CEO's Regret - Losing Valentina
The most dangerous mistake a powerful man can make… is breaking the woman he cannot live without.
Nash Blackthorpe is a billionaire playboy. As COO of Midas Media, he expands his father's empire on pure ambition, to prove himself against his half brother and inherit the CEO position.
From early on women were just a commodity, his pleasures bought and paid for. He didn't entertain a relationship, all his liaisons were contracted.
Then came Valentina...the anomaly...the only woman who didn't accept the contract he offered but negotiated.
For one year, the arrangement was perfect, he came to her every weekend and their chemistry, the heat and hunger between them was off the charts.
But then she did what every woman did, she over reached. Said she wanted more...and Nashian had one way of dealing with that...shut it down immediately.
He was Nashian Blackthorpe - she was nobody. An orphan, living in a Penthouse he paid the rent on, receiving a generous monthly stipend for services rendered...she needed him...he called the shots.
But his mistake was thinking that Valentina was like all his previous contracted lovers...because Valentina never wanted money or status...she had just wanted him.
So she didn't wait to be rejected or replaced...she left him.
And no woman has Ever left Nash and only then did he realise what he had actually lost.
قراءة
Chapter: Chapter 69 - Like Father, Like Son Part 1ValentinaTwo Years Ago – Friday 6th March 2024 - En Route to JFK AirportThrough teary eyes, I watched my uber pulled up to the kerb. The Uber driver stepped out and loaded my luggage into the trunk before opening the back door for me. "JFK?" he asked kindly. I nodded mutely.The warmth inside the car made everything worse somehow. As if the comfort and sanctuary of it was mocking the coldness and isolation that was already wrapping itself around my soul.As we pulled away from the curb, I looked up automatically toward the towering penthouse windows high above the city.Dark. Empty. No sign that once I had lived and loved there. My vision blurred again instantly.With every block we put between us, it felt as though another piece of my heart was being left behind.The ache became unbearable.I wrapped my arms around myself as if I could somehow hold together everything that had just shattered.I couldn't.The first sob escaped before I could stop it.Then another. Soon my entire bo
آخر تحديث: 2026-08-02
Chapter: Chapter 68 - The Thorn in My Side Part 231st March 2025 - Blackthorpe Estate, Upper East SideGordon BlackthorpeNash continued exactly as before. Still with the Monday and Wednesday arrangements. The other women were still coming and going.Good. It meant she was nothing special, just clever enough to negotiate a better deal. At the end of the day, she was just another fucktoy. Nash remained true to form. It was just sex, bought and paid for. Nothing more.But I had kept tabs, waiting for the expiration date. Then Norman phoned one Friday afternoon. "I've got movement." I remembered smiling with satisfaction. "She's leaving."His surveillance photographs arrived within the hour. Valentina Rossi. Dragging two suitcases out of the luxury building. Face blotchy, streaked with tears as she entered the taxi.Good…she was given the boot. Nash never went back for seconds, so there would be no reconciliation. No looking back.I had smiled into my whisky. “That’s right you little gold digger. Go on your merry way.” Order was rest
آخر تحديث: 2026-08-01
Chapter: Chapter 67 - The Thorn in My Side Part 1Gordon Blackthorpe31st March 2025 - Blackthorpe Estate, Upper East SideI poured myself a double Macallan and downed it neat. The whisky burned all the way down, but I barely noticed. It may as well have been cheap rotgut for all I cared. Tonight I wasn't drinking to appreciate eighteen years of craftsmanship and smoky perfection. I was drinking because I was furious.I poured another double and carried the crystal tumbler to my study. The familiar scent of polished mahogany and leather usually calmed me. Tonight, it did nothing.I lowered myself into the wingback chair behind my desk, the leather creaking beneath my weight, and stared out over the manicured gardens lit up by flares in late evening.Every inch of it represented decades of sacrifice, ruthless decisions and calculated risks. It represented control. Tonight, for the first time in years...I felt it slipping. I stared out at the perfectly manicured grounds now lit up with garden flares, my grip tightening around the glas
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-31
