Page 70 of The Bonventi Secret

"There's also a few things I need your signature on," she says.

I sit down and go over the shipping documents and sign them. She leaves, and I follow her out.

I make my way to the library, excited to finally see Livia.

As I open the library door, I see her face. "Hello, cara mia."

LIVIA - 25

My heart races at the sight of Enzo as he enters the library, greeting me. My stomach is in knots, a combination of love, anxiety, and fear churning. I force a smile and manage to push out, "Hi."

As Enzo approaches me, I can see a flash of concern in his eyes, which can only mean he sees that in me.

My fingers instinctively reach for my skull pendant, twirling it nervously between my fingers.

"What's wrong, Livia?" Enzo asks, his voice soft.

I don't respond right away, and he gestures to my necklace. "You're playing with your pendant. You only do that when you're anxious about something."

Shit.

The fact that he now notices my habits, a testament to our growing closeness, sends a pang through my chest.

Please don't let me fuck this up.

Enzo takes a seat across the desk from me, his piercing blue eyes fixed on my face. "Talk to me," he says, his tone gentle but leaving no room for evasion.

"Enzo, I..." I start, then turn silent.

How do I even begin to explain?

"Whatever it is, Livia, you can tell me," he encourages, reaching across the desk to take my hand. His touch is warm, comforting, and it nearly breaks me.

I pull my hand away, unable to bear his kindness when I've betrayed his trust. "I, uh, I need to talk to you about something," I say and take a deep breath to calm myself, "I…I found something."

"What did you?—?"

"In the writing desk. The one you told me not to touch," I blurt out, my voice shaky.

Enzo's expression hardens as he leans back in his chair. Anger rises in his face, and I can see him struggling to remain composed.

"The desk I asked you not to touch?" he asks, his voice now sounding carefully controlled, as if it's the first of many steps.

I nod, and I can feel my eyes starting to fill with water.

I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry. "It was a diary. Your grandmother's diary."

The silence that follows is deafening. I can hear my own heart pounding in my ears and see Enzo's jaw tighten as he processes my words.

"How much did you read?" he asks finally, his voice sounding unfamiliar to me.

I flinch at his tone, feeling the betrayal. "Most of it, well, actually, all of it. I had to translate it," I admit, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm so, so sorry, Enzo. I know you asked me not to, I shouldn't have, but I was curious to get to know you more because I was starting to develop feelings, and you weren't opening up, and then once I started thinking the desk could hold all the answers, I just couldn't stop. And, and, when I found it, it was like a window into your family's past, and I..."

"You had no right," Enzo cuts me off, his voice sharp as a knife. "That was private, Livia. My family's history is not some fucking Victorian novel for you to dissect and analyze."

His words sting, but I know I deserve them. "I know," I say, feeling tears prick at the corners of my eyes now. "I'm sorry. I just, I wanted to understand you better. To understand where you came from."

Enzo stands abruptly, knocking the chair he was sitting on to the floor. The impact makes me jump.