Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
Sofia
“ P rincess.” His lips brush against my jaw, and a sigh escapes me. “Wake up, Princess.”
“I don’t want to,” I murmur breathlessly. “I?—”
Dream Nero’s brow furrows, and his next words cut through the haze. “Wake up!”
I shoot up in bed and the first thing I notice is that I can’t breathe. I cough as smoke begins to pour into my nostrils and mouth.
What the hell is going on? I can barely see ahead of me with how thick the smoke in the room is, and I know I should be trying to escape, but my body has frozen with panic.
“Sofia! Sofia!”
I raise my head, eyes flaying around the room to pinpoint my husband’s location. “Sebastian?”
“Sebastian…” I cough. “I’m here. What’s going on?”
“Why are you still in there? Get out!” he shouts urgently.
“Where are you?” I cough, the smoke clouding my senses. Finally detangling myself from the bed sheets and staggering to my feet, arm over my nose.
I hear someone rattling at a door, but it’s not from the direction of the front door. Why is Sebastian trying to open the door to the adjourning room?
I cough again, forcing the words out. “What are you doing? We need to leave.”
“I’m not repeating myself,” he snaps. “Get out. Now!”
I’m beginning to feel lightheaded from the smoke, and the voices that are screaming my husband’s name from outside the room sound like they’re coming from miles and miles away. Feeling around for a wall, I cling to it and start to make my way out of the room.
“Vittoria, I’m coming for you!” I hear Sebastian roar.
My eyebrows fly up. Vittoria?
I finally get my hands on the handle of the front door and unlock it. The door swings open violently, nearly knocking me over. I shift back in time as people burst into the room, throwing the smoke-filled room into even more pandemonium.
“Where’s Sebastian?” I hear Viviana cry, and I ignore her, pushing past the string of people forming a crowd in front of the room.
“Give her space,” one of the Villa staff orders, trying to push them out of the way.
“She’s fine!” Pietro snaps. “Her husband is still in there, he’s the one we should be worried about.”
“Some of the staff members are in there at the moment, trying to get the occupants out. We can’t access the other room because it’s locked from the inside, but?—”
I cut in. “What do you mean, occupants? There’s only one person in there and that’s my husband.”
The suited man stares at me with something that resembles pity too much for my comfort. My stomach turns at that look on his face, and I take a small step backward.
Just at that moment, I hear a door being kicked down and then the sound of a woman sobbing. The water sprinkler system comes on and a shower of water rains over the room.
Emerging from the cloud of smoke is another of the suited staff members, and trailing after him is my husband. In his arms is a woman in a red dressing gown. As soon as I see her platinum blonde hair, I know exactly who it is.
My eyes narrow and I still, watching the duo.
“Oh my God, Sebastian. I was so afraid,” she sobs. “I thought I was going to die. If I hadn’t been thinking on my feet and rushed to the bathroom—you know I got the idea for that from that show we watched, what was the name again?—I was so scared.”
“It’s alright.” He rubs circles around her back, ignoring me completely.
The tie holding her dress together loosens and it opens up to reveal a hot red, silky nightdress that’s the equivalent of wearing nothing at all.
“Sebastian,” I croak and finally, my husband looks at me. “What’s going on here?”
He frowns at me. “What’s going on is that someone set fire to our suite. Vittoria’s room to be exact. I saw footsteps leading out to the balcony. Someone was trying to kill me, or us, I’m not sure which. This was intentional, and I’m going to find the bastard and rip them limb from limb.”
I shake my head, trying to clear the dizziness I’m feeling. “I’m talking about her. What was she doing in our suite?”
“Sleeping!” the woman, who I assume is Vittoria, snaps, eyes narrowed on me. “What else did you think I was doing in there?”
My gaze shifts from Sebastian to the woman, suspicion creeping into every corner of my mind. Was he with her while I was outside with Nero? It seems glaringly obvious now. He must’ve gone into the adjoining room after our little mishap earlier this evening.
Guilt sinks into me like a lead weight, heavy and unshakable. I feel like the worst kind of hypocrite—standing here, seething with anger at my husband for bringing his lover into our suite, when I’m no better.
You deserve this , a sharp voice chastises me.
“Sebast—”
“Save it, Sofia,” he snaps. “You should be feeling compassionate for her almost getting hurt instead of trying to accuse her of God knows what.”
“I’ve always said that the girl was heartless,” Viviana spits, her face twisted up into a sneer.
“Who would do this to you?” The blonde cries and I decide she’s an attention magnet and that I don’t like her.
One of the staff clears his throat, snapping us all out of the tense moment.
“If you could all please exit the hallways,” he says politely, though there’s a firmness in his tone. “The fire department will be here shortly, and I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night. Everyone is expected to retire to their rooms. Mr. Lucchese and his, uh… guests will be moved to a spare room.”
There’s an awkward pause, the tension still thick in the air as everyone glances at one another. Sebastian nods curtly, giving the staff member a reassuring smile. Soon, the crowd begins to disperse one after the other, and I don’t miss the curious looks that they shoot at my husband and the woman wrapped around him still sobbing.
She’s really milking this for all it’s worth.
“Go on up, Sofia,” Sebastian says. “I have to see to Vittoria and try and figure out who’s responsible for this fire and why.”
“I hope you find the animals who did this,” Pietro mutters, shaking his head as he walks away, frustration etched into his features.
Just then, I catch the glow of a cigarette butt flaring to life. My gaze snaps to the shadowy figure leaning casually against the far corner, as if he’s been there the whole time, silently watching.
