I slammed through the gates like some rabid dog out of hell, shoving the guards aside when they tried to block me. I didn’t even hear what they were saying. My eyes were burning, my voice shaking from how pissed off I was.
I pointed straight at her parents and barked, “Give me Rosalie. Now! Bring her out before I burn this whole place to the ground. I swear I’ll do it.”
Her father stepped right in front of me like he wasn’t scared. Her mother was trembling behind him but she still didn’t move away. The old man stared at me down, cold as ice, and said, “Our daughter was married to you. If she ever came back here, she wouldn’t come whole. Why would she return to the people who sent her straight into your house?”
“She wouldn’t disappear unless someone helped her. Someone’s hiding her from me. Someone’s playing brave.” I snapped instantly.
Her father didn’t even blink. “If something happened to my daughter because of you, Alessandro Moretti, I swear you will regret the day your mother brought you screaming into this world.”
That set me off.
I slammed my fist into the table so hard everything on top jumped. I grabbed a vase and smashed it against the floor, shards flying everywhere. “She’s mine. She doesn’t leave unless I say she can. She doesn’t get to run.”
Her mother broke down crying, voice shaking but somehow still sharp enough to cut. “If you touched her… if you hurt her… if you broke her… you will pay for every bone in her body.”
Then my phone rang.
I froze. Heart pounding.
Rancho.
I answered, growling into the phone, “Tell me you found her. Tell me you have something.”
His voice on the other side sounded wrong. “Boss… something happened.”
I clenched my jaw. “What now?”
“The photos,” he said. “The ones that were supposed to be the highlight of the auction. The ones of you and her. And your brothers.”
My stomach dropped. Behind me, Damian swore under his breath, a long string of curses. Roman kicked the doorframe so hard dust fell from the ceiling.
Rancho continued, “They’re leaked. Online. Everywhere.”
The world tilted around me.
I roared so loud the windows shook. “What did I tell you!? Delete those! I wanted her found first! I said not a single person touches those files! Who the hell—”
I kicked a chair, sent it flying, wood splintering against the wall.
Then Rancho’s voice came again, quiet, deadly.
“Boss… the one who leaked the pictures and videos… it’s Camilla.”
Everything in me went blank.
…
I hurriedly went to Camilla's house and kicked the front door open so hard it bounced off the wall. I did not bother calling her name.
“Camilla!” I shouted, stalking through the living room, knocking over a chair just because it was in my way. “Get your ass out here. Now. I said now.”
She appeared at the top of the stairs all shaking, and eyes glossy.
“Alessandro,” she whispered. “Why are you yelling at me? I didn’t mean anything bad, I swear. I was just trying to help. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
She even added the trembling lip. The little gasps. The tiny steps backward like I was some monster she’d never met. She had the whole act ready, like she practiced it every morning in the mirror.
I almost laughed.
Before I could get another word out, my brothers howed up. Roman came from the left, Damian from the right, moving in like two overgrown guard dogs that never learned manners.
Roman went first. “Brother, seriously, what the hell are you doing? Why are you screaming at her like that? She’s our girl. You know that. Our first love. You’re acting like someone snapped your spine in half.”
Damian snorted. “Yeah, man, chill. She’s literally shaking. You want her to pass out on the floor? You’re making it sound like she hacked the Pentagon. You’re blowing everything up again.”
The two of them stood there, arms crossed, ready to fight me for a woman who would sell any of us for a better offer. And for a second, just a second, my anger cracked. Because I saw what I looked like. Some idiot roaring in a room full of people who already thought he was losing it.
I rubbed my face and let out a breath. “Fine,” I muttered. “Fine. I got pissed because… whatever. I let my pride run my mouth again.” It tasted like swallowing nails. “She divorced me first. And the… the baby thing. It got in my head.”
I hated the words even as they left my tongue.
Before any of them could answer, my phone rang. The doctor’s name flashed. Everything in me went still.
I put it on speaker. “Talk.”
The doctor’s voice came out steady. “Mr. Moretti, we have the results. The baby Rosalie was carrying is yours. The DNA is a match. It’s not Roman. It’s not Damian. It’s you.”
Everything around me went dim.
Low sperm count. Near zero odds. Camilla’s empty womb because she's barren.
My legs gave out. I dropped to my knees like someone cut the strings. I didn’t even feel the floor under me.
In my head, all I saw was Rosalie’s face.
Those sad eyes. The ones she gave me before she walked away.
The ones I ignored.
The ones I deserved.
