Chapter 4: Promises Under the Stars
1565 Words
Nadia's POV
There were moments when I caught myself smiling for no reason.
Moments when I would be standing in line for coffee, folding laundry, answering emails, or sitting in traffic, and suddenly his face would appear in my mind.
Then I would smile.
Like an i***t.
A complete i***t.
And the worst part?
I didn't even try to stop it anymore.
Three months.
That was how long Renzo had been in my life.
Three months since a spilled glass of champagne had turned my world upside down.
Three months since the charity gala.
Three months since the man with the impossible smile had walked into my life and somehow made himself at home in it.
Now I couldn't imagine my days without him.
I wasn't sure when it had happened.
Maybe during our late-night phone calls.
Maybe during our endless conversations.
Maybe during the way he always remembered the smallest things about me.
The truth was, it didn't matter.
Because somehow, somewhere along the way, Renzo Moretti had become my favorite part of every day.
And that realization terrified me.
Because people didn't fall this hard without getting hurt.
At least, that's what common sense told me.
Unfortunately, common sense had stopped working the moment I met him.
My phone buzzed.
I glanced down.
Renzo: Look outside.
I frowned.
Then walked toward my apartment window.
The moment I looked down, I burst out laughing.
A black luxury car sat at the curb.
And leaning against it was Renzo.
Holding flowers.
And looking entirely too pleased with himself.
I opened the window.
"What are you doing?"
He looked up.
His grin widened immediately.
"k********g you."
I laughed.
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Do I get a choice?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"You know that's illegal, right?"
"I'll take the risk."
The smile that followed made my heart skip.
Again.
Honestly, my heart needed to stop doing that.
Two hours later, we were driving along the coast.
The city gradually disappeared behind us.
Buildings gave way to open roads.
Open roads gave way to endless ocean views.
I rolled down the window.
The salty breeze danced through my hair.
For a while neither of us spoke.
The silence felt comfortable.
Natural.
The kind of silence that only exists between people who genuinely enjoy each other's company.
Eventually, I glanced over.
Renzo was already looking at me.
Of course he was.
"You keep doing that."
"What?"
"Staring."
His grin appeared.
"I'm admiring."
I rolled my eyes.
"That's just a prettier word."
"It works though."
I couldn't stop smiling.
Neither could he.
The resort was beautiful.
Nestled along a cliff overlooking the ocean.
Private.
Elegant.
Peaceful.
The kind of place that belonged on postcards.
When we stepped out of the car, I simply stood there staring.
The ocean stretched endlessly before us.
Blue meeting blue.
Sky touching water.
Perfect.
Renzo looked pleased by my reaction.
"You like it?"
"Like it?"
I turned toward him.
"This place is incredible."
His smile softened.
"Good."
I narrowed my eyes.
"What?"
"You look happy."
The simple statement caught me off guard.
Because I was happy.
Ridiculously happy.
The kind of happy that felt almost fragile.
As though saying it out loud might somehow ruin it.
Instead of answering, I reached for his hand.
His fingers immediately intertwined with mine.
And just like that, everything felt right again.
The weekend passed far too quickly.
We explored the beach.
Walked along the cliffs.
Shared meals.
Shared laughter.
Shared stories.
The more time we spent together, the easier everything became.
No games.
No pretending.
No walls.
Just us.
And somehow that felt rare.
One evening, after dinner, we found ourselves alone on the beach.
The sun had disappeared.
Stars glittered above us.
The moon reflected across the waves.
Everything seemed quieter at night.
More honest.
The kind of setting that made people say things they normally wouldn't.
We sat together on a blanket near the shore.
The ocean whispered nearby.
A cool breeze drifted around us.
For several minutes neither of us spoke.
Then Renzo broke the silence.
"Can I ask you something?"
I turned toward him.
"Depends."
His eyebrow lifted.
"On?"
"Whether it's embarrassing."
He laughed.
"Fair."
I smiled.
"What is it?"
For a moment, he seemed strangely nervous.
The sight surprised me.
Renzo rarely appeared uncertain.
Yet now he looked almost hesitant.
As though he were carefully choosing his words.
"Nadia."
The sound of my name in his voice immediately captured my attention.
"Yeah?"
His gaze locked onto mine.
And suddenly the teasing disappeared.
The playfulness.
The jokes.
Everything.
Leaving only sincerity.
Only truth.
"I've never met anyone like you."
The words stole my breath.
For a second, I simply stared.
Unable to respond.
