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“I want to see you.”

Chapter 28 Repay A Favor

There was a pause on the other end. Then Krystal’s voice, cautious and flat, came through. “Why do you sound like that? Are you drunk again?”

“I’m not drunk,” he murmured, his voice rough around the edges. “Please… come down, baby.”

The words slipped out before he could stop them.

Her voice turned sharp, cold enough to slice through him. “We’re not at that stage of meeting whenever, wherever anymore, Mr. Moretti. We’re divorced. And please stop calling me ‘baby.’”

She said it like it tasted bitter now.

He sat there in silence for a beat. Then calmly, “If you don’t come down, I’ll shout your name from down here. I’ll wake the whole damn building if I have to.”

Krystal’s sigh came through, exasperated. Then a pause. “Where exactly are you?”

“Right outside your building,” he said. “Just come down.”

“Alright. Wait for me.”

A few minutes later, Krystal stormed out of the apartment building, barefoot, in a short satin nightdress that clung to her body and stopped teasingly at her thighs. Her hair was messy, her eyes filled with annoyance and disbelief.

She spotted him sitting on the stairs, elbows resting on his knees. He rose slowly when she neared, eyes narrowing slightly at how little she was wearing, before meeting her eyes.

“What are you doing here, Lorenzo?” she demanded, folding her arms tightly across her chest. “I told you—stop showing up at my place at ungodly hours.”

His voice was even, but there was something dangerously silent in his eyes. “I bought the apartment across from yours.”

She stared at him, lips parting in disbelief. “Youwhat?”

“I wanted to be close to you,” he said simply.

Krystal let out a bitter laugh. “You’ve lost your mind.”

He reached out to touch her arm, but she stepped back, hand raised. “If you don’t have anything better to do, then go home. Don’t keep haunting me like this—it’s not fair.”

“Baby—”

“Let go,” she snapped, yanking her wrist free. “And stop calling me that. I don’t want to hear it.”

It used to melt her heart, that word. Now it scraped at old wounds. She had spent months trying to grow out of the love that once consumed her—trying to leave behind the version of herself that waited for Lorenzo. But every time he showed up, he pulled her back into a world she no longer wanted to live in.

His voice dropped, husky and soft. “Can we get married again?”

Her heart skipped. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if she’d heard him right.

“What?” she breathed, her voice cracking. “Are you kidding me?”

“I mean it,” he said, his eyes locked on hers, expression pleading, raw. “Let’s get married again.”

At once, anger surged through her like a wildfire. Her spine stiffened, every muscle locking into tension. Krystal spun around to face him fully, her eyes fierce.

“Lorenzo, look at me. I’m not Esther. I’m Krystal!”

He didn’t flinch. Instead, he stepped closer, gently cupping her hands in his larger, calloused ones. His touch was warm, trembling faintly, like he was holding onto something fragile.

“I want to marry you again,” he said softly. “Let me do it right this time. Let me date you properly. Let me love you the way you deserved from the start.”