Valentina's POV | 9:18 a.m. – Sydney Airport
Her body moved on instinct. Her heart hadn't caught up yet.
The air was crisp. The sky too blue. But none of it felt real—not after the past 48 hours of chaos and blood-pumping fear.
Then came the cars.
Six of them. Sleek. Black. Silent.
Men in suits stood like statues.
"Leo," Isabella murmured beside her, "doesn't take risks. When he protects you… he means it."
Valentina swallowed.
This didn't feel like protection.
It felt like the start of something else.
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Leo's Mansion
The estate looked like something carved into the edge of the world—sharp white stone, glass like mirrors, ocean cliffs dropping off behind it. No neighbors. No noise. Just the sound of wind and waves.
As the cars rolled to a stop, Valentina stepped out, the sea breeze cutting through her coat.
She didn't look at the house.
She looked at him.
The man descending the wide stone steps. Built taller now. Broader. Wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled, dark hair ruffled by the wind.
And she said his name. Just one word, soft—fragile.
"Leo."
He froze.
Like someone had punched the air out of his lungs.
His eyes snapped to her—hard at first, then wide. His whole face shifted.
"…Vale?" he breathed.
She nodded, her voice trembling. "It's me."
He didn't hesitate.
He came down the last few steps fast—closing the distance in three strides—and pulled her into his arms like she was something that had been ripped from him and finally returned.
His grip was fierce. Desperate. One hand at the back of her head, the other around her waist, locking her in place like he'd never let her vanish again.
She collapsed into him without a second thought.
He smelled like clean cotton and salt. Familiar. Solid. Home.
"I thought I'd never see you again," he murmured into her hair, his voice already breaking.
"I didn't think you'd remember," she whispered against his chest.
He pulled back just enough to see her face, eyes searching hers.
"You were the only thing I couldn't forget."
She let out a soft, breathless laugh. "Still dramatic."
He smiled—wounded and warm all at once. And when he said it again, the words were barely more than a whisper:
"I never forgot. Not for a second."
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Inside | Her Room, Later
He didn't let anyone else walk her to the guest suite.
"I want you to have the room with the ocean," he said. "You used to talk about water like it was magic."
"You remembered that?"
"I remember everything," he said. Then, softer: "Especially you."
She paused at the doorway. "Leo…"
He turned.
"What happened to you?" she asked. "All of this—cars, guards… that house."
Leo gave a crooked smile. "The world doesn't give you a place unless you take it."
"Is that what this is? A place you took?"
He didn't answer. Just stepped closer.
"You don't have to be afraid anymore," he said gently. "I know what he did. I know what Dante is."
Her breath caught.
"I saw the way you flinched at the sound of a phone," Leo added. "I know the difference between someone running from guilt and someone running from a man who doesn't know how to let go."
Her voice was barely a whisper. "He said he loved me."
Leo's jaw locked.
"That wasn't love," he said. "That was control dressed up as devotion. A man like Dante Romano doesn't love. He claims."
She blinked fast, but the tears came anyway.
Leo reached out, thumb brushing the edge of her cheek. "He will never touch you again. Not while you're with me."
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Isabella stepped in quietly, holding two mugs.
"Coffee," she said. "Or the closest thing Australia calls it."
Valentina took hers, curled up on the window seat.
Isabella sat beside her.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Isabella said.
Valentina gave a breathless laugh. "I did. Just one I used to call my best friend."
Isabella smiled. "He's more than that to you. Isn't he?"
Valentina didn't answer right away.
Finally, she said: "When we were kids… he used to stand in front of me when boys threw rocks. He had this wild anger even then—but he only ever used it to protect me."
"Looks like he still does."
Valentina looked out over the cliffs. "I think I hurt him, once. Just by leaving. I didn't mean to. We lost touch."
"Maybe," Isabella said gently, "he was just waiting for the world to bring you back."
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Leo's POV | Balcony Over the Sea
He stood in the wind, shirt sleeves rolled, eyes on the horizon.
Behind him, guards rotated. Quiet. Efficient.
He lit a cigarette he didn't plan to finish.
She's here.
He didn't know what that meant yet.
But he knew this:
If Dante Romano came near her again, there'd be no speeches. No warnings.
There'd only be ashes.
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Dante's POV | Private Hangar – Sydney Airport
The scent of jet fuel and the distant roar of commercial planes were the only things grounding Dante as he practically burst from his private jet. He didn't wait for the stairs to fully extend, leaping onto the tarmac of the private hangar, his custom-tailored suit barely rippling with the abrupt movement. His eyes, dark and dangerous, immediately swept across the tarmac, searching for what, he wasn't sure. His own shadow, perhaps, to cast a larger, more menacing silhouette.
His phone was already glued to his ear, his voice a low, vibrating growl that cut through the hangar's ambient noise. "Find her!" he roared, the command echoing off the metal walls. "I don't care if you have to turn this entire bloody continent upside down! Valentina is mine, and you will find her!"
Luca, his secretary, was on the other end, his voice a clipped, professional monotone as he tried to offer an update on tracing her movements. Dante cut him off with a guttural snarl. "Updates? I'll give you an update! You have one directive: Locate Valentina. Now! Every resource, every contact, every dirty little rat you have whispering in the shadows – use them! Money is no object. Bloodshed isn't either, if that's what it takes!"
He stalked towards a waiting black SUV, his movements tightly coiled with a furious energy. The Australian sun, usually bright and welcoming, felt oppressive, a harsh spotlight on his burning rage.
"Leo," he spat the name like venom, his grip tightening on his phone until his knuckles turned white. "That self-righteous fool thinks he can shield her? He thinks his little fortress on the cliffs can keep me out? He's about to learn a very harsh lesson."
He barked another order at Luca, his voice cutting through the air like a knife. "Get me everything on Leo Moretti's operations here in Sydney. Every asset, every vulnerability. I want to know where he eats, sleeps, who he talks to, the color of his goddamn socks! And prep the necessary teams. We move on his estate at my command."
His voice rose again, thick with absolute certainty and a chilling promise. "And tell everyone – anyone who so much as breathes near Valentina will answer to me. This isn't a request; it's a declaration! If Leo wants a war, then by God, he will get one! I will tear his world apart piece by piece until Valentina is back in my arms where she belongs! Do you understand me?!"
He didn't wait for a response, slamming the phone shut and flinging it onto the plush leather seat of the SUV. His chest heaved, his eyes fixed on the horizon, already plotting his next move. The calm of Sydney was about to be shattered by the storm that was Dante Romano.