Chapter 299: What a coincidence.

ROMEO POV

The music in the club was loud enough to make the floor vibrate beneath my shoes.

Bass rolled through the air in heavy waves, lights flashing across the room in bursts of purple and gold that cut through the dimness like lightning.

Most people came to places like this to lose themselves. To drink. To dance. To forget.

I came for a very different reason. From the corner lounge where I sat, the entire club stretched out beneath my view.

The dance floor was the center of the chaos. Bodies moved together under the lights, people laughing, spinning, raising glasses into the air while the music swallowed their voices.

The bar ran along the far wall. Bartenders moved quickly behind it, sliding drinks across the counter while guests leaned forward to shout their orders over the noise.

Security stood near the entrances. Two by the main door. One near the hallway that probably led to private rooms.

Another near the stairs. My eyes tracked them automatically. Positions. Movement patterns. Blind spots.

Habit.

The glass in my hand was untouched.

Whiskey. I had ordered it when I arrived, mostly so the waiter would stop hovering.

But I hadn’t taken a single sip. Because my attention wasn’t on the drink. It hadn’t been all night.

It was on her.

Katya. She stood in the middle of the dance floor beside Chiara.

At first she had looked completely out of place.

Rigid. Awkward. Like someone who had accidentally wandered into the wrong room and wasn’t sure how to leave.

My jaw tightened slightly at the memory of how I got here.

It had started with silence. The kind of silence that settles into a house late at night, when everything is supposed to be still. When people are asleep. When doors stay closed and nothing moves.

I had intended to keep it that way. After… earlier… After walking into that room and finding Katya standing there with nothing but a towel and surprise written all over her face—

I had no interest in seeing anyone else that night. Especially not her. I had gone straight to my room, shut the door, and intended to end the day there.

No conversations. No complications. No… her.

But then came voices—loud, careless, completely out of place in a house that valued quiet as much as Nonna’s did.

It was Chiara. Even without opening the door, I recognized her voice instantly. Bright. Unfiltered. Completely incapable of being subtle.

At first, I ignored it. Pulled off my jacket. Set it aside. Tried to block it out. But then her voice got louder.

Closer. Footsteps. Movement. And a name.

Michael.

My hand paused mid-motion. The silence I had been trying to maintain cracked. I didn’t move immediately. Didn’t go to the door like some curious child.

But I listened.

“…club…”

“…opening…”

“…we’re going…”

Chiara again.

Excited. Insistent. And Katya—Quieter.

Hesitant. But not refusing. A faint frown pulled at my brow.

A club. At this hour. In this city. My jaw tightened slightly. Italy at night was not kind to people who moved carelessly through it.

Especially not girls like them.

Not inexperienced. Not distracted. Not unguarded.

And Chiara— Chiara was the kind of person who could turn a quiet walk into a problem without even trying.

I exhaled slowly. This wasn’t my concern. It shouldn’t have been my concern.

I had already made that decision. I wasn’t going to be involved in Katya’s life.

Not anymore. That line had been drawn. Yet, a few minutes later, I found myself standing by the window, watching as two figures slipped quietly out of the house.

One moving carefully. The other far less so. Katya and Chiara were sneaking out. I stared at the empty space they left behind for a long second.

I pulled my hair back and exhaled once. Before reaching for my jacket again. I kept my distance.

Far enough that they wouldn’t notice. Close enough that I wouldn’t lose them. Their car moved through the quiet streets, headlights cutting through the darkness as the city slowly shifted from silence into something more alive.

Streetlights reflected off wet pavement. A few late-night bars glowed softly in the distance.

People lingered on sidewalks. Laughter carried faintly through open windows. Italy at night was beautiful, deceptive and dangerous.

I followed them all the way here.

To this club and to that Michael guy. Bold enough to involve himself where he shouldn’t. Either he’s careless or foolish.

My gaze lifted slightly, scanning the interior again as the memory faded back into the present.

So no….This wasn’t coincidence. Not entirely. I hadn’t come here for the music. Or the drinks. Or the atmosphere.

I came because they were here. Because she was here. On the dance floor, Katya laughed softly at something Chiara said.

The sound didn’t reach me.

But I saw it. The small tilt of her head. The way her shoulders relaxed. The way she moved now—less stiff, more natural.

My expression didn’t change. But something in my chest did. My eyes shifted again.

Back to the bar. Michael was still there. Still watching. Too focused. Too interested.

His attention didn’t move the way a host’s should—casual, scattered, checking on everyone.

No. It stayed on her.cTracked her. Followed every movement like it mattered more than anything else in the room. I leaned back slightly against the couch, my posture relaxed, giving away nothing.

I came alone tonight. No interruptions. No restraints. No one here to question my decisions.

My gaze followed the small changes of Katya, her movements began to loosen. The way her hips began to move with the rhythm instead of against it.

The way a quiet smile started to appear on her face. Something unfamiliar made my chest ache slightly.

She looked… Happy. That realization irritated me more than it should have. Because I knew exactly why she was here.

And it wasn’t because Chiara had simply dragged her out for fun.

My eyes narrowed on her and right on cue, Katya turned.vHer eyes moved across the room slowly, scanning the crowd.

For a second, I considered looking away.

Letting her think she had imagined the feeling of being watched. But I didn’t.

Instead I leaned back more against the couch, resting one arm along the backrest as the flashing lights passed across the room.

And when her gaze finally reached the corner lounge—

Our eyes met.

Even from across the club, I saw the exact moment she recognized me. Her movement on the dance floor slowed. I lifted the glass of whiskey in my hand slightly.

Not drinking it. Just holding it there in acknowledgement. My gaze never leaving hers.

So….She had snuck out. And somehow ended up in the one club in the city where I happened to be sitting tonight. The corner of my mouth curved faintly.

What a coincidence.

Or maybe—

Not a coincidence at all.