What I Never Forgot

My name is Luna Salvatore Rigone. I'm twenty-four, the youngest child of the Salvatore family. I always tried to live lightly, with joy, trying to ignore the dark side of my family.

I was always good at pretending.

Pretending everything was fine. Pretending my life was easy, perfect, normal. Pretending the shadow side of my family didn't exist.

Until that day.

I was sixteen, and Florence seemed even more beautiful that afternoon. The sun fell on the old buildings, people strolled calmly, and I... I just wanted to be a normal girl.

So, like always, I found a way to ditch my bodyguards.

I thought it was overkill.

A prison disguised as care.

I wanted freedom.

And I got it.

For a few minutes.

I felt it.

That strange sensation of being watched. At first I ignored it. Then I picked up my pace. My heart started racing, but I told myself it was paranoia.

Until I turned the corner.

And came face to face with him.

Tall.

Still.

A mask covering his face.

In that moment, I understood.

Too late.

I'd made the worst mistake of my life.

I tried to run.

I couldn't.

It was all too fast. He grabbed me hard, smothered any attempt to scream, put a bag over my head... and the world disappeared.

When I came to, I was already inside a van.

And there...

My hell began.

Ten days.

Ten days that felt like an eternity.

Almost no food.

Rationed water.

Darkness.

Fear.

And the worst of all... the words.

The threats.

There was a man.

I never saw his face clearly, but the voice... I'll never forget it.

Vile.

Cruel.

"When your brother pays..." he'd say, in a tone that made me tremble, "I'm going to play with you until you forget your own name."

I wanted to be strong.

But I was just a girl.

And I was afraid.

So afraid.

On the tenth day...

I had no strength left.

No hope.

If even my brother... Paolo Salvatore... the man who made all of Italy tremble... hadn't been able to find me...

Then no one would.

I accepted it.

Accepted that this would be my end.

And then...

He appeared.

Lutero Russo.

The love of my life.

He came in like a storm.

Silent, lethal, precise.

I remember the sounds.

The screams.

The chaos.

And then... silence.

When he pulled the bag off my head, it was the first time in days that I saw light.

And the first thing I saw...

Was him.

"It's over," he said.

Just that.

But for me...

That meant everything.

I'd always been in love with him.

Since I was little.

Lutero had always been around. Strong, reserved, always at my brothers' side. He was never like the other men in our family. He had something different.

Something that made me feel... safe.

When I turned fifteen, I thought I already knew what love was.

And I told him how I felt.

I still remember it.

My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest.

And he...

Rejected me.

"You're a child, Luna," he said, serious. "You don't know what you're feeling."

That alone would've been enough to hurt me.

But he kept going.

"And even if you did... I'd never betray your brother's trust."

I smiled in front of him.

But inside...

I shattered.

That was where my rebellious phase started. Parties, arguments, reckless behavior... all to get his attention.

And I nearly paid for it with my life.

After the kidnapping...

I was never the same.

I came home.

But I didn't come back whole.

I spent months locked in my room. Crying. Avoiding any contact. The world lost its meaning.

I lost my meaning.

Until one day my mother walked into my room.

She sat beside me, held my face, and said:

"A child's pain is a mother's pain."

That broke me in a different way.

I realized it wasn't only me who was suffering.

And I decided to try.

Not because I wanted to.

But because I needed to.

I moved forward.

Or at least, I tried.

But deep down...

I didn't feel like doing anything anymore.

Until I saw a video.

Brazil.

Random.

Colorful.

Alive.

Different from everything I knew.

And in that moment, I knew.

"I want to go there."

My father and Pietro agreed right away.

Paolo...

Resisted.

Of course he resisted.

But he eventually gave in.

And that was how I ended up here.

And it was here...

That I came back to life.

Maria Cecilia and Ana Paula.

My best friends.

My family.

Cecilia... or Cissa, as I like to call her, is one of the strongest people I've ever met. Her story is heavy, painful... but she never let it break her.

She's beautiful.

But she doesn't know it.

And maybe that's what makes her even more so.

Ana Paula is the opposite. Pure light. Loud, funny, impossible to ignore. Her pain is different, but it's there.

And the three of us...

Found each other.

I had a huge apartment in Sao Paulo.

Luxurious.

Cold.

Empty.

But I barely stayed there.

Cecilia's house...

Was home.

Still...

There was something that never left me.

Lutero.

Ten years.

Ten years loving someone who never wanted me.

Four years without seeing him.

Sometimes...

I thought I was going crazy.

Because in certain moments, I could've sworn I saw him.

On the street.

At parties.

In random places.

But when I looked again...

He was gone.

Obsession.

That's all it could be.

It had to be.

And now...

Graduation.

My entire family was there.

As always.

Imposing.

Untouchable.

I took a deep breath before approaching the table.

Two years.

Two years since I'd last seen everyone together.

My mother was the first to stand.

"My little princess!"

She hugged me tight, and I closed my eyes for a second.

"I missed you..."

"Me too, Mom."

My father came right after.

"You're my pride," he said, serious but with a gleam in his eyes.

Pietro appeared, grinning.

"Congrats, brat. Now you can start managing my life."

"Someone has to," I shot back, laughing.

And then...

Paolo.

My brother.

The man the entire world fears.

But who, with me...

Was always just my brother.

He pulled me into a hug, kissed my forehead, and said:

"Now you come home."

I smiled.

But didn't answer.

Because deep down...

I didn't know where home was anymore.

And then...

He appeared.

My heart stopped.

Lutero.

Four years.

And there he was.

More handsome.

More powerful.

More... him.

He greeted my parents.

My brothers.

With respect.

As always.

And then he looked at me.

And for one second...

I forgot how to breathe.

"Excuse me," he said, looking at Paolo. "May I give Miss Luna a gift?"

Paolo nodded.

Simple as that.

But for me...

It meant everything.

He handed me a small box.

My hands were trembling.

"For your graduation."

His voice... the same.

I tried to speak.

"Thank you..."

It came out almost as a whisper.

I opened it.

A delicate chain.

Simple.

Beautiful.

With a heart pendant.

And three letters.

FFF.

"What does it mean?" I asked, looking at him.

"Strength. Focus. Faith."

It wasn't expensive.

It wasn't extravagant.

But it was the first gift he'd ever given me.

And that...

Was worth more than anything.

"Can I... hug you?"

I didn't even think.

I just said it.

He looked at Paolo.

Always respecting boundaries.

Paolo gave a slight nod.

Permission.

And then...

He hugged me.

And the world stopped.

My heart raced.

His scent...

I closed my eyes.

And for one second, I wanted to stay there forever.

When we pulled apart, I already missed him.

"Congratulations," he said.

"Thank you..."

He excused himself.

He was leaving.

But Paolo stopped him.

"Stay. Sit with us."

My heart leapt.

He accepted.

And sat.

At our table.

With my family.

I took a deep breath.

"Can I invite my friends over?"

Everyone looked at me.

"Of course," my mother said.

"If they're your friends, they're welcome," my father added.

I smiled.

And went to get them.

Cecilia came first.

Shy.

Watchful.

Ana Paula came right behind, smiling.

And then...

I saw it.

Paolo's gaze.

Fixed on Cecilia.

Intense.

Different.

And...

I felt something unexpected.

Hope.

Could someone...

Have finally broken through the stone heart of Paolo Salvatore?

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