She Loved in Silence, Left in Silence Chapter 09

She Loved in Silence, Left in Silence Chapter 09

Enzo lifted his head. Glared at Dante, eyes burning.

He looked like he wanted to say something. In the end, he just stood up, mechanical, hollow,

The baby things were scattered everywhere across the sidewalk.

Dante bent down and picked up a tiny shirt that had blown into the gutter. He brushed it off, walked over to Enzo, folded the shirt neatly, and placed it back inside the box.

“Mr. Enzo. Some things, once you lose them, are really gone. Drive safe.”

Enzo dragged the half-empty box behind him, step by heavy step, and disappeared into the dark.

Dante’s arm slid around my shoulders. He guided me into the warmth of the restaurant. “Cold?”

I shook my head.

Oreo came charging up, tail going wild, and pressed his fluffy head against my shin.

I knelt down and wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could.

The next day, Sofia messaged me.

I heard Enzo lost it at your place last night?

Apparently a bunch of his recent “jobs” went sideways. The family’s furious.

His father shipped him straight off to the Middle East to handle “business” over there. Could be a long time before he comes back.

Word is he’s locked himself in his house. Won’t see anyone.

Honestly-what’s he doing all this for now? Where was this version of him before?

I read through them and didn’t reply.

I just quietly deleted every way I had of contacting Enzo.

Some people, some chapters-they belong in the past. Permanently.

A new message popped up. Sofia’s voice, suddenly playful: So how far have things actually gotten with Dante?

My stomach flipped.

I closed the voice message and shoved my phone away.

Quietly, I checked in with myself.

How could I put it? Dante was good. Genuinely.

He was striking-looking. He was thoughtful. He never made anyone feel small.

Every time we crossed paths, he ended up being forced to learn another piece of my baggage. He never once let any irritation show.

And he wasn’t tied to any family. He ran legitimate businesses. He didn’t have to read anyone’s expression. Didn’t have to suck up to anyone for an arranged marriage.

But six years of damage leaves scars. Anyone would have reservations. I genuinely didn’t know how

he saw me.

Apparently, he didn’t see those things at all.

When he was busy, he dumped Oreo on me without hesitation.

The few days he had to head back to the inn, Oreo just moved into my place.

The day I dropped Oreo back at the restaurant, I bumped into someone unexpected.

Michela. Sitting at a corner table with a man, eating dinner.

“Oh, please, don’t even bring up that psycho,” the man was saying.

The man teasingly added, “Enzo got banished to the Middle East. You didn’t even send him a care package?”

That was Enzo’s second-in-command. The guy who used to follow him everywhere.

“Care package?” Michela snorted. “I blocked him the second I heard about the reassignment. He can’t even make family meetings anymore. I’m not crazy enough to attach myself to that kind of bad luck.”

The man laughed under his breath. “You two seemed pretty close before. Everyone in the family thought you were getting married.”

Michela rolled her eyes. “That marriage talk was just my dad and his dad trading favors. He had a

six-year secret girlfriend and went around playing single bachelor. I spent half a year

hand-grinding him coffee, getting up half an hour early to iron his shirts. Tell me I wasn’t a complete idiot.”

Glasses clinked.

The second-in-command laughed quietly. “Even our princess slips up sometimes, huh? You iron

my

shirts and I’ll be devoted to you forever.”

Michela elbowed him. “My eyes were broken. But his ex was even more broken.”

“Hey–when you get the promotion next month, let’s burn our PTO. Iceland? Northern lights? I’ve

got the whole itinerary planned. You won’t have to lift a finger.”

The two of them dropped into a low, intimate murmur.