Chapter 10 The First Time I Saw Her

(Riccardo's POV – Flashback)

I wasn't supposed to be there that day.

The agency that handled hiring for some of the best private schools in Naples was just another business under my control. A necessary investment. I rarely involved myself in its affairs unless there was money to be made or a favor to be repaid.

But fate had other plans.

I had stepped into the agency's offices that afternoon to handle a separate matter when I saw her.

She rushed in through the glass doors, her dress slightly wrinkled, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. There was exhaustion in her steps, the kind that told me she had been traveling for hours.

I knew that look.

The look of someone desperate for a new beginning.

She didn't belong to this city yet.

And yet, from the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she belonged to me.

She wasn't like the women I was used to. There was no expensive perfume clinging to her skin, no designer bag slung over her shoulder. Just natural beauty, wide brown eyes, and a quiet determination that intrigued me.

She walked up to the receptionist, her voice soft but firm as she asked about her appointment.

"Aurora Russo," she said.

I liked the way her name sounded.

She had no idea I was watching, studying the way she bit her lip nervously, the way she exhaled slowly before straightening her posture.

She was nervous.

She wanted this. Needed this.

And I decided, right then and there, that she would have it.

Not because of her qualifications. Not because she was the best candidate.

But because I wanted her here.

Near me.

The moment she left the office, I called the director.

"Give her the job," I ordered.

There was a brief pause. "Sir, we have a selection process-"

I cut him off. "I don't care. Make it happen."

The director didn't argue.

No one argued with Riccardo Romano.

---

I didn't see her again until a week later.

Luca's school was holding its final round of assessments for new teachers, and I had no reason to be there-except I knew she would be.

I told myself it was curiosity. That I simply wanted to see if she would show up.

But when I saw her walking across the parking lot, something dark and possessive coiled in my chest.

She was dressed in a simple white blouse and a navy-blue skirt, her long legs carrying her with a quiet grace. There was a nervous energy about her, but she moved like someone determined to prove herself.

She didn't see me.

But I saw everything.

The way she adjusted the strap of her bag. The way she glanced around, as if sensing eyes on her.

She felt me.

Even if she didn't know it yet.

I smirked, leaning against my car as I watched her disappear into the building.

She had no idea she was walking into a future I had already decided for her.

No idea that, from the moment I saw her, there was no escaping me.

Aurora Russo would get the job.

She would stay in this city.

And sooner or later...

She would be mine.

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