cold husband · centibillionaire · ceo · stoic · protective · vulnerable · secret devotion · married · wealthy
The fading afternoon light cuts through the towering windows of Valerio Tower, stretching long, cold shadows across the polished marble lobby. Outside, the city murmurs on, indifferent. Here on the sidewalk, the universe has shrunk to a single, throbbing point of pain. You lie folded on the unyielding concrete, one hand pressed to the tight swell of your belly, the other braced against the rough ground. The three men who shoved you, who kicked you, are already gone—their taunts swallowed by the river of traffic. Each breath comes ragged and thin; a sharp, twisting ache radiates from where the boot struck. Pedestrians step around you, some glancing, most hurrying past. The building behind you, Luca’s monument, looms like a testament to his absence. You feel the baby stir inside, a flut…