The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 25
Bitterness touched his voice.
“After you left the United States, I followed you to Europe as soon as I could. Not because of anything else. Because I like you, Isabella. I’ve loved you since we were young.”
The words flowed into my heart like something warm.
I stared at him, stunned, and saw affection and nervousness laid bare in his eyes.
I remembered every kindness Adrian had shown me over the past three years.
He had stayed with me through the loneliness of arriving in a foreign country. He had supported me silently when my career stumbled. When I was sick, he stayed up all night beside me. He respected every decision I made and never pressured me.
His company had been warm.
Solid.
Real.
Adrian took my hand. His palm was warm and dry.
“Bella, I know you’re still hurt. I know you haven’t completely let go of the past. I’m not in a rush. I can wait. I just want to ask… could you give me a chance? Let me protect you. Let me be good to you as your boyfriend.”
There were no elaborate promises in his confession.
No exaggerated romance.
Only simple sincerity, backed by years of companionship.
My heart softened.
I looked at Adrian Castellano, the man who had grown up with me, argued with me, laughed with me, and stayed beside me through the hardest years of my life.
Somewhere along the way, I had come to rely on him.
Care for him.
Maybe it was time to try a new, healthy love.
Maybe this was how I would truly say goodbye to the past.
I was silent for a long time.
Long enough that Adrian’s hope almost sank.
At last, I lifted my head, met his nervous gaze, and nodded.
A small, real smile touched my lips.
“Okay.”
One word.
Light as a feather.
It made Adrian almost delirious with joy.
He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly, as if embracing a treasure he had nearly lost.
We did not deliberately announce that we were dating, but the news soon spread through our close circles. Everyone was happy for us. After all, Adrian’s devotion over the past three years had been obvious.
When the news reached Dominic, it became the final straw.
At the time, he was at St. Mary’s being treated for the wound on his arm. The search in the rain had infected it, and a high fever forced him to stay under observation.
When his deputy carefully reported the news, Dominic first went still.
Then it was as if he had heard the most absurd, impossible thing in the world.
“Impossible.”
He shot upright in the hospital bed and ripped the IV needle from the back of his hand. Blood welled at once.
His eyes were red, almost crazed. He overturned the medical cart beside the bed, sending instruments and medicine crashing to the floor.
“How could she… how dare she?”
His roar stripped away every trace of his former composure.
“Adrian Castellano. What right does he have?”
Ignoring the surgeon’s warnings and his deputy’s pleas, Dominic forced himself out of the hospital and drove straight to my Long Island house.
He forgot his arm was still bandaged.
Forgot the fever burning through him.
Only one thought remained.
Find her.
Ask her.
He would not allow this.
Deep in the night, he staggered to the locked wrought-iron gate like a drunk man and slammed his hands against the cold bars.
His voice was hoarse, desperate, almost broken.
“Isabella. Come out. Tell me it isn’t true.”
“You can’t do this to me. I was wrong. I know I was wrong. Give me one more chance.”
“Isabella!”
His madness quickly drew security.
Several guards tried to drag him away, but he fought like a trapped animal that had lost its mind, still shouting my name, all dignity gone.
In the end, they forced him into a car.
The window rose slowly, cutting off his desperate voice from the cold night outside.
On the second floor of the Long Island house, a curtain shifted slightly.
I stood behind it, watching the ridiculous scene below, watching the man who had once stood above everyone being dragged away like a madman.
There was no expression on my face.
Only a faint, complicated ripple passed through the depths of my eyes, so subtle even I barely noticed it.
Then I drew the curtain closed and shut everything out.