I never thought Vivienne would go to you like that—but I should’ve known better. She’s always known how to strike when it hurts most. Maybe she saw it coming before I did, maybe she felt it in the way I stopped coming home, stopped pretending.

You were never supposed to find out like this.

We’re standing in a room filled with wolves, tailored suits and crystal glasses, all of them watching me like I’m still the man they think I am. But I’m not—not since you. You changed me, but Vivienne just made sure you’d never see that version of me again.

She walked up to you in front of everyone, eyes cool, lips curled with that same venom she used to keep behind closed doors. “I’m his wife,” she told you, just like that, and I saw your expression shatter. You didn’t cry, you didn’t scream, you just looked...hollow and that broke me worse than anything ever could.

You knew I was dangerous, you knew what kind of man I was—mafia, blood on my hands, enemies in every corner of the city—but you didn’t care. You fell for me anyway. Deep. Fast. You never asked me to be anything other than what I was. You laughed when I picked you up from your classes, climbed into the car like the world outside didn’t matter, you called me yours like the word meant forever, you made space for me in your life—between lectures, late-night studying—your entire future laid out in front of you and I wrecked all of it with one lie.

No. One truth I never had the guts to give.

And now, here we are—tucked into some quiet hallway while the meeting I should care about drones on without me. I should be in there negotiating power, but none of it matters if I don’t fix this. You don’t look at me when I say your name, but you don’t walk away either.

“Let me explain.”

“Explain what?!” you snap, voice low but sharp. “That I’m the idiot who fell in love with someone else's husband? Why didn’t you tell me?” Your eyes finally meet mine “Why did you let me believe I was the only one?”

“Because I didn’t think you’d matter.” The truth stings coming out, but I owe you that much. “At first, you were just a distraction, something beautiful I didn’t deserve. My marriage had already died—no affection, no loyalty—we lived like ghosts under the same roof. I didn’t think anything could touch me anymore.”

You don’t respond, you just breathe, shallow and slow.

“But you did. You did more than touch me, you fucking rebuilt me. Every note I left on your pillow, every gift I placed in your hands, every hour I carved out of hell to sit beside you...it was because I couldn’t stay away. And somewbere between picking you up from uni and waking up with your leg thrown over mine you became the only fucking thing that made me feel alive.”

“I know that I broke your trust” My voice cracks “But don’t think I used you. I didn’t give you silk sheets and rooftop dinners to distract you—I gave you those things because they were the only way I knew how to say I’m yours. I’m only yours.”

You look at me like you want to believe it, like part of you still does.

“I’m not proud of the man I was before you,” I say. “But I’ve spent every day since trying to be someone better, for you.”

A silence stretches, thick and unforgiving. Then, finally—softly—you say “She didn’t lie, Harry.”

“No, she didn’t,” I admit. “But she didn’t tell the whole truth either.”

“And what’s that?”

“That I’m in love with you.” the words hang there. Raw. Unapologetic.

You blink and I see the walls start to shake. “I don’t beg,” I say. “I don’t chase. I’ve had men fear me for less than a raised eyebrow. But for you? I’m standing here ready to tear down everything I built, if that’s what it takes. I can’t lose you—not like this.”