Because he sounded serious.
Completely serious.
His thumb brushed gently across my hand.
"You make everything easier."
Emotion tightened my chest.
"Renzo—"
"No."
His smile softened.
"Let me finish."
I laughed quietly.
"Okay."
He looked out toward the ocean.
Then back at me.
"When I'm with you, I don't have to be anyone else."
The confession settled heavily between us.
Honest.
Raw.
Real.
"I don't have to pretend."
His voice lowered.
"I don't have to worry about what people want from me."
A pause.
"With you, I can just be me."
My heart squeezed painfully.
Because I understood exactly what he meant.
Because I felt the same way.
And suddenly, all the emotions I'd been trying to ignore became impossible to hide.
The affection.
The trust.
The growing love.
Every bit of it.
"I feel that way too."
His eyes softened.
The look he gave me nearly broke me.
Then he smiled.
The real smile.
The one that only appeared when he was genuinely happy.
And somehow it felt like the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
For a long moment neither of us looked away.
The ocean continued its endless rhythm.
The stars shimmered overhead.
The world seemed impossibly small.
As though nothing existed beyond this beach.
Beyond this moment.
Beyond us.
Then Renzo reached into his pocket.
My stomach immediately flipped.
"What are you doing?"
He laughed.
"Relax."
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
"That's never reassuring."
His grin widened.
Finally, he pulled something out.
A small velvet box.
My breath caught.
Every thought vanished.
Every coherent sentence disappeared.
The box sat quietly in his palm.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
My heart nearly stopped.
"Renzo..."
He immediately laughed.
"Nadia."
"What?"
His grin became impossible.
"It's not what you think."
I pointed at the box.
"It literally looks like what I think."
His laughter echoed across the beach.
Then he opened it.
Inside was a delicate silver necklace.
Not a ring.
A necklace.
I exhaled dramatically.
"Oh my God."
Renzo laughed harder.
"Your face."
"You did that on purpose."
"Maybe."
I smacked his arm.
Which only made him laugh more.
Eventually he lifted the necklace.
"I saw it last week."
The humor faded.
Replaced by something softer.
Something gentler.
"It reminded me of you."
Emotion caught unexpectedly in my throat.
The necklace featured a tiny star.
Simple.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
"I love it."
His expression warmed.
"Yeah?"
I nodded.
Unable to stop smiling.
"Yeah."
Carefully, he fastened it around my neck.
His fingers brushed my skin.
Sending warmth through me.
When he finished, his hands lingered briefly.
Then he looked into my eyes.
And everything changed.
The smile slowly disappeared from his face.
Leaving only seriousness.
Only certainty.
Only truth.
"Nadia."
My heartbeat quickened.
The way he said my name felt different.
Important.
Meaningful.
"I know this is fast."
A strange nervousness appeared in his voice.
"I know we've only been together a few months."
I swallowed.
Suddenly unable to breathe properly.
His gaze never left mine.
"But I've never been more certain of anything."
The world seemed to stop.
The ocean.
The wind.
Everything.
"I see a future with you."
My chest tightened.
Emotion flooding through me.
Powerful.
Overwhelming.
Real.
His hand reached for mine.
Holding it gently.
"I don't know what tomorrow looks like."
A pause.
"But I know I want you in it."
Tears stung unexpectedly behind my eyes.
Because I believed him.
Every word.
Every feeling.
Every promise.
I believed all of it.
And maybe that made me foolish.
Maybe it made me reckless.
But none of that mattered.
Not when he was looking at me like that.
Not when my heart already belonged to him.
"I want that too."
Relief flooded his face.
Followed immediately by happiness.
Pure happiness.
The kind that couldn't be faked.
The kind that reached all the way into his eyes.
Then he pulled me into his arms.
Holding me close beneath the stars.
And for that moment, everything felt perfect.
Completely perfect.
Neither of us noticed the storm gathering far away.
Neither of us knew that hundreds of miles away, a folder had just landed on a powerful man's desk.
A folder filled with photographs.
Photographs of me.
Photographs of us.
The man opened it slowly.
Page after page.
Picture after picture.
His expression grew colder with each one.
When he reached the final photograph, he closed the file.
Silence filled the room.
Then his deep voice broke it.
"Find out everything about her."
Several men nodded immediately.
The order had been given.
The investigation had begun.
And for the first time, Nadia Russo had become a threat to the Moretti empire.
A threat that Vittorio Moretti intended to eliminate.
- Writer
