself to calm my breathing while he waited for me to break. Eventually
At some point, I stopped fighting.
And just like he wanted, I nodded.
Lorenzo smiled.
He helped me to my feet and leaned in to kiss my forehead. “That’s my girl, Sera.”
I turned my head away.
He missed.
Even then, he didn’t get angry. He only smiled in that tired, indulgent way of his.
“The place looks really clean,” he noted, looking around.
“Did you have someone come tidy up?”
He started toward the living room.
I opened my mouth to stop him.
Then his phone rang.
Lorenzo only glanced at the screen once before stopping short.
The apartment went still.
The cheerful ring of the phone sounded almost ridiculous in the silence.
I smiled faintly and said gently, “If you need to go, go.”
He looked at me, hesitating.
I made up an excuse on the spot. “Vanessa asked me to meet her for dinner. You don’t have to stay.”
Lorenzo visibly relaxed.
He reached over to straighten my coat for me, a faint edge of jealousy in his voice. “Don’t wear skirts that short next time.”
I didn’t argue.
I just let him fuss with me.
Then his gaze dropped. “You still have the saint medal I gave you?”
Hanging from the side of my black bag was a tiny silver cross.
Lorenzo caught it between his fingers and turned it idly, his voice lazy with memory. “I gave you that sophomore year of high school, right?”
“It’s old.”
Back then, I’d gotten sick all the time, and bad luck followed me everywhere.
After the seventh time I’d nearly been hit by a car, Lorenzo took three days off.
When he came back, he tossed me a saint medal and said, “Found it somewhere. You can have it.”
His mother had been trying not to laugh. “Don’t listen to him, Sera.”
“He went all the way to St. Anthony’s for that.”
“He walked there. Three days.”
Lorenzo had coughed awkwardly, clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment.
Maybe it was because of moments like that, all those half-hidden gestures and things he never said plainly, that I had convinced myself he loved me.
I reached up, tugged the medal off my bag, and said quietly, “Yeah. It’s been a long time.”
Long enough that I thought it was mine.
Then, right in front of him, I dropped it into the trash.
Lorenzo went still.
After a beat, he smiled. “Fine. Whatever.”
“When I get back, I’ll buy you a new one.”
I took a cab back to campus.
On the way there, Lorenzo’s mother called.
Her voice was warm as ever. “Sera, sweetheart, how have things been between you and Lorenzo lately?”
I didn’t answer directly, instead asking, “Is something wrong, Mrs. Conti?”
She gave a light little laugh. “A girl named Gianna called me yesterday.”
“Said she was going to marry my son.”
“As if.”“So I told her exactly what I thought.”
So that was it.
I tightened my grip on the phone and murmured an acknowledgment.
Then she added, “Still, Sera, you need to keep an eye on Lorenzo.”
“Make sure some climbing snake doesn’t steal him away.”
I replied quietly that I would.
She sounded pleased. “Our families have been neighbors for over a decade, and we’re tied together in more ways than one.”
“We know each other. We trust each other. If our family is going to have a daughter-in-law, I only feel comfortable if it’s you.”
The cab came to a stop.
I hung up and dragged my suitcase back to the dorm.
Vanessa was standing there with a face mask on, and the second she saw me, she jumped up. “Sera! You’re back!”
She launched herself at me.
We ended up laughing in each other’s arms.
A while later, Vanessa turned serious and asked, “So you really broke up with Lorenzo?”
I nodded. “I did.”
But worry flashed in her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“You were with him for so long.”
“Doesn’t it hurt like hell?”
For a second, my mind went completely blank.
Eleven years.
That wasn’t something you cut loose without feeling it.
My chest ached.
But I believed I’d get through it.
Even if it took time.
Even if it hurt for a while.
So I answered lightly, like it didn’t matter, “Lorenzo takes terrible pictures.”
“I’m over it.”