Chapter 4 The Slow Beginning of Forever
1186 Words
After their first date, Isabella expected Lorenzo De Luca to disappear from her life.
Men like him usually did.
They walked in, created a moment of excitement, and then vanished as quickly as they appeared.
But Lorenzo didn’t disappear.
Instead, he kept coming back.
At first, it was small things.
A quiet visit to the bookstore every few days.
A short conversation between the shelves.
A cup of coffee placed beside her when she looked tired.
And slowly, those moments turned into something more.
Two weeks after their first dinner, Lorenzo entered the bookstore again.
The bell above the door rang softly.
Isabella looked up from the counter and immediately smiled.
“You’re late today.”
Lorenzo raised an eyebrow.
“Late?”
“You usually come before noon.”
His lips curved slightly.
“I didn’t realize you were keeping track.”
“I’m not,” she said quickly.
But the faint blush on her cheeks betrayed her.
Lorenzo walked toward the counter and placed something in front of her.
A small brown paper bag.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Lunch.”
She blinked in surprise.
“You brought me lunch?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You skipped it yesterday.”
Isabella stared at him.
“How do you know that?”
“You said you were too busy.”
Her expression softened slightly.
“You remembered.”
“I remember important things.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Isabella slowly opened the bag.
Inside were two sandwiches and a small slice of cheesecake.
Her favorite.
She looked up at him again.
“How did you know I like cheesecake?”
“You mentioned it last week.”
Her heart warmed in a way she didn’t expect.
No one had ever paid that much attention to small details about her before.
“You’re… surprisingly thoughtful,” she admitted.
Lorenzo leaned against the counter casually.
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because you look like the kind of man who forgets people’s birthdays.”
Lorenzo laughed quietly.
“That’s very specific.”
“Am I wrong?”
“Maybe.”
Isabella studied him carefully.
“You’re hard to read.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s safer.”
The answer was simple.
But something about the way he said it made Isabella curious.
“What are you protecting yourself from?” she asked gently.
For a moment, Lorenzo’s expression darkened slightly.
But then it disappeared.
“Bad experiences.”
She didn’t push further.
Instead, she simply said,
“Well… I’m glad you still decided to trust me enough to bring me cheesecake.”
Something in Lorenzo’s chest tightened slightly.
Trust.
He hadn’t trusted someone this easily in years.
Yet somehow, with Isabella, it felt natural.
Dangerously natural.
Weeks turned into months.
And Lorenzo became a regular part of Isabella’s life.
They started having dinner together almost every weekend.
Sometimes it was a fancy restaurant.
Other times, it was something simple like pizza on Isabella’s apartment balcony.
Lorenzo quickly realized something.
Isabella didn’t care about luxury.
She cared about moments.
One evening, they sat on the fire escape outside her apartment, watching the sunset paint the sky in shades of orange and pink.
Isabella rested her chin on her knees.
“You know something?” she said.
“What?”
“You’re very different from the first day I met you.”
“How?”
“You smiled exactly zero times that day.”
“And now?”
“Now you smile sometimes.”
“That sounds like progress.”
“It is.”
She looked at him thoughtfully.
“Why do you spend so much time with me?”
Lorenzo didn’t hesitate.
“Because I want to.”
“But why me?”
“Why not you?”
She shrugged.
“I’m not special.”
Lorenzo turned his head toward her.
His expression was serious.
“You’re wrong.”
She blinked.
“How?”
“You’re honest.”
“So?”
“You don’t pretend to be someone else.”
“Neither do you.”
Lorenzo almost laughed at that.
If only she knew.
He leaned back against the brick wall behind him.
“There’s something peaceful about being around you,” he admitted quietly.
Isabella felt her heart flutter slightly.
“Peaceful?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a strange compliment.”
“It’s the best one I can give.”
She smiled softly.
“Then I’ll take it.”
Three months after they met, Lorenzo finally asked her something he had been thinking about for weeks.
They were walking through Central Park on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
Leaves drifted slowly across the ground as autumn began to settle into the city.
“Isabella.”
“Yes?”
“Will you go out with me?”
She stopped walking.
“Lorenzo.”
“Yes.”
“We’ve been going out for months already.”
He shook his head slightly.
“No.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean officially.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
“You’re asking me to be your girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
Isabella stared at him for a long moment.
Then she asked quietly,
“Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because relationships are serious.”
“I know.”
“And they require honesty.”
“I know that too.”
She hesitated.
“You’re still hiding things about your life.”
Lorenzo felt a flicker of tension in his chest.
She wasn’t wrong.
There were entire parts of his world she didn’t know about.
Dangerous parts.
But he also knew one thing with absolute certainty.
He didn’t want to lose her.
“I promise I’ll never lie to you,” he said finally.
It wasn’t a complete truth.
But it wasn’t a lie either.
Isabella studied his face carefully.
Then she smiled softly.
“Okay.”
Lorenzo blinked.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
“You’re saying yes?”
She laughed.
“Yes, Lorenzo.”
For the first time since meeting her, he did something spontaneous.
He pulled her into his arms.
Isabella gasped softly in surprise as he hugged her tightly.
And for a moment…
The powerful mafia king simply held the girl who had unknowingly changed his entire world.
That night, as Lorenzo drove home through the dark streets of New York, he realized something important.
Isabella Hart wasn’t just someone he enjoyed spending time with.
She was becoming something much more dangerous.
Something he had spent years avoiding.
She was becoming the most important person in his life.
And for a man like Lorenzo De Luca…
Loving someone that deeply could be both a blessing…
And a weakness.
One day, that weakness would cost him everything.
But tonight, as he replayed Isabella’s laughter in his mind…
He allowed himself to believe that maybe this love story would have a happy ending.
He had no idea that six years later…
He would be the reason it ended.
- Writer
