CHAPTER 341. A NAUGHTY GIRL. Then and NowShe was halfway through her second glass of whiskey, trying on the infernal dress, when there was a knock at the door. Noémi opened it, tossing her heels aside."What do you wan...?" She froze when she saw the man in front of her but took a deep breath and lifted her chin with a neutral expression. "Levi. What are you doing here?"Levi had seen the apartment lights turn on and had only taken as long as it did to put Peter in his stroller and cross the street. He had been going crazy for hours wanting to see her, but seeing her in that wedding dress was more than he could handle in that moment."Noe..." he mumbled a couple of times, looking her up and down, then pressed his lips together, unsure of what to say.Noémi glanced at the baby sleeping in his stroller and couldn’t help a smile full of tenderness."He’s grown so much. He’s beautiful," she said with a lump in her throat before looking back at him. "How can I help you?" she asked, her v
CHAPTER 342. A NAUGHTY GIRL. ConsequencesLevi felt as if she were hitting him or something worse. “Noe… what are you doing?” he murmured in desperation, trying to get closer to her. “I get that this was a business deal, now I understand you had to save your family… but if that man demanded you marry him in exchange for his help, if you’re the bargaining chip…” “I was, I am, and I don’t care,” she replied. “How can you say that? How can you marry someone you don’t love?” he questioned her. “And who said I don’t love him? Do you have any damn idea what love is? Do you have any idea where Nino has been the last five months while you disappeared and went back to your professional athlete life? No! Right?” Noémi smiled sarcastically. “Don’t get it twisted, I’m not blaming you for anything, after all, you said it yourself: We always kept things clear, nothing ever happened between us, so there was nothing to claim.” Levi ran his hands through his hair in frustration, wanting to punch
CHAPTER 343. A NAUGHTY GIRL. Noémi Keller is not a woman anyone tells what to doLevi felt the tears knotting his throat, but he finally turned and pushed his son’s stroller towards the door. He stopped at the threshold, his hand on the handle, and turned to look at Noémi one more time. He couldn’t allow it, he couldn’t lose her, no matter what he had to do or accept. It was true that he had left, but it was also true that he had decided to come back. When the door closed completely, Noémi walked over to lock it and rested her forehead against the wood. She wanted to cry so badly it hurt, but she couldn’t allow herself to. After all, she was the CEO of Asterion Bank, and she wasn’t going to fall apart just because a man had broken her heart. She simply wasn’t willing to give it away again. But as she prepared for her wedding, Levi had also made the decision to fight. The next morning, very early, he sat at the edge of his bed, his back hunched, his head bowed, and his arms crosse
CHAPTER 344. A NAUGHTY GIRL. Punishing myselfLevi paced desperately around that hotel room for hours, trying to find a way to reach Noémi. He had left her several voice messages, but she hadn’t responded. He went by her apartment countless times, but at night the lights no longer turned on, so he realized she had chosen to go somewhere else. His heart clenched just thinking about it, about how much Noémi must have suffered with her twin sister’s imprisonment. And he wanted to hate Nino, but the truth was that Nino hadn’t made him leave. In the end, Noémi was right: if the Italian had wanted to force her into marriage, he would have done it from the start; he wouldn’t have waited five months of torture. He was desperate to find her and talk to her. He had to make her stay, had to stop her from marrying because now he understood: he loved her, he loved her more than anything in the world. As strange as it might seem, the news about Noémi’s wedding to Nino Ambrosio hadn’t made it to
CHAPTER 345. A NAUGHTY GIRL. I never thought…“You can’t do this, you can’t. For months, I believed that after what happened with Odessa, I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone else, I wouldn’t be able to love anyone else. And then you came along… and I know jealousy and distrust blinded me, but I swear I’ve learned my lesson, Noe, I swear on my son’s life that I’ve learned, and if you leave me, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that you’re the most important thing to me.” Noémi’s lower lip trembled, and she bit it. Levi realized she was holding back tears, but he couldn’t tell if they were out of frustration or longing. “I’m sorry, Levi,” she finally murmured. “I swear I’m not saying this to hurt you, but I can’t stay, because now I’m the one who can’t trust you.” Levi felt tears sting his eyes, but he blinked them away. “Yes, you can, of course, you can. I love you…” Even he was surprised by that declaration, but he just laughed and kept going. “I love you, baby, I real
CHAPTER 346. A NAUGHTY GIRL. I’ll be happyLevi stood at the back of the room, and the murmurs died down as he started to move forward. Noémi instinctively tightened her hand in Nino’s, but he didn’t show any sign of displeasure. Of course, she hadn’t told Levi where the wedding was, but he wasn’t stupid—tracking her down to the city courthouse wasn’t impossible once he knew the wedding date.Levi looked her up and down as he stood before her, his expression filled with apology.“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “For everything I did, but this can’t end like this.”He looked at Nino with determined eyes and smiled slightly.“I know I don’t have the right to object to this wedding, but I respect you enough to warn you: I won’t rest until Noe comes back to me. I don’t care if she’s married, I don’t care if she gave you her word, none of it matters. I’ll be her shadow until I get her back.”Nino didn’t move a muscle, but Noémi’s heart was racing. She took a step toward Levi and pleaded, “Please
CHAPTER 347. A NAUGHTY GIRL. But you love me!“Are you okay, *amore mio*? What’s wrong?” he asked her.“This damn phone isn’t working right!” she said, tossing it aside. “It heats up the second I turn it on. What am I supposed to do?”“Tell it you have a headache,” Nino teased, and she playfully punched him on the shoulder.“Idiot!”“But you love me!”Noémi couldn’t help but smile and nod.“Of course I love you...”“...But as friends.”“Do you *eat* friends?” she muttered.“Idiot!” Nino laughed.“But you love me!”“And I *eat* you!”“That too,” Noémi sighed as he handed her a glass of champagne. “Thanks,” she murmured, taking a sip of the cold liquid.Nino watched her for a few seconds before sitting down beside her. The air was fresh, and the sea was calm. They drank in silence, their eyes fixed on the horizon.“Why won’t you tell me the truth, *amore mio*? If we’re friends and you care about me, why won’t you tell me the truth?”Noémi tensed up instantly.“What are you talking abou
CHAPTER 348. A NAUGHTY GIRL. Ice and FireA month. It had been a month since Noémi had left, and Levi was staring out the window of his new house, praying that the next day, when he went back to the company, Noémi’s assistant would tell him she had returned.Telling Oskar Larsen that he could no longer continue training the boys in Norway had been easier than Levi had expected, but since the banker was fond of him, the decision was simple: he put the five boys on a plane and rented them another mansion on another ski slope in Switzerland. So the training continued, the work continued, and he kept waiting for Noémi.He was right in the middle of a slope during a training session with the boys when someone told him he was being waited for at one of the mountain lookouts."Is something wrong?" he asked the boy who had come to inform him."It's Mr. Larsen. Apparently, it’s something important because he arrived without any notice.""Sure, tell him we’re on our way...""No, the boys can s