Dangerous Devotion

Ten Years Ago

The city glittered beneath them like a sea of stars.

From the rooftop terrace of the De Luca estate, the world looked deceptively beautiful. Endless lights stretched across the horizon, illuminating the darkness below in shades of gold and silver. Expensive skyscrapers pierced the night sky, their windows glowing like lanterns. Luxury cars crawled through the streets like tiny insects, and somewhere in the distance, the faint sound of sirens echoed through the city before disappearing into the wind.

Up here, everything looked peaceful and perfect.

Vittoria De Luca rested her elbows against the cold stone railing and stared out at the skyline, trying to ignore the noise drifting up from the ballroom below. Laughter and music, the clinking of champagne glasses. The endless conversations between powerful men and women who spent their lives pretending they weren’t constantly plotting against one another.

“I hate it here.” The words escaped before she could stop them. A familiar laugh sounded behind her.

“You say that every week.” Vittoria smiled despite herself and turned around. Lorenzo De Luca stood in the doorway leading back into the mansion. His tie hung loose around his neck, and the top button of his dress shirt had been undone at some point during the evening. His dark hair was slightly messy, as though he’d run his hands through it one too many times. He looked exhausted.

And annoyingly handsome.

At fifteen years old, Lorenzo already carried himself like a man destined to inherit an empire. Everyone saw it, they talked about it. The future head of the De Luca family. The future king of one of the most powerful organizations in the country. Everyone saw that version of him, as the future Don.

Everyone except Vittoria. To her, he was simply Enzo.

The boy who had stolen cookies from the kitchen when they were eight. Who had gotten into fights defending her when they were children. The boy who had tried to teach her how to drive despite nearly crashing the car three separate times. He knew every embarrassing story, every secret fear, every dream she’d never dared tell anyone else. Her best friend and her favorite person. The one constant in a world that changed far too quickly. Her twin brother.

“You look miserable,” he said as he walked toward her.

“So do you.”

He joined her at the railing. Not touching, but closer than necessary. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. The silence that dropped between them wasn’t awkward, like always.

She glanced sideways at Enzo. He was staring out at the city, the moonlight highlighted the sharp angles of his face. At some point, he’d changed. Not physically. Well, physically too, but that wasn’t what she meant, something else had shifted. One day he had simply been Enzo, her brother. The annoying boy who constantly challenged her to races and arguments and ridiculous competitions.

Then suddenly he wasn’t.

Suddenly she noticed things. Like the way his smile made her stomach flutter. The sound of his laugh. Or the way his eyes softened whenever he looked at her. The way other girls looked at him. That last one irritated her more than she cared to admit. She hated the strange feeling that settled in her chest whenever it happened.

The worst part?

She didn’t understand why. Or maybe she did. Maybe she understood perfectly, she just wasn’t ready to admit it.

“You ever wonder what we’re missing?” The question slipped out quietly causing Enzo frown slightly.

“What do you mean?”

She gestured toward the city below. “Everything.” His gaze followed hers, to the lights, the streets, the people living ordinary lives. People who could wake up and decide what they wanted to do without consulting family expectations. Who could fall in love with whoever they wanted. Those who could make mistakes without those mistakes becoming headlines. People who were free. “Normal life,” she continued softly. “Choices.”

Enzo was silent for a moment, then he nodded.

“Every day.” The honesty in his voice surprised her. Not because she thought he was lying, but because she knew exactly how difficult it was to admit something like that. In their world, gratitude was expected. Privilege was supposed to erase unhappiness. They had money, power, influence, everything people dreamed about. They weren’t supposed to complain. They weren’t supposed to acknowledge the cage surrounding them, even if the bars were made of gold.

“I’m glad it’s not just me,” she said softly. His expression softened.

“It’s definitely not just you.” The wind picked up around them. A few strands of her dark hair blew across her face. His hand lifted without warning. No thought as he reached for her hair like he had done a hundred times before. But halfway there... he stopped.

His fingers hovered in the air near her cheek like they had forgotten what they were supposed to do. The pause was too long. Vittoria felt it immediately, something had shifted. She didn’t move and neither did he. Then his hand finally touched her, too careful at first. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Except his fingers didn’t leave. They stayed, just a second too long.

Then another.

His thumb brushed her cheek—barely, like his body was making decisions without him. That was new. It wasn’t Enzo. Her breath caught before she could stop it. His hand finally dropped, but not fully. It fell halfway, like it forgot how to obey him.

The air between became something neither of them could ignore. Vittoria felt her heartbeat quicken. She could hear the music from downstairs, the distant laughter, the sounds of the party continuing without them. Yet all of it seemed far away, muted and unimportant.

Because suddenly she was aware of only one thing.

Lorenzo.

