Her deep chocolate eyes met mine, anchoring me back to reality.
“Hey,” I said.
She blinked, her brows knitting together slightly. “What are you doing here?”
I lifted the bag of food and the bouquet. “I brought these for you. Thought you’d be missing Italian food.”
She took them carefully, her fingers brushing mine, and I saw the surprise flicker in her expression. “Thank you,” she said softly, though it was clear she hadn’t expected it.
She glanced down at the food, then sighed. “I’ve tried it all here. It doesn’t taste the same.”
“You haven’t tried this place.”
A small smile played on her lips. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Her eyes flicked over me then, noticing my jacket. “You’re going out?”
“With the guys.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Alright.”
I turned to leave, but before I could take a full step, she was suddenly in front of me, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek.
“Grazie, Ronan.”
I froze, then slowly turned back to her.
A radiant heat unfurled in my chest—more than gratitude, something fuller, something complete. A smile found me, and the words left my lips like second nature.
“Non c’è di che, tesoro.77”
She held my gaze for one last second before stepping back inside.
I walked away with a strange, unfamiliar weight in my chest—something close to fulfillment.
That feeling stayed with me all the way to La Fortuna.
The casino rose out of the night in a blaze of gold and glass, alive with light and noise and temptation. It wasn’t only a business.
It was mine.
I’d bought it two years ago on a whim—a reckless gamble, even by my standards. But something about the place had pulled at me. The energy. The history soaked into the walls. The echoes of laughter, desperation, and shattered dreams.
It had never been about the cards or the roulette wheels.
It was about the pulse of the place.
The way people walked in with hope burning in their eyes, their entire future resting on a single turn of fate.
La Fortuna reminded me of the truth most people refused to face:
Luck wasn’t real.
It was a beautiful, dangerous lie people told themselves before everything fell apart.
And tonight… I was standing in the heart of it.
“Good night, Dr. Romano,” James, a security personnel, greeted me, “Mr. Xander, Mr. Reyes, and Mr. Suarez are here waiting for you.”