Chapter: Chapter 66 - This One is Just for UsValentinaSunday, 8th February 2026We said our goodbyes to the Belladonna team amid another round of hugs and excited promises.Matteo clasped my hands warmly when we got to the entrance. "Bellina, you saved my show. Both of you did." He looked between Ethan and me before smiling. "I will never forget this."I laughed softly. "You can stop thanking us now.""No." He placed a dramatic hand over his heart. "Italians don't work that way."Everyone chuckled.He turned serious again. "I'll need you back Monday, Wednesday and Friday from twelve until two. Final fittings, rehearsal walks, choreography. We only have five days until the show."I nodded. "I'll be here."He nodded and then mused. "And I still need to figure out how I'm going to repay you both.""You already have," Ethan answered easily. "Seeing Val in that white excuse for clothing, my sister smiling like a goof and discovering an alternate career path if law doesn’t cut it…” Ethan teased.I blushed…hard…Olivia elbowed me in th
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-30
Chapter: Chapter 65 - The Rejected Ultimatum Part 3NashThursday - 31 March 2025 - Midas Media Head OfficeI shook my head at my father slowly. “You really don’t know her.”“I know women.” He shot back. His voice was full of certainty. “They all want something.” Then he delivered the blow that made my stomach sink. “If she was so different...” He spread his hands. “...why did you keep her a secret? You never introduced her. You never took her to functions. None of us ever met her. Because you never acknowledged her publicly.”His eyes locked onto mine. “Because deep down...even you knew exactly what she was.”The words hit like a fist. Because...He wasn’t entirely wrong. Not about Valentina. But about me. I’d found a woman unlike anyone I’d ever met. A woman who stood head and shoulders above every casual arrangement I’d ever had. And despite recognising she was different... I’d still placed her inside the exact same box.Another contracted arrangement. The NDA. The apartment, the allowance. Set boundaries. No future. No promises. N
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-30
Chapter: Chapter 64 - The Rejected Ultimatum Part 2NashThursday - 31 March 2025 - Midas Media Head OfficeMy father’s eyes flashed. “So you’ll throw away an empire?”I didn’t hesitate. “If that’s the price...yes.”For a long moment nobody spoke. Then Father’s expression changed. It became calculating. Almost smug. “Oh...I understand now.” His eyes locked onto mine. “So this is about her.”A knot tightened low in my stomach. “What are you talking about?”He gave a sound of disgust. “That little trailer-park bitch. I will never allow trash like that to carry the Blackthorpe name.”Everything inside me went still. Across me, Mason slowly lowered his whisky glass onto the desk.Neither of us spoke. We simply stared at him in shock. He couldn’t possibly...He didn’t even know Valentina. Or so I’d thought.I felt my jaw tighten but I didn’t cave. “Who exactly are you talking about?” I asked quietly. A cruel smile spread across Father’s face. “Oh...so now you want to play ignorant? Like you really don’t know.” He looked almost pleased. “I
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-28
Chapter: Chapter 147 - My Daughter is Coming HomeDentonWe were going to miss our flight.And heads would roll if that happened. Too much preparation had gone into planning this exit.I should never have approved the little get together. Nadia was already giving me *that* look while I checked my watch for the fourth time in under two minutes.Remi should have been here already.The final boarding call echoed again through the terminal and I exhaled sharply, irritation and tension winding tighter in my chest.And then—“Move!”Remi came hurtling through the boarding gate like a man being actively hunted, weaving through travellers with a contrite grin plastered across his face.I stared at him flatly. He bent over slightly, catching his breath. “Sorry?” he said panting.Nadia snorted softly beside me and then relented with a grin of her own when the handsome little shit gave her the puppy dog eyes. Sucker...I thought.I gave him a low growl of displeasure as I handed him his boarding pass without comment and we immediately headed thro
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-21
Chapter: Chapter 146 - To Rise from the AshesMariaI stared at my phone, willing it to ring. I had to work. It just had to.Because I was counting on something no one else could see. Something intangible. That strange invisible thread that bound those two siblings not even related by blood together in ways logic could not define.Too many clues, too many things that separately meant nothing, not unless you looked close enough. And my instincts screamed that they were linked, I just needed the final piece to confirm what I had pieced together.And deep in my heart…I knew what I had seen. The belt, the shoes, the stolen blood, the medical report. Too many pieces of a difficult puzzle, I just needed one last piece…My phone buzzed suddenly in my hand…”Mason…” I greeted, unable to hide the nerves in my shaky voice.He laughed…”No…no…no…ladies first.” He said. “We had cleared Denton of any involvement in Arianna’s disappearance. You yourself confronted him and he denied it. So how???” he asked completely stumped.I shook my head. Ty
