Love’s Healing Redemption

Chapter 7 The Discussion

Val’s expression shifts-something guarded flickering across his features. He stands, pulling her with him to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. His hand finds the small of her back. As he says “Fair point. Well,, let’s start at the beginning, I suppose. My father was old money connected to the Ricci Family. I grew up knowing what power looked like-and what it costs. By twenty, I was running operations, by thirty, I had control, and now at forty-five, I’m untouchable. I have a hard time expressing my feelings to most people, and I run from an emotionally charged situation. f**k that’s as honest as I have ever been to anyone, Zora...”

His jaw tightens, waiting for her to judge him, and his dark eyes search for hers as he turns to her and says, “But untouchable doesn’t mean whole, Zora. Three failed marriages, relationships I destroyed because I couldn’t separate the man from the machine. Not... Until now... Until you, for now, that's all I want to do. What else do you want to know?” She looks at him through her eyelashes and asks, “Just three things right now. 1. What does that mean for you, the man and the machine? 2. What do you want from all the power you have now? And 3. What do you want from me?”

Val’s hand slides from her back to her hip. He’s quiet for a long moment, looking out at the city lights beginning to glow in the distance. “The man wants what the machine can’t have: Peace, A reason to stop looking over his shoulder. The machine wants control, expansion, dominance.” He turns to her; his dark eyes meet hers. “For years, I thought they were incompatible. That I had to choose one, then you walked into that coffee shop three months ago, and everything fractured.” His hand tightens on her hip, and he steps closer.

“The power-it’s a tool now, not an end. I don’t want empires anymore, Zora. I want you to stay. I want to know your daughter’s name. I want to build something that doesn’t collapse the moment I’m not watching it... I want you to choose me, not because you're trapped, but because you want to.” She studies him closely and sees the sincerity within them, yet she doesn’t understand why yet. She responds, “What does that look like for you? I’m too old to give you an heir, and I am not the kind of person that will just do as she’s told. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been around less than a day, and I’m already telling you what I see that could be changed.”

She laughs. Val’s expression shifts-amusement breaking through the intensity. A real smile, the kind that reaches his eyes. And he moves closer, his hand sliding to her face. “You’re right, an heir is irrelevant. What it looks like is this: You stay, you challenge me. You push the machine toward something human again. You ride your motorcycle whenever you want, keep your clients safe. You tell me when I’m wrong-and I listen. No obedience, no pretense, just you and me figuring out if this works.”

His thumb traces her jawline, and he laughs softly, a sound she hasn’t heard from him before. “Zora in less than a day and you’re already rewriting my operations. Marco’s terrified of you because you hid things he couldn’t find and that never happens. I’m counting on you pushing me, and I’m going to love it.” His eyes gleam at the thought of it. She says “What??” and giggles, “but why... Why would that big burly bodyguard of an alpha-male be scared of me??”

Val’s laugh deepens against her neck as he pulls her closer, as he says, “because you see through him, through all of us, and you stand up to him. Marco’s spent twenty-three years building walls, compartments, rules, that keep everything separate and safe. Then you walk in-a woman who’s lived in all those compartments at once-and suddenly his entire system looks fragile.”

He tilts her chin up, his dark eyes amused as his lips brush her temple. As he says: “You don’t follow the hierarchy, you don’t ask permission. You just...reorganize. That terrifies a man like him. A woman who knows how to dismantle everything and rebuild it better.” She thinks hard and then asks, “Hmm, is that truly a bad scare??” Val’s grip on her loosens slightly, and he studies her face with new intensity. “No, not bad. Good scares are the ones that make you question everything, make you want to rebuild instead of just maintain.”

His voice drops lower, and he moves his hand to her neck, his thumb brushing the pulse point there. “Marco’s afraid because you represent change, real change, the kind that could make this whole operation cleaner, smarter-sustainable in ways he never imagined. He’s scared you’ll succeed, that you’ll prove the old ways were always broken.” His dark eyes glint with something that looks like pride as he leans in, his forehead against hers. “And he’s right to be scared that you will.”

She contemplates what he said about changing his organization and asks: “Why does he fear that so much? I understand that change is hard, but isn’t good change worth fighting for?” She asked, full of confusion; she has never understood how people fight against change.

It is truly the only thing that stays the same in the f****d up world, she thinks to herself and thinks about the Castellanos and says: “If they don’t kill me first...” Val’s entire body goes rigid. His voice is a statement of fact, not reassurance. “They won’t. Because the moment anyone touches you, they touch me, and everyone in this city knows what happens then, and he fears it because he can’t control it. I just need to let everyone know you are untouchable, but I won’t do that until you say you're with me, in this together, and I will put this all into motion tomorrow.” These words are basically a contract without the letterhead and she simply nods words having failed her at that moment.

He pulls her against him, his hand splayed across her back, and he says, “Zora... You’re not walking into this alone; I’m with you now. Your daughter, your granddaughters, and your dad are protected now too. Marco's already adjusting the perimeter and the protocols that need to change to support all of you.” His jaw clenches as he tilts his face up, his dark eyes fierce as he says, “You broke cycles your whole life. You think I’m going to let someone else break you? Not a chance in hell! "

His lips find hers-possessive, claiming, “You're mine now for as long as you will let me. It does come with a price; I’m not going to lie, for that is not what you want. There are risks. People who want to harm me and who could try to use you. Plus, this thing we were going to try to do could ruffle more than a few feathers, of course. But I think it’s worth the risk, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you and your family safe. I need you to trust me. Can you do that, Zora? Can you trust me?”

His eyes are pleading; the uncertainty behind the raw emotion is deafening as Zora’s heart is filled to the rim. She tells herself she must be nuts. This is completely crazy, but it feels so right. Zora nods her head, words failing her once more. Then she looks over to find Val looking at her like she hung the moon, and her heart skips a beat, not sure how to process that emotion. How can someone so powerful, so young, and so smart want her? And be willing to do anything to make that happen. She doesn’t understand how or what caused that to happen, but the more she is here, the more grateful she becomes.

She looks out the window and thinks about what this means for everyone, not just her, and she turns to look at the man who not only wants to change his world but the world by doing it, and he doesn’t even know it. So she smiles and asks, “Val, this really does change everything. You know this is just the beginning… Are you ready for this?” He walks over to her side and pulls her back into his arms and says, “Nothing would make me happier.’ She leans into his touch and says, “Me too, let’s do this. I can’t believe this is all happening. It truly is a wonder.”

The afternoon sun shines through the office windows as they contemplate the future and how fast things can change when the right person meets the right catalyst. Sparks fly, and mountains move to make the impossible happen. One day the world will look back and say this was the day that everything started, and it will be spectacular.