Chapter 48- Fall in Love
Dante Power came from control. That’s what my father taught me before I could walk. Control your emotions, your actions, your desires. Everything in life could be managed through careful calculation and precise arrangements.
The morning sun streamed through my office windows, tuming stacks of campaign documents into molten gold. Another perfectly orchestrated day lay ahead – meetings, appearances, handshakes with just the right amount of pressure to convey authority without threatening. Everything incasured, everything planned,
Except her.
Business Association is waiting in Conference Room A. They’re
“Mr. Romano?” James appeared in the doorway, tablet in hand. “The Downtown B expecting your presentation on the harbor development’s next phase.”
I nodded, adjusting my tie with practiced precision. “Have the projection screens been checked?”
“Yes, sir. And…” He hesitated slightly. “Mrs. Romano is already there. She arrived early to review the environmental impact studies with the
committee.”
Something twisted in my chest at the mention of Lucia. Three days since she’d found those contracts. Three days of careful distance and perfect political performances. Three days of watching her slip further away while maintaining flawless public appearances.
The conference room hammed with quiet conversation as I entered. Lucia stood at the front, commanding attention in a navy uit that somehow managed to be both professional and devastating. Her hands moved with graceful authority as she walked the committee through complex data every gesture precise and controlled.
Like everything else in my life had been Until her.
“As you can see,” she was saying, “the modified construction timeline actually improves water quality metrics while maintaining profit projections.” Her finger traced a graph’s upward curve, and I remembered how those same fingers had felt against my skin, hoar she’d made me forget every careful rule I’d built my empire on.
“Mr. Romano.” Harrison Chen’s voice cut through my dangerous thoughts. “Perhaps you’d like to address the security concerns?”
I moved to the front with practiced ease, noting how Lucia shifted slightly away, maintaining perfect professional distance. The space between us felt like miles despite the carefully choreographed image of unified leadership we presented
“The harbor’s security infrastructure represents a significant investment. I began, clicking through slides i could present in my sleep. But my attention kept dragging back to Lucia, to the way she took notes with that slight furrow between her brows that appeared when she was particularly focused
rd cataloged all her tells over these months, learning to read every micro–expression and gesture. It was supposed to be tactical understanding my political partner’s patterns. Instead. I’d found myself fascinated by the way she tucked hair behind her ear when thinking deeply, how her lips curved slightly at the comer before delivering a particularly sharp observation.
“And the staffing romiom” Someone asked I forced my attention back to the meeting.
“Three shifts, coordinated with dock operations to maximize efficiency while minimizing security gaps. The words came automatically while my mind circled dangerous thoughts.
I’d always approached relationships like business deals. Clean, controlled arrangements with clear terms and exit strategies. Women knew exactly what they were getting my time, my attention, my resources in exchange for discrete companionship without messy emotional complications.
The contracts had worked perfectly. Until they didn’t.
Until Lucia,
“Mr. Romano!” James’s voice carried a note of concem. “They’re asking about the budget projections.”
I realized I’d stopped speaking mid–sentence, my usually perfect focus shattered by memories of Lucia’s face when she’d found those contracts. The hum in her eyes before she’d locked it away behind careful walls.
“The quarterly projections,” I continued smoothly, but I caught Lucia’s slight frown. She’d noticed my lapse, of course. She noticed everything. That’s what made her different from the others. She saw past every calculated move, every careful performance. She challenged my control while matching my strategies step for step. She made me want things I’d spent years convinced were weakness.
The meeting continued, but I felt her presence like a live wire beneath my skin. Every careful pattern I’d built my life around had shattered the moment she’d walked into that hotel room in that red dress. I’d thought I could control it, contain whatever this was within careful contract terms.
I’d been wrong.
“Excellent presentation,” Chen said as people began gathering their things. “Though one wonders how long this particular partnership will last.”
My jaw clenched at the implied dig about our marriage’s convenience, but Lucia answered before I could.
“Some partnerships,” she said sweetly, with that edge of steel that made my blood heat, “prove more lasting than others, Mr. Chen. As your family’s recent market losses demonstrate.”
I watched Chen’s face tighten as she gathered her papers with elegam efficiency. Even angry with me, she defended our alliance with lethal grace. It mude inr want to grab her, kiss her, break every rule about public displays of power..
Chapter 48- Fall in Love
“The Mayor’s office called.” James reported as we left the conference room. “They want to review transition protocol…
I nodded, already mentally cataloging the day’s careful schedule. Meetings, appearances, handshakes with just the right pressure. Everything measured, everything planned.
Except the way my chest ached watching Lucia walk away, her heels clicking a precise rhythm on marble flours. The way I wanted to follow her, explain about the contracts, make her understand that none of those careful arrangements meant anything anymore.
Because somewhere between the political convenience and the partnership, between her sharp wit and fierce loyalty, between her challenges to my control and her protection of our albatice. Something had changed
I’d built my empire on control, on careful arrangements and precise terms. Love wasn’t supposed to factor into the equation. Love was messy, unpredictable, impossible to contain in contract clauses.
“Sir!” James’s voice pulled me back. The Mayor’s waiting..
“Reschedule,” heard myself say. “Clear my afternoon”
His eyebrows rose slightly, but he nodded. In three years as my assistant, he’d never heard me change set plans without careful calculation of every
But nothing about Lucia fit my careful patterns. She’d broken every rule, shattered every wall, made me question everything I thought I knew abour control and power and…
Love.
The word stuck in my throat like bourbon too expensive to waste but too bitter to swallow smoothly. Because that’s what this was, wasn’t it This ache in my chest when she pulled away, this need to protect her while admiring her strength, this terrifying desire to tear up every contract and give her everything without careful terms…
*Surf James again, concerned now. “Are you alright?”
“Fine.” The word came out rougher than intended. I straightened my tie, rebuilding careful walls. “Have the car brought around. And James?”
“Find out where my wife is having lunch today.”
His lips twitched slightly. “Already done, sir, She’s meeting her friend Elina a Terrazzo
Of course she was. Even angry, she kept to routines d memorized like market reports. Because that’s what I did – learned patterns, predicted moves, maintained control.
Except Lucia had braken every pattern. Made me want things beyond control.
Made me fall in love.
The realization hit like a physical blow, making me grip my desk edge. Because love wasn’t supposed to happen to men like me. Love was a weakness enemies could exploit, a vulnerability that could shatter carefully built empires.
Love was terrifying
“Sir?” James’s voice carried real worry now. “Should I call
“No.” I straightened, rebuilding masks of control even as everything inside felt like chans. “Just love the car ready.”
Because somewhere between contracts and chaos, between political convenience and genuine partnership, between my need for control and her challenges to every careful wall…
Id fallen in love with my
wile.
And I had no idea how to fox.
