Chapter 2 His Father Put Him Right Outside My Bedroom

Mireya's POV

Nerio walked past me,and a few seconds later,the door to the east guest room closed.

The hallway fell quiet again.

I did not move.

"How long are you planning to stand there?"

Raffaele's voice came from behind me.

I turned.He was still near the stairs,looking as though the confrontation with his son had meant nothing at all.

"Are you happy now?"

"About what?"

"Putting him across from our bedroom."

Raffaele came over and opened the door to the master suite.

"I thought we already discussed this."

"No.You decided.That's not the same thing."

"He could have refused."

"You knew he wouldn't."

Raffaele paused and glanced back at me.

"That was his choice."

There it was again.

Choice.

I suddenly realized father and son were more alike than either would ever admit.One arranged the board so everyone had only one move left.The other saw the trap,stepped into it anyway,and then both of them called it a choice.

I brushed past him and went into the bedroom.

Hours later,a little after two in the morning,I woke up thirsty and slipped out of bed.

I was wearing one of Raffaele's T-shirts.My own sleepwear had been sent to the laundry,and his shirt had been the first thing within reach.It fell to just above my knees,loose around my body,the collar slightly open.

I had not chosen it to make a point.

Apparently the universe did not care.

I had barely reached the turn in the hallway when the door to the east guest room opened.

Nerio stood in the shadows.

He had not slept either.His dark hair was tousled,and he wore a plain cream T-shirt.In the softer hallway light,the hard angles of his face looked almost vulnerable.

I opened my mouth to say something.

The master bedroom door opened behind me.

Raffaele appeared at my side.

Without hesitation,he lifted one hand and adjusted the loose collar of the shirt,then smoothed a strand of dark hair away from my shoulder.

The movement was so natural,so practiced,it made my chest tighten.

Then he took the empty glass from my hand,filled it,and held it out to me.

"You were thirsty.Drink,then go back to bed.It's cold out here."

He never looked at Nerio.

Not once.

That casual intimacy was crueler than any insult could have been.

Nerio stared at us,and I saw the exact moment he understood why his father had put him in the room across the hall.

It had never been about security.

Raffaele wanted him to see what five years had done.

He wanted Nerio to see that,somewhere along the way,his father had become part of my daily life.

I shoved the glass away.

"Enough,Raffaele."

His expression remained calm.

"I'm doing what I do every day,Mireya.I haven't done anything wrong by taking care of my wife."

Across from us,Nerio's chest rose sharply.

The movement pulled at an old wound near his shoulder.Dark red spread through his shirt.

My anger vanished.

"You're bleeding."

I crossed the hall before I could stop myself and grabbed his arm.

"Where's the first-aid kit?"

I ignored the heat of Raffaele's stare and pulled Nerio into the sitting room.

The reopened wound made my stomach twist.I found antiseptic and gauze,my hands less steady than I wanted them to be.

When I leaned close to clean the cut,my breath moved over Nerio's bare shoulder.

We froze.

Six years ago,in the tiny apartment we had shared,I had patched him up more times than I could count.

Apparently my hands had not forgotten.

Neither had the rest of me.

Nerio's breathing changed.

Then his hand closed around my wrist.

He pulled me closer.

"You wear his clothes now? Like it's nothing?" His voice was rough."Tell me,Mireya.After five years,is there anything left of me in your heart?"

His grip hurt.

I stopped what I was doing and looked directly into his eyes.

"Let go."

"No."

His jaw tightened.

"I didn't leave because I stopped wanting you.I left because I thought marrying him was temporary.I thought it was a way to survive.Then I come back and see you wearing his clothes,his ring,letting him take care of you like this-"

"Because this has been my life," I cut in.

He went still.

"Five years ago,you chose your pride.You disappeared and left me to beg the man you refused to ask for help.After that,no one forced every decision I made.Whatever happened during those five years belongs to me.You don't get to come back and question me like you're the only person who suffered.And you don't get to erase the life I lived just because you weren't here to see it."

His fingers loosened.

Then fell away.

The door opened.

Raffaele stood there,his expression unreadable.His gaze dropped to the hand Nerio had just used to hold my wrist.

I was suddenly sick of both of them.

Sick of being treated like proof in a war between father and son.

I stepped away from Nerio.

"You two can keep fighting if you want.Leave me out of it."

I did not return to the master bedroom.I crossed to another guest room,locked the door,and left both men outside to kill each other with their eyes.

By morning,sunlight filled the estate dining room and the smell of fresh coffee hung in the air.

I had barely sat down when Raffaele slid an engraved invitation across the table.

He did not look at me.

His gaze went straight to Nerio,sitting opposite us with a face like stone.

"Tonight," Raffaele said calmly,"Mireya will host your engagement dinner as your stepmother."