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-20
Chapter: Chapter 145 - Scars from the PastLiamI watched my brother race across the tile floor and disappear through the International boarding gate.Toward a future neither of us fully understood yet.He looked lighter now. Different from the other day at the hospital when his shoulders were tight beneath the weight of grief and exhaustion.Different from the service for Arianna when he had remained closed off and aloof refusing to even speak.For a second, I just stood there. Watching him depart. Then the crowd swallowed him whole and I could no longer see him.My chest tightened again but I forced myself to move, adjusting the strap of the backpack slung over my shoulder as I headed toward my own terminal.My flight was domestic. I was flying back home to Chicago. Back to war. Back to enemies. Back to traitors that wore the faces of allies. Back to men who thought I was weak enough to grab my crown while I mourned.The backpack on my shoulder carried the small silver urn containing my sister’s ashes. Or rather what I had b
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-19
Chapter: Chapter 144 - The Final Boarding CallRemiIt still didn’t feel real.Today, I was leaving my country of birth and stepping into an entirely new life.And somewhere in all this grief and destruction, I couldn’t stop wondering if this tragedy was meant to happen and somehow been the thing that brought two broken families back together again.I had to hold onto that as nothing else would be palatable especially where Arianna was concerned.On the positive side, I had my big brother back. We had never been this close before. Maria checked on me constantly like I was one of her own. And Denton and Nadia…they had somehow become the aunt and uncle we had never really had.Life was strange like that. Cruel but strange. Liam was flying back to Chicago today. Before my flight departed for Heathrow he wanted to see me. Said one last drink between brothers. Something inside me warmed at that.Denton had finally approved it after doing what I was beginning to suspect was a full MI6 level security sweep of JFK. I grinned at that.“W
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-18
Chapter: Chapter 143 - Breakfast Before World DominationLiam I hadn’t slept. Not really.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that room again. That cold steel table. Arianna’s bruised face. And then the service, those frozen images of her. And something kept niggling…worrying at the back of my mind but remaining just out of grasp.But somewhere in the early hours of the morning, while the mansion was completely silent around me, something had clicked into place.And once it did…Everything changed. So when I walked into the breakfast room that morning, I wasn’t hollow anymore. I was focused. Sharp. Dangerous.First, I needed to get rid of the cancerous tumour that was currently within my house, sitting on my throne as if he already owned it. As soon as that traitorous bastard was erased, then I could concentrate on the second order of business. The temptation was there to act now, but I had learnt the hard way. I would not jeopardise my family, not while a threat still loomed.Maria and Luigi were already there at the long breakfast table
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-14
Chapter: Chapter 142 - My Lips Are SealedMasonThe service had been beautiful. But to me it seemed unreal, especially when her blue eyes danced from that picture, too beautiful, too alive, too young for her to be reduced to ashes in silver urns.I stood near the back of the room nursing a whiskey I hadn’t touched, trying to process everything while soft piano music drifted through the formal lounge.Everywhere I looked there were photographs of her. Laughing. Riding bikes. Playing piano. In the garden. A teenager with too much life in her eyes. And every single picture made the guilt sit heavier in my chest.I remembered seeing her at the club for the first time. Then Poker Night. The way she had charmed every asshole in the room within twenty minutes flat.I swallowed hard. Could I have saved her? The thought had been eating at me for days now. If I hadn’t been away…If I had trusted my instincts the night I came to Luca and shared everything I had found.If I had insisted we find Adriano that night instead of waiting…Would
آخر تحديث: 2026-07-13
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