CHAPTER TEN: The Truth Between Brothers
1352 Words
Aria POV
“You’ve wanted her for years.”
The room went silent.
Not ordinary silence.
The kind of silence that feels alive.
The kind that presses against your skin and makes every heartbeat sound deafening.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Every camera remained fixed on Damian.
Every reporter waited.
And so did I.
My pulse hammered painfully against my ribs while Luca’s accusation echoed endlessly inside my head.
You’ve wanted her for years.
Years.
The word felt impossible.
Ridiculous.
Dangerous.
I stared at Damian.
Waiting.
Needing him to say something.
Anything.
Laugh.
Deny it.
Call Luca a liar.
But Damian did none of those things.
And that terrified me.
Because for the first time since entering this room, Damian looked genuinely caught off guard.
Not shocked.
Not panicked.
Just… exposed.
Like Luca had dragged something private into the light.
Something Damian never intended anyone to see.
Especially me.
The silence stretched.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Then a reporter stood abruptly.
“Mr. De Luca, is that true?”
The room exploded into motion.
Questions came from every direction.
“Have you been involved with Aria before now?”
“Was there an affair?”
“When did your feelings begin?”
“Did this contribute to the divorce?”
I felt sick.
The pressure of hundreds of eyes suddenly became unbearable.
This wasn’t about the scandal anymore.
This was about Damian.
About us.
Or whatever this strange thing between us had become.
Across the stage, Luca folded his arms.
For the first time all afternoon, he looked satisfied.
Like he’d finally found a way to wound his brother.
I hated that look.
Hated it.
Because suddenly I realized something important.
This wasn’t about me.
Not entirely.
This was about the war between the De Luca brothers.
A war that had apparently been raging for years.
And somehow
I was standing directly in the middle of it.
My stomach twisted.
The cameras kept flashing.
Questions kept flying.
The pressure continued building.
Then Damian finally spoke.
One sentence.
One calm sentence.
And the entire room fell silent again.
“This press conference is about Aria.”
Every reporter froze.
The answer wasn’t what anyone expected.
A journalist immediately tried again.
“That isn’t a denial.”
Damian’s expression hardened.
“No.”
The room collectively inhaled.
My breath caught.
Luca smiled.
Reporters nearly tripped over themselves reaching for microphones.
The atmosphere became electric.
And I sat there feeling like my entire world had tilted sideways.
No.
That isn’t a denial.
My pulse became impossible to control.
I couldn’t stop staring at Damian.
Couldn’t stop wondering.
Couldn’t stop replaying every interaction we’d ever had.
Every family dinner.
Every glance.
Every strange moment.
Every time I had looked up and found him already watching.
Had Luca been telling the truth?
The possibility alone made my chest tighten.
Another reporter spoke quickly.
“Then you admit you had feelings for your brother’s wife?”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
His voice dripped with satisfaction.
The room tensed instantly.
Because suddenly this wasn’t a scandal.
It was a confrontation.
Two brothers.
One woman.
A thousand cameras.
And absolutely nowhere to hide.
Damian slowly turned toward Luca.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop immediately.
I’ve never seen anyone command silence the way Damian did.
He didn’t shout.
He didn’t threaten.
He simply looked at people.
And somehow that was enough.
“You should be careful.”
His voice remained calm.
Luca scoffed.
“Or what?”
The tension became suffocating.
Dangerous.
Everyone felt it.
Including me.
Especially me.
For a moment, I genuinely thought they might forget where they were.
Forget the cameras.
Forget the reporters.
Forget everything.
Then Damian did something unexpected.
He looked at me.
Not briefly.
Not casually.
He really looked at me.
The kind of look that made the rest of the room disappear.
My heartbeat stumbled.
The connection lasted only seconds.
Yet somehow it felt intimate.
Too intimate.
Then Damian turned back toward the crowd.
And finally answered.
“Whether I cared about Aria before now is irrelevant.”
The reporters erupted immediately.
Not good enough.
They wanted details.
Drama.
Confessions.
Damian gave them none.
What he gave them instead was worse.
Truth.
“What matters is that she spent three years being loyal to someone who didn’t deserve it.”
The room quieted again.
My throat tightened painfully.
No one had ever defended me like this.
Not publicly.
Not privately.
Not even when I should have defended myself.
Damian continued.
“She showed patience.”
His eyes found Luca.
“Respect.”
Still looking at Luca.
“Commitment.”
The last word landed heavily.
Like an accusation.
Like a judgment.
Like a verdict.
Luca’s jaw tightened visibly.
Good.
Let him be uncomfortable.
For once.
Another reporter raised her hand.
“Mr. De Luca, are you saying your brother failed as a husband?”
The room held its breath.
Damian didn’t even hesitate.
“Yes.”
Chaos exploded.
Absolute chaos.
Questions flew from every direction.
Microphones lifted.
Cameras flashed.
Producers shouted.
The room became unmanageable.
Yet somehow, amidst all the noise, my attention remained fixed on Damian.
And suddenly I understood something.
This wasn’t easy for him.
It looked easy.
He made everything look easy.
But this wasn’t.
Damian was publicly choosing a side.
Not the company.
Not the family.
Not his brother.
Me.
The realization settled heavily inside my chest.
Warm.
Terrifying.
Confusing.
Because people didn’t do things like this without reason.
And I was starting to suspect Damian’s reason had nothing to do with a contract.
The conference eventually ended in complete disorder.
Security escorted us through a private exit while reporters shouted questions behind us.
The moment the doors closed, silence fell.
Real silence.
For the first time all afternoon.
I finally exhaled.
My nerves felt completely shredded.
Beside me, Damian remained calm.
Of course he did.
I turned toward him.
“What was that?”
His gaze shifted.
“The truth.”
“No.”
I shook my head immediately.
“Not that.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
Because I already knew what I was asking.
The question that had been haunting me since Luca’s accusation.
The question I wasn’t sure I wanted answered.
I swallowed.
Then forced myself to say it.
“Did you?”
Damian’s expression became unreadable.
“Did I what?”
Coward.
The man was a coward.
A gorgeous, terrifying coward.
I folded my arms.
“You know exactly what.”
The tension returned immediately.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
His eyes held mine.
Seconds passed.
Then more.
Finally
“Aria.”
The way he said my name made my stomach twist.
“What?”
A muscle flexed in his jaw.
For the first time all day, Damian looked uncomfortable.
The sight was shocking.
Almost unbelievable.
Then he sighed quietly.
And said the last thing I expected.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
I blinked.
“What?”
His gaze darkened.
The intensity behind it nearly stole my breath.
“The question isn’t whether I wanted you.”
My pulse stopped.
The air vanished from my lungs.
The world narrowed.
Only Damian remained.
Only those eyes.
Only that voice.
And then—
“The question is whether I ever stopped.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
The words crashed through me.
Powerful.
Dangerous.
Impossible.
Before I could respond
Before I could even think
Damian reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
Then placed a folder on the seat beside me.
The contract.
The marriage contract.
My heart pounded violently.
His expression returned to calm control.
But something had changed.
Something fundamental.
The mask had slipped.
Just enough.
Long enough.
For me to glimpse the man beneath it.
And that man scared me far more than the billionaire ever had.
“Take your time,” Damian said quietly.
Then he opened the car door.
Stepped out.
And left me alone with a truth I wasn’t prepared for.
Because suddenly, for the first time since all of this began
I wasn’t thinking about Luca anymore.
I was thinking about Damian.
And that was far more dangerous.
- Writer
