The Dinner That Changed Everything
The long dining table was set with crystal glasses and polished silverware. It was the kind of dinner Lucian always hosted when business partners came around formal, cold, calculated. But tonight was different. Tonight, the guest of honor was not a mafia ally, but Elena.
She walked into the room in a simple black dress, nothing flashy, yet the way it hugged her curves made Lucian's chest tighten. She looked nervous, her hands brushing against the side of her dress, as though she didn't belong in such luxury. His daughter, little Isabella, tugged her along with a smile, making sure Elena sat right beside Lucian.
The atmosphere was strangely domestic. Not a single gun, not a single threat, not a single trace of the world that had always surrounded him. For once, Lucian felt… normal.
"Daddy, Miss Elena cooks better than the chef," Isabella said proudly, breaking the silence. "You should marry her so she can stay forever."
Elena nearly choked on her water, her cheeks flushing crimson. Lucian's stoic mask cracked, just slightly, and his lips twitched into the faintest smile.
"Isabella," he said in a low tone, though there was no real anger in it. "Eat your food."
But Elena had already caught the flicker in his eyes. She was beginning to see what no one else did the man behind the ruthless reputation. The man who secretly longed for something more than power and bloodshed.
After dinner, when Isabella ran off to her room, Elena helped clear the table despite the staff's protests. Lucian stood at the doorway, watching her. No one had ever touched his life so simply, so gently.
"You don't have to do that," he said finally, his voice deeper, more vulnerable than usual.
Elena glanced up at him, her hands still on the plates. "I know. But I want to."
Their eyes locked, the silence between them heavier than any words. In that moment, Lucian realized something terrifying: the walls he had built his whole life were starting to crumble.
And Elena? She wasn't just the nanny anymore. She was the only woman who had ever reached the hidden heart he'd sworn no one would ever touch.