The way he was looking at her. His eyes seemed darker than usual. Neither of them looked away. For years, she’d wondered if she was imagining it, the tension, the possibility. The feeling that something existed between them that neither of them had the courage to name.

Tonight, for the first time, she knew she wasn’t imagining it. He felt it too. The realization terrified her, and thrilled her. Because if she was right, everything was about to change. For better or worse.

Vittoria turned her head slightly. That was all it took. His eyes followed immediately. Fast. And then... he didn’t look away. Not when he should have. Not when it became obvious he should have.

She should’ve stepped back. Something in his expression snapped. Like a wire pulled too tight finally realizing it can still break. His gaze dropped to her mouth. This time, he didn’t even try to hide it. He saw it happen and didn’t stop it. Vittoria felt it immediately. It wasn’t attraction.

Power.

Too late to undo: she didn’t just affect him, she destabilized him.

She swallowed hard. For the first time in her life, she didn’t know what to say. Which was exactly why she spoke. Impulsive decisions had always been her specialty.

“What if we stopped wondering?” Enzo blinked.

“What?” Her pulse hammered against her ribs.

“What if we stopped wondering what life could be like?” He stared at her, confused and curious.

“What are you talking about?” She took a deep breath. Then another. Every instinct told her to stop, to laugh it off, to change the subject, to protect what they already had. Instead, she stepped closer.

“What if we chose something for ourselves?” The words hung between them. Terrifying. Enzo didn’t answer immediately, he simply stared at her.

One second passed.

Then two.

Then five.

Long enough for panic to creep into her chest. Her confidence started to disappear. She started wondering if she’d made a terrible mistake. Maybe she’d imagined everything. Maybe she’d misunderstood. Maybe..

“Don’t say things like that,” he said. But his voice betrayed him, it wasn’t warning anymore. A plead.

“Why?” she whispered. His breath changed audibly.

“Because you don’t understand what you’re doing.” That should’ve sounded controlled. But it sounded like a confession he couldn’t take back. She stepped closer, not intentional anymore. Just inevitable. “Vittoria-”

His voice was low, gentle. The way he said her name sent a shiver down her spine. Broken at the edges. He was holding himself back from her, and failing.

“Say it again,” she whispered. His eyes darkened immediately.

“Say what.”

“My name.” A beat too long. Then...

“Vittoria.” It came out wrong. Strained. Like it hurt to say it. Like it cost him something he couldn’t afford.

He stepped in at the exact same moment she leaned forward. Too fast. Too close. Neither of them meant it to happen at the same time, but it did. And suddenly there was no space left to correct it. His hand grabbed her wrist. Desperate. As if he couldn’t stop himself from anchoring to her. The contact sent something sharp through both of them.

His breathing broke immediately, hers did too. There was only this moment. Nothing else.

Only him.

Only her.

Something beautiful, reckless. Something neither of them fully understood. Even the air felt wrong, too thick to move through.

His forehead almost touched hers, but he stopped there. Not because he chose to, because something in him physically couldn’t cross it. His breath hit her lips. Warm. Unsteady. Too close to ignore.

Vittoria realized she wasn’t waiting for him to kiss her, she was waiting to see if he could stop himself. And he couldn’t. His grip on her wrist tightened slightly, like he was grounding himself through her. Like she was the only thing keeping him from falling completely.

That should’ve scared her. But it made her feel powerful in a way she didn’t understand yet.

“Enzo,” she whispered. That did it. His control finally fractured. He leaned in, not careful anymore. And for half a second, everything stopped at the exact point before impact.

Breath tangled. Distance gone. Choice erased.

And then...

“Vittoria!”

The voice cut through the air like a blade. They froze. Not apart. Still too close, holding, breathing each other in like neither of them remembered how to stop.

But now they both knew. There wasn’t balance anymore. And whatever had just happened between them, was already irreversible. That if they crossed that line, there would be no going back. Nothing would ever be the same again. Their friendship, their family, their futures. Everything would change.

And yet she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Not when he was looking at her like that. When every part of her wanted to close the distance between them. She had spent years pretending she didn’t feel something she had never been able to escape.

Enzo’s gaze dropped briefly to her lips. Then returned to her eyes. The movement lasted less than a second. But it was enough to confirm everything, to destroy every lie they’d ever told themselves.

The world seemed to hold its breath.

Waiting.

Watching.

And somewhere deep inside, Vittoria knew this moment would follow them forever. No matter what happened next. Or how much time passed. How hard they tried to forget. Because some moments become part of your soul. Some choices leave scars that never truly fade.

Some loves refuse to die.

This was one of those moments. The beginning of the end. Something that would change their lives forever. Something they would spend the next ten years pretending never happened.

And fail.

Miserably.