Regrets of the Don: His Beloved Walked Away novel · Chapter 26 of 32
Chapter 26: Valentina
He used the key at six o'clock that night.
He came up the stairs with a bag of takeout from the place on 86th and a bottle of wine under his arm.
He didn't stay over.
He kissed me at the top of the stairs, and went home.
He did that most nights through February.
Some nights he stayed. Some nights he didn't.
I never asked him to, and he never asked if he could.
The barber gave up the weather report.
"His car's on 79th," he said once, in March. "But that's not news anymore. That's furniture."
On Thursday, March 11, at ten past midnight, someone knocked on the shutter.
Not pounding. Knocking, soft.
I came down in my socks with the pry bar out of habit.
Connie was asleep. She had a practice exam at seven.
"Who is it?"
There was a long pause.
"It's me, Lili."
I knew the voice.
I'd known it since it said my name for the first time in a crib.
I raised the shutter halfway.
Valentina was crouched under it on the sidewalk, the way the woman with the toddler had crouched there in October.
She was in a man's puffer jacket that didn't close over her stomach.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Regrets of the Don: His Beloved Walked Away are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 25 · All chapters · Chapter 27 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend