Undressed By The Mafia God novel Chapter 200

Chapter 200: We Have To Talk

"Val..." he tried again, stepping closer.

Valentina raised a hand. "Don’t," she said.

"Val, please... we have to talk. Just give me five minutes."

The usual ease in his voice—the charm, the effortless confidence he wore had been stripped down. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"I don’t have five minutes," she snapped, not even looking at him as she shuffled a stack of receipts. "We are short-staffed. My sister isn’t here, Rosa isn’t here. I don’t have time for your nonsense. Now, please leave."

"Not until you talk to me."

Valentina looked up at him then, her patience snapping. "Jesus Christ!" she burst out, throwing her hands up slightly before letting them fall back against the counter. "Are you listening to me? I’m busy."

"I understand that," Ricardo said quickly. "But I will wait until you have the time for me."

Her shoulders dropped. She turned away from him, exhaling under her breath as she pressed her fingers briefly against her temple, trying to physically push the situation away. "Tony," she called. "Would you please try to call Rosa once more?"

Tony, who had been pretending very hard not to listen, nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah—on it," he said, already pulling out his phone grateful to be given a task that required zero emotional involvement.

Valentina pushed away from the counter, moving around it, her steps quick and decisive as she headed toward an empty table at the far end of the shop. She pulled out a chair and sat, crossing her arms immediately.

Ricardo followed. He placed the bouquet gently on the table in front of her, the bright colors looking absurd. "Val..." he started.

She didn’t let him get far. "How about I cut this short for you?" she said. "It doesn’t matter that my sister told you about the... baby." She didn’t want to care.

That path led to feelings, and feelings were currently the least helpful thing in her life. "I will make whatever decision feels right to me," she continued. "It has absolutely nothing to do with you. I expect nothing from you," she added, her fingers curling lightly against her arms. "In fact, I demand that you offer me nothing."

If she expected nothing, then she couldn’t be disappointed. "I am an asshole. I am an idiot. I have—"

"Ricardo," Valentina cut in, lifting a hand slightly, "skip the fluff. Get to it." There was no room for theatrics.

No patience for rehearsed guilt or carefully arranged apologies. She didn’t want a performance.

Ricardo exhaled, the words he had lined up collapsing. "Please," he said finally. "I love you. That’s all I can say," he added. "Let me be there for you."

"You have no right to ask me for anything," she said. "We are done, okay?"

Ricardo shook his head slowly, disagreeing with a reality he refused to accept. "I’m sorry, Val," he said. "I cannot accept that. Even when I said that," he continued, running a hand through his hair again, his frustration more inward than directed at her, "I didn’t accept it. I couldn’t accept it. I’m going to keep trying," he said, meeting her eyes fully.

"I will keep trying." He meant it.

The bell above the shop door chimed softly as a customer walked in. He leaned down then, slowly, giving her enough time to pull away if she wanted to.

She didn’t. His lips brushed softly against her forehead, the contact brief, carrying more care than anything else he had managed to say.

"Take care of yourself," he whispered. Then he straightened, turning away. She just sat there, staring at the space he had occupied.

She swallowed hard. No. She couldn’t do this again. Couldn’t let him back in just because he showed up.

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