THE LAST HEIRESS OF THE MAFIA EMPIRE

Chapter 6: The Heart Knows First

Morning sunlight slipped through the sheer curtains of the hotel suite, casting soft golden streaks across the room. The gentle warmth settled over the bed where Alessia still lay curled beneath the duvet, her alarm vibrating insistently on the bedside table.

Without opening her eyes, she stretched lazily, groping for her phone until her fingers finally found it. The room fell silent the moment she dismissed the alarm, but sleep refused to return. Instead, she remained there, staring absent-mindedly at the ceiling as the peaceful quiet wrapped around her, allowing the memories of the previous evening to drift back one by one.

She remembered the elegant restaurant overlooking Milan's glittering skyline, the effortless conversation that had somehow made hours disappear without either of them noticing, and the unexpected comfort she had felt sitting across from a man who had begun the evening as a stranger. Somewhere between the laughter, the teasing remarks, and the lingering glances they had unknowingly exchanged, the awkwardness of a first meeting had quietly disappeared.

Then came the memory she had been trying not to think about—the way Massimo had looked at her just before closing the distance between them, his dark eyes searching hers as though silently asking a question only she could answer. The warmth of that gaze alone was enough to send her heart fluttering all over again, and before she even realised it, a smile had slowly curved across her lips.

The smile lasted only a few seconds before reality caught up with her.

"Oh, no..."

She groaned softly, rolling onto her stomach and burying her face deep inside the pillow, hugging it so tightly it nearly disappeared beneath her arms. The cool cotton did nothing to hide the growing warmth spreading across her cheeks. Instead, it only muffled the embarrassed laugh that escaped her as she realised exactly why she was smiling.

"What is wrong with you, Alessia?" she mumbled into the pillow, her voice barely audible.

She stayed like that for another moment before turning onto her back again, throwing an arm dramatically across her eyes as though hiding from the ceiling itself. The more she tried convincing herself it had simply been a pleasant dinner between two adults, the more her heart insisted on replaying every tiny detail she had already promised herself to forget. It wasn't only the kiss that lingered in her thoughts; it was the quiet tenderness that had led to it. The way he had listened whenever she spoke. The patience in his smile. The gentle confidence that never once crossed into arrogance. Worst of all was the uncomfortable truth she was slowly being forced to admit.

She hadn't kissed him because the moment had happened.

She had kissed him because she'd wanted to.

The admission made her squeeze the pillow even tighter before another helpless laugh escaped her lips. "Wonderful," she sighed dramatically. "One business trip to Milan, and I've apparently forgotten how to behave."

She finally dragged herself out of bed and wandered into the bathroom, still shaking her head at her own foolishness. The mirror greeted her immediately, and the woman staring back seemed almost unfamiliar. There was no dramatic transformation, no magical glow like the heroines in romance novels always seemed to possess, yet something had undeniably changed. Her eyes looked brighter, the corners of her lips refused to settle into their usual composed expression, and despite every attempt to appear sensible, she looked like someone carrying a beautiful secret she couldn't quite hide.

Alessia folded her arms across her chest and stared at her reflection with mock seriousness.

"Let's get one thing straight," she began, pointing accusingly at the mirror. "You're going back to Florence today. Milan was a work trip, nothing more. That man lives here. You live somewhere else. You'll probably never see each other again, so whatever fantasy your heart has started creating can stop immediately."

Her reflection continued smiling.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Are you seriously ignoring me?"

The woman in the mirror looked thoroughly unconvinced.

"Oh, you're impossible."

Laughing at herself, Alessia finally gave up the argument and stepped beneath the warm shower. Steam gradually filled the room as water cascaded over her shoulders, yet it did nothing to wash away the thoughts crowding her mind. Every attempt to focus on practical things—her journey home, unfinished translation projects waiting in Florence, emails she needed to answer—lasted only seconds before her thoughts wandered straight back to Massimo. It annoyed her far more than she cared to admit, especially because she wasn't the sort of woman who became flustered over a handsome face. She had spent years travelling for work, meeting people from different countries and cultures, yet none of them had left an impression quite like this.

Nearly an hour later, dressed in a neatly pressed cream blouse and tailored black trousers, Alessia zipped her suitcase closed and looked around the elegant suite one final time. Her stay in Milan had officially come to an end. In another hour she'd be heading back to Florence, returning to her routine as though this unexpected detour had never happened. Massimo Moretti would become nothing more than a pleasant memory—a charming stranger fate had briefly placed in her path before quietly leading them in different directions.

The thought should have brought relief.

Instead, it settled inside her chest with a quiet disappointment she couldn't explain.

She let out a small sigh, reached for the handle of her suitcase and locked the suite behind her. As she made her way towards the lift, her phone suddenly buzzed in her hand. The screen lit up with a familiar name, and she couldn't stop herself from laughing softly.

**Sofia Calling...**

"Well," she murmured with an amused shake of her head, "if anyone can ruin my attempt at acting normal, it's definitely you."

She accepted the video call just as the lift doors slid open.

"There you are!" Sofia exclaimed the moment her face appeared on the screen. "I was beginning to think you'd been kidnapped."

Alessia chuckled as she wheeled her suitcase into the lift. "Good morning to you too."

"It would have been a good morning if you'd replied to at least one of my messages."

"I was asleep."

"Mmm... no."

Alessia frowned. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean..." Sofia rested her chin on her palm, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully as she stared through the screen. "Something about you doesn't match the woman who left for Milan three days ago."

Alessia pressed the ground-floor button, pretending not to notice the intense scrutiny she was receiving. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do."

The silence that followed wasn't awkward. It was dangerous. Sofia had always possessed an irritating talent for reading her better than anyone else, and the longer she stared without speaking, the more uncomfortable Alessia became. She adjusted a loose strand of hair behind her ear, glanced at the lift doors, then back at the screen, only to find Sofia still watching her with a grin that seemed to grow wider by the second.

"What?" Alessia asked, unable to suppress a nervous laugh.

"Nothing."

"Sofia..."

"Hmm?"

"Stop looking at me like that."

"I'm trying to figure something out."

"And what exactly are you trying to figure out?"

Sofia leaned closer until her face almost filled the entire screen before letting out a thoughtful hum. "You've smiled at least five times since you answered this call, and you don't even realise you're doing it."

"I have not."

"You just smiled again."

Alessia instinctively pressed her lips together, hoping to hide the evidence.

Unfortunately, that only made Sofia's eyes widen.

"Wait..." she whispered dramatically, placing a hand against her chest. "No... there's no way."

Alessia's stomach tightened.

"What?"

Sofia pointed excitedly at the screen. "You keep touching your lips."

"I do not."

"You literally just did it again!"

Alessia immediately lowered her hand, only realising a second too late that she'd walked straight into the trap. Her cheeks warmed as Sofia clapped triumphantly, laughing so hard her phone shook.

"I knew it!" Sofia squealed. "Alessia Bellini... somebody kissed you!"

Alessia froze in the middle of the hotel lobby as the lift doors opened behind her. She stared at her best friend with wide eyes, completely forgetting about the suitcase beside her, while a deep blush slowly crept across her face. She hadn't said a single word, yet somehow Sofia had pieced everything together from nothing more than an unconscious smile and a few nervous gestures.

Sofia burst into another fit of laughter, wiping imaginary tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, don't even try denying it," she said between giggles. "That face has confessed everything before you've even opened your mouth."