Chapter 1 He Saved His Tenderness for Another Woman
At 2 a.m., the last traces of desire still lingered in the dim bedroom.
Kane's arm was locked around my waist, and his ragged breaths warmed the side of my neck.
"My little nightingale..." he rasped.
That nickname was mine alone. Every time he called me that, I fell for the same dangerous illusion: the ruthless man who ruled Greyhaven's underworld saved his rawest, most passionate side for me alone.
For 3 years, we met only at night. By day, he was the untouchable Moretti heir at the family headquarters, while I was merely the DeLuca heiress whose behavior he kept in check and whose messes he cleaned up. No one knew how he kissed me or that he held me while he slept.
2 minutes later, Kane let go of me and picked up his shirt from the carpet. The obsession in his eyes had already vanished, replaced by his usual coldness.
"Do you really have to go?" I asked.
"Marco is waiting downstairs. There's a shipment at the docks I need to handle."
I walked over and tied his necktie for him. Kane lowered his head without protest, and his thumb, callused from years of handling guns, brushed gently over my cheek.
"Behave, my little nightingale. Don't cause trouble in Southside tomorrow."
The tenderness he showed me in private fooled me into mistaking his control for affection.
Countless times, I had wanted to ask what we were. But whenever he whispered "little nightingale" in my ear, I swallowed the question.
After Kane left, I found his spare phone beside the pillow. The screen lit up with a message from Selena Valenti.
Selena: That wine was far too strong tonight. I'm glad you tasted it for me. See you tomorrow, K.
Selena was the only person in Greyhaven who called him K as if she had every right to. Kane never drank. He kept anything that could dull his judgment out of his life, yet he had made an exception for her.
I pulled on my coat and followed him to a private restaurant in Greyhaven Heights.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, I watched Kane cut Selena's steak into neat, bite-sized pieces. When she pointed to the wine, he tasted it for her, frowned, and called the server over to have it replaced with warm water. Selena said something with a smile, and he bent his head to listen with more patience than I had ever seen from him.
'So he does know how to take care of someone.'
I looked at the old scar on my wrist. 2 years earlier, a blade had slashed my wrist during training, and I had needed seven stitches. The pain kept me awake that night, and all I wanted was for him to hold me.
Kane had stood beside the bed and said coldly, "If you can't handle this much pain, stay away from weapons. Close your eyes and go to sleep."
Back then, I convinced myself his harshness meant he was worried about me. Only that night did I understand that when someone truly can't bear to see you hurt, they don't tell you to tough it out.
My phone rang on the passenger seat. My father, Leo DeLuca, came straight to the point. "Have you made a decision about the marriage alliance with the Winslow family in Westbridge? They're offering 50 million dollars."
For the past few months, he had been trying to trade me away to cover the family's losses. In the past, I would have hung up and caused enough trouble to force Kane to block the marriage alliance for me.
I had always believed that if I made enough trouble, Kane would step in and clean up the mess as he always had. He might never give me a real place in his life, but surely he would never let anyone take me away.
But at that moment, Kane was carefully wiping a drop of water from the back of Selena's hand.
"I agree."
The other end of the line fell silent for a moment.
"Good. Come home and meet the lawyer tomorrow."
I ended the call. Kane shielded Selena's head with one hand as she slid into the passenger seat, and the black sedan soon disappeared around the corner.
This time, I didn't follow him.
