Chapter 5 - The Wedding Ring in the Drawer
The investigation lasted months.
Dominic's financial records connected him to years of stolen cargo, bribery, extortion and the conspiracy surrounding Vittorio Bianchi's death.
Lorenzo cooperated.
Not everyone approved.
Several captains walked away.
Others discovered that Lorenzo's legitimate freight businesses paid considerably better than prison.
The empire changed.
Slowly.
Painfully.
But it changed.
Amelia didn't return to Lorenzo's mansion.
She rented a small apartment.
Lorenzo didn't stop her.
Three weeks after Dominic's arrest, she found him waiting outside her building.
No guards.
No black SUV convoy.
Just Lorenzo.
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting.”
“For?”
“You.”
“That used to involve surveillance teams.”
“I've adjusted my methods.”
She almost smiled.
Almost.
They walked to a coffee shop.
Lorenzo sat opposite her.
“I owe you an apology.”
“One?”
He raised an eyebrow.
Amelia smiled.
“Continue.”
“I treated your disappearance like an attack on my pride.”
“It was.”
“Amelia.”
“I'm listening.”
“I should have asked why you were afraid.”
“Yes.”
“I should never have chased you into that alley.”
“Yes.”
“I should never have grabbed your coat.”
Her smile disappeared.
“No.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“I know.”
He placed something on the table.
The engagement ring.
Amelia stared at it.
“I don't want it back,” he said.
“Then why bring it?”
“Because I wanted you to decide what happens to it.”
She looked at him.
“You're giving me a three-carat diamond so I can throw it away?”
“If that's what you want.”
“That's insane.”
“Probably.”
She studied him.
“What do you want?”
Lorenzo took several seconds before answering.
“You.”
Her expression tightened.
“But not because I chose you in front of three hundred people. Not because people know your name. Not because leaving embarrassed me.”
“Then why?”
“Because when I thought you'd betrayed me, I couldn't sleep.”
“That sounds unhealthy.”
“It probably was.”
Despite herself, she laughed.
He continued.
“And when I learned you were in danger, none of the humiliation mattered anymore.”
Amelia looked down.
“Lorenzo, I did love you.”
“Did?”
“I still do.”
His breathing stopped for half a second.
“But I'm afraid of you sometimes.”
That hurt more than anything Dominic had said.
Lorenzo nodded.
“Then I have work to do.”
“You aren't angry?”
“I am.”
“At me?”
“At myself.”
He stood.
Amelia looked at the ring.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“That's it?”
“You said you're afraid of me.”
He put on his coat.
“I won't ask you to marry me again until you're not.”
Then he walked away.
Amelia watched him through the window.
The ring remained between her hands.
For the first time, Lorenzo Bianchi had given her something more valuable than diamonds.
May you like
A choice.
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