He Broke Every Rule for Her, Except When It Came to Me Chapter 05

He Broke Every Rule for Her, Except When It Came to Me Chapter 05

That night, the precinct called.

“Ms. Cole, your grandfather’s had a cardiac episode during questioning. Please come to the hospital immediately.”

I bolted out of the room and collided straight into Damiano coming in.

“What’s the rush? Have some composure.”

My eyes went bloodshot.

“My grandfather’s heart is failing. Move. I have to get to the hospital!”

I shoved past him. He caught my wrist.

“House curfew. Women don’t leave after dark. Stay put. Go in the morning.”

I stared at him, unable to believe what I was hearing.

“He might be dying and you’re quoting curfew at me? How can you be this cold?”

His expression didn’t change.

“It’s not cold. It’s tradition. Leaving alone at night is a serious offense. I’m doing this for your own good.”

For my own good. What a joke.

I tore my hand free and ran for the garage, told the driver to bring the car around.

He hesitated.

“Ma’am, I can’t act without the boss’s say-so.”

I turned to Damiano.

“Please. I’m begging you.”

He didn’t move. Shook his head.

“You won’t be able to do anything there anyway. Go rest.”

His phone rang right then. Bianca’s voice came through the speaker.

“Damiano, I’m cornered outside a bar, I don’t know what to do…”

His whole face softened instantly.

“Don’t panic, sweetheart. I’m coming.”

He turned and walked out without a second glance.

I tried to run after him and two soldiers grabbed me.

“Let me go! I need to leave! Why does she get to leave and I don’t!”

Their grip was ice, unmovable.

My legs gave out and I hit the floor, tears streaming.

Damiano. I regret ever marrying you. I regret ever loving you even more!

I didn’t sleep that night.

By morning I finally made it to the hospital. The doctor was impatient.

“Where have you been? This is critical—go pay the surgery deposit. Three hundred thousand.”

I didn’t have that kind of cash on me, so I pulled out the supplementary card Damiano had given me at the wedding.

It was declined. Spending limit reached. Needed his signature in person to lift.

I called him. Bianca answered instead.

“Damiano’s in the shower. I’ll pass along the message.”

She hung up.

Hours passed. No money came through.

The hospital pressed harder.

I went through my contacts, calling everyone I could think of, begging.

The moment they heard what I needed, they hung up on me, one after another.

Someone finally told me why.

“The Vitale family has a rule—no one’s allowed to lend outsiders money. We can’t risk it.”

I sat on the floor, completely hollowed out.

That’s when my grandmother arrived.

When we reached the surgery doors, the doctor’s face was heavy.

“I’m sorry. We did everything we could.”

The floor dropped out from under me. My grandmother collapsed beside me.

“Grandma!”

They rushed her into emergency care.

I stood frozen, ice-cold all the way through. Then the doctor came out again.

“I’m sorry. Her heart couldn’t handle the shock. We did everything we could.”

Two people I loved most, gone in a single day.

The grief hit like a wave and I went down, everything going black.

I didn’t wake up until the next day.

Through the haze of it, I arranged their funerals.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it, Lady Sofia sent word: the paperwork was done.

I went back to the estate, signed the release papers, and packed the little I owned.

Stepping out of the Don’s wing, I ran into Damiano.

“Where are you going?”

I didn’t turn around. “Leaving. For good.”

He didn’t catch the full weight of it—some deep instinct in him flickered with unease, but he told himself I must be going to check on my grandfather in the hospital, and the tension in his shoulders eased.

“Curfew’s at ten,” he said. “Be back by then.”

I didn’t answer. I got in a cab and went straight to the airport.

When the plane broke through the clouds, everything down there stopped being mine to care about.