Chapter 6 - The Day Lorenzo Tore Up the Contract
Six months later, the Moretti penthouse no longer felt like a hotel.
Maya’s textbooks covered the dining table.
Clara’s shoes appeared beneath furniture.
Lorenzo had discovered that cereal was acceptable for dinner.
Clara had discovered that the most feared man in Manhattan secretly watched terrible cooking competitions.
Neither mentioned it.
Bellini was awaiting trial.
Victor Kane had been arrested in Miami.
Daniel Vance’s name had been publicly cleared.
And the fifty-thousand-dollar debt had been legally erased.
One evening Clara found Lorenzo in his study.
A document waited on his desk.
She recognized the contract immediately.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That usually means something happened.”
Lorenzo pushed the document toward her.
“Six months remain.”
“I know.”
“I’m ending it tonight.”
Clara stared at him.
“What?”
“You and Maya are safe. Bellini cannot touch you. Your father’s debt is gone.”
He signed a release.
Then slid it across the desk.
“You’re free.”
Clara did not touch it.
“You’re throwing me out?”
“No.”
“You’re divorcing me?”
“If that is what you want.”
“What do you want?”
Lorenzo went silent.
Clara waited.
He had negotiated billion-dollar acquisitions with less hesitation.
Finally he said, “That is irrelevant.”
She laughed once.
“There he is.”
“Who?”
“The idiot from table four.”
His eyebrows lowered.
“Careful.”
“The man who thinks ordering people around is easier than telling them the truth.”
Lorenzo stood.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
Clara’s smile disappeared.
He continued.
“But I will not use a contract to keep you here.”
For once there was no billionaire confidence in his voice.
No command.
No bargain.
“I brought you into my life because I needed a wife,” he said. “Then you walked into every room I controlled and started changing it.”
Clara folded her arms.
“That sounds inconvenient.”
“It was intolerable.”
She almost smiled.
“And?”
“And now I notice when you aren’t there.”
Silence.
Lorenzo pushed the release closer.
“I promised that if you said no, I would let you walk away.”
“You did.”
“So I’m keeping my promise early.”
Clara looked down.
Then tore the release in half.
Lorenzo froze.
“What are you doing?”
“You said I’m free.”
“You are.”
“Then I’m free to stay.”
He stared at her.
“Without a contract?”
“Without a contract.”
“Why?”
Clara walked toward him.
“Because somewhere between you terrifying my coworkers and arguing with me about security guards, you became less terrible.”
“Less terrible?”
“Don’t ruin this.”
A faint smile touched his face.
Clara pointed at him.
“And if you ever snap your fingers at me again—”
“I remember.”
“Good.”
He reached for her hand but stopped before touching it.
Clara noticed.
“Now you ask?”
“Yes.”
“Definitely growth.”
“Clara.”
“Yes?”
“May I kiss you?”
She made him wait.
Three seconds.
Four.
Then she smiled.
May you like
“Yes.”
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