Becoming Mrs DeLuca novel Chapter 39

VALENTINA

My chest still ached when I thought about what had happened that morning between Adrian and Stefan.

The boy’s reaction to his father had been heartbreaking, but almost worse was the look on Adrian’s face. For all his hardness and authority, I could tell it hurt him deeply. He tried to hide it, bury it under control and discipline, but I saw it. I wasn’t sure how to help, but I knew I had to try.

What I couldn’t understand was why. Stefan didn’t shrink away as though Adrian had hurt him, not in the way children sometimes reacted to cruelty. And for all the terrible rumors I had heard back home about Adrian’s reputation in business- the whispered stories about violence, about ruthlessness- when it came to his children, there was no doubt in my mind that he loved them. The way his eyes softened, the way he carried Sofia or tried with Stefan, it was obvious. This wasn’t a matter of neglect or abuse. It was something deeper, something broken between them that neither knew how to mend.

And I suspected it had everything to do with Serena. A problem I wasn’t sure how to solve, since Adrian refused to even say her name. Whenever I came close, his jaw tightened, his gaze turned hard, and the conversation shut down before it even began.

Stefan certainly wasn’t going to tell me- he didn’t talk at all. And I wasn’t sure if mentioning his mother to him would help or reopen wounds I didn’t understand.

I carried Sofia on my hip as I made my way into the kitchen. Stefan trailed behind me on tiptoe, taking hesitant steps. His small face was blotchy and red, streaked with dried tears. He’d cried earlier when he realized his tablet was missing. I had seen it, up on the high shelf where Adrian must have put it, but I hadn’t retrieved it. It was easier in the moment to give in and let Stefan retreat into that glowing screen, but it wasn’t good for him. He needed to learn to look up, to reach out, to exist without that constant escape. Technology was safer than people, yes, but it was also a cage.

The smell of vanilla and warm dough wrapped around us the moment we stepped into the kitchen. Sybil was already at work at the stove, pulling waffles from the iron and stacking them high. For a moment, it reminded me of mornings back home.

Elia and Domenico weren’t here yet, though I knew they had to be somewhere nearby. Adrian wouldn’t have left the house without leaving someone to watch over us. That much I was sure of.

Milo darted in ahead of us, nails clicking on the tile, and slipped under the table, settling herself like she was waiting for her share of breakfast. I definitely couldn’t keep letting it happen, sweets weren’t good for a dog.

Stefan’s eyes lit up the moment he saw Milo. He dropped to his knees in front of the table, crouching down to watch her with rapt attention. Milo sniffed cautiously, head tilted, as if debating whether or not to come closer.

I shifted Sofia higher on my hip and crouched a little, lowering my voice for Stefan. “Don’t chase her, sweetheart. Let her come to you.”

He glanced at me briefly, uncertain, before turning back to the dog.

“She’s shy,” I added softly. “But if you wait, she’ll get used to you. Give her a little time, okay?”

18:43 Fri, Nov 7

Chapter 39

只今

he youthare

Stefan nodded- barely a movement, but enough that I caught it. His small fingers curled against the floor, twitching like he wanted to reach out but wasn’t sure if he should.

It wasn’t much. But it was a start.

He nodded absentmindedly, but didn’t move otherwise.

“Can you cook some bacon as well?”

“For the dog?” Sybil guessed.

“I don’t want to force him to eat. Not when he doesn’t trust me yet. This is the only way he’ll have breakfast.”

She nodded. She still didn’t look as if she approved, but she took bacon from the fridge.

“Thank you.”

Elia soon joined us, but Domenico stayed away. To my surprise, he sat down beside me. Like yesterday, his smile was quick, his eye contact a bit too intimate, and his arm brushed mine twice “by accident.”

I wasn’t the only one who noticed because Sybil sent him a sharp look.

I ignored it, unsure what else to do. My plan to get Stefan to eat worked like it had yesterday. Milo got a tiny piece of bacon for every bite of waffle and banana that Stefan ate. It was a win–win situation as far as I was concerned, and Milo definitely agreed.

“I thought we could all go for a walk together, so Milo gets to see something new?” I said to Stefan.

His nod was quick and his obvious excitement kindled my own.

“That sounds good. The weather is nice and it’s not too cold. I know a nice park not too far away,” Elia said.

“Great.” I got up. “Why don’t you go ahead and prepare everything while I have a word with Sybil.”

Elia glanced between Sybil and me before he rose and left.

Taking the dishes to the sink where Sybil was scrubbing the pan, I said, “You worked here from day one of Adrian’s marriage to Serena, right?” I said in a low voice so the children wouldn’t hear me. I didn’t know it for a fact, but the look on Sybil’s face confirmed my assumption.

“I did.”

She avoided my eyes by putting the dishes into the dishwasher.

“How was she?”

My parents had met the late Serena De Luca at official functions, of course. She’d been a lady, always perfectly styled, but that didn’t mean anything. Outward appearances and what went on behind closed doors were two very different things.

“I only worked for her. I didn’t know her.”

Chapter 39

I gave her a disbelieving look “How can you work for catherine o parte

Sybil closed the dishwasher then bided hereef with wiping the in the bape fue is the walças had breakfast in the kitchen She preferred me to get my rak deputy patent le she shook her head. “If you want to know more you it have call theme or for fast p should.”

Hmm. What was so wrong then no one wanted to talk t

I was about to walk me when I figured I could ask her mething he that af forening spe

I came to this houer “Sybil

She turned Yes Mrs De Luca?”

“About the third floor.” I said slowly, noticing how Sybil’s eyes widened all of a sudden “Wha

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to talk to the master about that too.”

“Adrian won’t talk to me and you know it. None of the staff goes up there. I’ve never wen you ge clean too. The children don’t go there, and Adrian gave me strict rules to never go to the third on Draft you think it’s a little weird?”

Sybil sighed. She looked like she was scared of something. “Mrs De Luca…. I’m sure the master know advice that you heed to his words and focus on the children. Do not concern yourself with things you cammor fix.”

市