Chapter 4 - The Reversal
Lorenzo turned his attention fully back to me. His thumb gently brushed across my cheekbone, wiping away the single tear that had managed to escape.
"Why did you do that?" I whispered, my voice shaking as the adrenaline crashed through my system. "Why did you come here?"
"Because last night, when you said 'not yet', I saw the way you thought about him," Lorenzo confessed, his dark eyes locking onto mine, stripping away every defense I had left. "And I have never been a man who shares what belongs to me."
He took the black velvet box from his pocket and pressed it into my flour-dusted hands.
"I don't want jewelry, Lorenzo," I said, my heart hammering violently against my ribs.
"It isn't jewelry, mia luce," he murmured. "Open it."
My trembling fingers popped the velvet lid open. Inside, resting on the dark silk, wasn't a necklace or a ring. It was a heavy brass key, resting on top of a folded legal document.
I looked at the paper. It was the deed to the Halcyon Grand Hotel's entire commercial bakery space. Paid in full. Under the name Camila Williams.
"You are an artist," Lorenzo stated fiercely, stepping closer until there was no space left between us. "You belong at the head of your own table, running your own empire. Not taking orders from cowards in a basement kitchen."
I stared at the deed, the sheer magnitude of the power he was handing me sinking in. The humiliation Aiden had caused evaporated entirely, replaced by a surge of absolute, intoxicating confidence.
"I can't just let you buy me a bakery," I breathed, looking up into his ruthless, handsome face.
Lorenzo smiled—a real, breathtaking smile that belonged only to me.
May you like
"I didn't buy you a bakery, Camila," he vowed, his hand sliding securely around my waist to pull me flush against his chest. "I bought you a throne. Now, say 'yes' to dinner tonight, so I can start proving why there will never be another man in your life again."
I looked at the king of Chicago's underworld, holding the key to my future in my hand, and finally gave him the only answer that mattered.
