Page 69 of Ruthless Vow
“We need to talk.”
Three words. From Renzo, that’s a speech.
“About?”
He doesn’t answer. Just looks at me with those flat stares that see everything and give nothing back.
“You’re in love with her.”
Dio.
I don’t flinch. Don’t react. Eleven years of running this family have taught me how to keep a blank face when the world is tilting.
“That’s not?—”
“Don’t.” He cuts me off. No heat. Just facts. “I’ve been watching you for weeks. How you track her across rooms. How you say her name. How you come out of that study at three in the morning looking like someone cracked you open.”
I lean against the wall. Cross my arms. Armor I don’t feel.
“What’s your point?”
“You know what my point is.” He steps closer. His presence alone is enough to make most men step back. “You know this is dangerous.”
“I know.”
“You know she was supposed to be a transaction. A political alliance. Business.”
“I know.”
“You know what loving someone did to Papa.”
My jaw locks. Shit. There it is.
“Renzo.”
“His heart stopped the same moment Mama’s did.” My brother’s voice is flat. Clinical. “Eleven years, and his body just caught up.”
Silence.
“Don’t give someone that kind of power over you.”
The quiet between us stretches. I know he’s right.
“It’s too late.” The admission scrapes out of me. Raw. Honest.
Fuck.
The first time I’ve said it out loud.
Renzo studies me. Whatever he finds in my expression makes him exhale, long and controlled. Not disappointment. Heavier than that. His mouth thins. He looks away.
“Yeah.” He steps back. “I figured.”
He walks away without another word.
Damn him.
I stand in the hallway for a long time after he’s gone.
