Full Part 2
“On what?” Lydia repeated, trying to keep her voice nasal and bored even as her heart slammed against her ribs.
Dominic’s dark eyes didn’t leave hers. A faint, dangerous smile played at the corner of his mouth. “On turning yourself into a walking biohazard. The onion on the wrists was a nice touch. Amateur, but committed.”
Lydia’s stomach dropped. She had expected disgust, rejection, maybe even anger. Not this calm, piercing amusement.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she lied, shoving another piece of bread into her mouth.
Dominic chuckled—a low, rough sound that did dangerous things to her pulse. He signaled the waiter, who returned almost instantly with their wine. Dominic tasted it first, then slid her glass across the table.
“Drink,” he ordered softly. “You’ll need it.”
Lydia wanted to refuse on principle, but her throat was dry. She took a sip. The Barolo was rich, velvety, and far too good for a woman who smelled like a cheap diner.
“You think this is funny?” she hissed, dropping the fake nasal tone. “My father owes you two hundred thousand dollars. I came here to make sure you wouldn’t want me anywhere near your family. Mission accomplished, right?”
Dominic leaned back, studying her like she was a puzzle he intended to solve. “Augustus would have sent you running in tears. He likes breaking pretty things. But I’m not my nephew.”
The word nephew hit her. This wasn’t the spoiled son. This was the man who ran the entire Rossi empire.
“So what now?” she asked, lifting her chin. “You forgive the debt because I look like a troll, or you break my father’s legs too?”
Dominic’s expression darkened. “Your father has been stealing from me for fourteen months. Not gambling losses. Systematic skimming from one of my legitimate shipping companies. Two hundred thousand is only what he got caught with.”
Lydia felt the blood drain from her face. The room spun. All those years of bailing him out, believing his tears, his promises… he had been lying to her too.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered.
“I believe you.” Dominic’s voice softened by a fraction. “That’s why you’re still sitting here instead of being escorted out.”
Their food arrived. Lobster ravioli in a fragrant garlic cream sauce for her, a perfectly seared ribeye for him. Despite everything, the smell made her mouth water. She hadn’t eaten properly in days.
“Eat,” Dominic said. It wasn’t a suggestion.
As they ate, the conversation shifted. He asked real questions—about her job as a veterinary technician, her tiny Brooklyn apartment, the stray cats she fed behind the building. He listened. Really listened. And every time she tried to slip back into her ugly act, he saw through it with quiet precision.
Halfway through the meal, he reached across the table and gently pulled the smeared glasses off her face.
“Hey—” she started.
“Enough armor, Lydia.” His thumb brushed her cheek, wiping away a streak of something she had smeared there earlier. The touch was electric. “You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. Green with gold flecks. Why would you ever hide them?”
Heat flooded her face. No one had ever looked at her like that—like she was the only woman in the world.
“I’m not here for a love story, Mr. Rossi.”
“Dominic,” he corrected. “And neither am I. But life doesn’t always ask what we came for.”
After dinner, he didn’t let her take the subway home. His black SUV waited outside. Inside the car, the silence grew heavy.
“My father,” she said finally. “What happens to him?”
Dominic stared out the window at the passing city lights. “He’ll work off what he stole. Honestly, this time. Under my watch. No more gambling. No more lies. If he tries to run…” He let the threat hang.
Lydia’s hands trembled in her lap. “And me?”
Dominic turned to her. The city lights carved sharp shadows across his scarred, handsome face. “You have a choice. Walk away tonight and the debt stays. Or…” He reached over and took her hand, his palm warm and calloused. “You let me take care of you. Not because of your father. Because the second you walked into that restaurant, greasy hair and all, something in me woke up that I thought was dead.”
Tears stung her eyes. She had come prepared to be hated. Not seen. Not wanted.
“I smell like onions,” she whispered, half-laughing, half-crying.
Dominic leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers. “I’ve smelled worse in my line of work. Stay with me tonight. No expectations. Just… let me show you what it feels like when someone chooses you.”
That night, in his penthouse overlooking the Manhattan skyline, Dominic did exactly that. He drew her a bath, washed the grease from her hair with surprising gentleness, and held her while she cried for the father who had used her one time too many.
He didn’t push for more. He simply wrapped her in his shirt and let her sleep in his bed, one strong arm around her waist like a promise.
In the weeks that followed, Dominic kept his word. Her father entered a strict repayment program and, for the first time in years, seemed genuinely afraid enough to change. Lydia kept her job but moved into a safer apartment Dominic insisted on paying for—until she was ready for more.
And Dominic? The feared mafia boss fell hard for the woman who had tried so desperately not to be chosen.
One rainy evening, months later, he found her feeding the stray cats behind her old building. He got down on one knee right there on the wet pavement, rain soaking his expensive coat.
“Lydia Hayes, you walked into my life disguised as a disaster. You’ve been the best thing that ever happened to me. Marry me. Let me spend the rest of my life protecting that fire in your eyes.”
She laughed through happy tears and said yes.
The woman who dressed ugly to ruin a blind date ended up winning the heart of the most powerful man in the city—because Dominic Rossi had seen the one beautiful thing she forgot to hide: her unbreakable, honest soul.
The End of Part 2.
Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
