Chapter 3: The Man Who Wouldn’t Leave
Luca didn’t leave.
Even after I told him to go, even after I locked the bakery door and turned the sign to “Closed,” he stayed outside. He stood in the rain for almost an hour, just staring at the building like he was afraid that if he left, we would disappear again.
Eventually, I had no choice but to let him in.
The twins were upstairs in our small apartment above the bakery. I made them lunch and put on their favorite cartoon before going back down to deal with Luca.
He was sitting at one of the small tables when I came down, his wet coat draped over the chair. He looked exhausted. Older. There were new lines around his eyes that hadn’t been there three years ago.
I stayed behind the counter, keeping distance between us.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
Luca looked down at his hands.
“It took me two years,” he said quietly. “Your sister finally told me the truth about what happened that night. After that, I started searching. I hired people. I checked every small town within driving distance of Chicago. I even had someone watching your old friends.”
He looked up at me.
“I never stopped looking for you, Isabella.”
I felt something crack in my chest.
“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t say my name like that. Like you still have the right to.”
Luca flinched.
“I know I don’t,” he said. “But I need to know… are they really mine?”
I didn’t answer right away.
Instead, I walked over to the small photo I kept behind the counter — a picture of Lena and Leo on their second birthday. I placed it on the table in front of him.
Luca stared at the photo like it was something sacred.
Lena had my smile. Leo had his father’s eyes and the same serious expression Luca used to wear when he was thinking deeply.
“They’re yours,” I said quietly. “Both of them.”
Luca closed his eyes. For a moment, I thought he might actually cry. But when he opened them again, they were dry.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. His voice was rough. “Why didn’t you let me know they existed?”
I laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“Because the last time I saw you, you were in bed with my sister,” I said. “Because you destroyed me. And because I didn’t trust you not to destroy them too.”
Luca looked like I had slapped him.
“I made a mistake,” he said. “The biggest mistake of my life. But I never stopped loving you, Isabella. Not for one single day.”
I shook my head.
“Love isn’t enough, Luca. Not after what you did.”
He was quiet for a long time.
Then he asked the question I had been dreading.
“What do you want me to do?” he said. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll do it. If you want me to leave and never come back, I’ll try. But if there’s even a small part of you that still—”
“I want you to leave,” I said, cutting him off. “I want you to go back to Chicago and forget you ever found us.”
Luca stared at me.
“You know I can’t do that,” he said quietly. “Not now that I know they exist.”
I felt fear crawl up my spine.
Because I knew Luca Moretti.
May you like
And I knew that once he decided he wanted something, he would move heaven and earth to get it.
Even if it meant taking my children from me.