Nero . He’s changed out of his wet clothes, now dressed in a navy-blue t-shirt and dark sweatpants, the casual attire doing nothing to hide the raw power that always seems to radiate from him.
His eyes are on me—lazy, almost bored, but undeniably hungry. He’s drinking me in slowly, and the way his gaze lingers makes my skin prickle. Instinctively, I glance down at myself, realizing with a jolt that I’m not wearing a bra. Heat rushes to my face as I wrap my arms around my chest, trying to shield myself from his piercing stare.
“My men are on it.” Sebastian’s voice pulls me back to the present. He’s addressing Pietro, but I can’t take my eyes off Nero. “Before Paolo says his vows, I’ll have the culprit.”
But I already know who the culprit is, and he’s standing right there, watching me like he owns me.
I don’t take my eyes off Nero. I couldn’t even if I tried, and I see a smile carving his lips at my husband’s words. His eyes are still trained on me, so he knows I saw it.
He knows that I know.
There’s something in Nero’s eyes as he looks at me. As if we are in on a secret together.
“Let me escort you to your new room, ma’am,” one of the resort attendants says, suddenly appearing at my elbow. “They’ll try to salvage what they can from the fire.”
I stare at the baby-faced man, blankly. I don’t want to go with him. Leaving means putting Sebastian in Vittoria’s hands.
Liar , a voice inside of me whispers. This has nothing to do with Sebastian.
“She looks like she’s in shock,” Nero’s deep voice cuts through the silence, pulling everyone’s attention. “I’ll take her to her room.”
Oh no.
No, no, no.
“That won’t be necessary,” I blurt out, my voice too fast, too high. “I’m fine. I’m completely fine.”
“That’s a great idea,” Sebastian chimes in, oblivious to my growing discomfort. “Thanks, my friend.”
The last thing I want is Nero near me after what happened earlier, but refusing him will only raise suspicion.
I force a smile as Nero stalks toward me, his predatory gaze locked on mine, like a tiger sizing up its prey. How is no one else seeing that dangerous look in his eyes? Or maybe it’s just in my head.
We walk down the long hallway, trailing behind one of the suited attendants. We fall far enough behind that I know this is my chance to get answers.
Why did he set the fire? I know it was him. I don’t know how I’m so sure, but I just am. The question is, why would he do it? There’s no bad blood between them that I can see.
The only reason I can think of is... me.
“Were you trying to kill him?” I whisper, my voice barely audible as I turn to look at him.
Nero exhales a puff of smoke, calm and indifferent. “Maybe.”
My jaw drops. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell? It would be the perfect way to get rid of you once and for all.”
“I didn’t realize you were trying to get rid of me, Princess,” he drawls, a smirk playing on his lips. “You must not be putting much effort into it. And for the record, he won’t believe you.”
He’s right. Sebastian wouldn’t believe me. I don’t have any evidence to support my outlandish claim. And let’s be real, my husband sees Nero as family. I’d have a better chance blaming Vittoria.
“Why did you do it?” I demand, my voice trembling with frustration.
Nero’s jaw tightens. “Why do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think,” I admit, feeling the weight of his gaze on me.
“You’re lying to yourself,” he snaps, his voice low but sharp. “You know exactly why I did it, Princess.”
“If this is about him possibly having an affair with that Vittoria woman, we can’t be sure,” I stammer, trying to make sense of it all. “He could’ve just been trying to save?—”
“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Sebastian and that woman.” His voice cuts me off, harsh and cold. “You know exactly why I did it, and it has nothing to do with if he’s sticking his dick into some Italian whore.”
I freeze at his words. He just admitted it. He did it. And while I should feel terrified—scared that he tried to kill someone he considers family—all I am is... stunned.
Completely overwhelmed by the realization that Nero did this because of me. He was furious that Sebastian had laid a hand on me, and this was his twisted way of sending a message.
I don’t know how to feel—happy? Angry? Scared? All I know is that Nero’s possessiveness is terrifyingly intense, and I can’t even bring myself to feel bad that two people almost died tonight. One of them being my husband, the man I’m supposed to love.
I tear my gaze away from his dark, unreadable eyes, unable to handle the truth staring back at me.
“It’s the room just ahead,” the attendant calls over his shoulder, smiling politely. I force a small smile in return, trying to act normal.
“And here we are,” he says with a flourish, stopping in front of a door. “You’ll lose your ocean view, but there’s a lovely garden outside your window. There’s even a birdhouse.”
A real smile breaks across my face. “That sounds wonderful.”
“You may not think so when the birds wake you at sunrise,” he jokes, handing me the keys with a wince. “We’ll, of course, reimburse you for the ocean-view suite.”
“It’s fine,” I assure him quickly, eager for him to leave.
“We insist,” he replies firmly. “We’ll sort through what’s salvageable. There’s also a boutique nearby. Goodnight, ma’am.”
I wait until he’s out of earshot before spinning on Nero. “You ruined my dress for the wedding.”
He takes another lazy drag from his cigarette. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
“I hate the smell of those things,” I snap, irritation flaring. “And I hate that you think you need to fight with Sebastian for me. I don’t need your help.”
Nero’s expression doesn’t change, but the corner of his mouth quirks up in amusement. “Good night, Princess.”
I don’t even have the energy to fight over the nickname. Something tells me this man is used to doing whatever he pleases, and arguing with him is pointless.
I stand at the door, an unexpected feeling of anticipation curling inside me. My hands grow clammy, and I smooth them down the front of my dress, wondering how things have spiraled so far, so fast.
His jaw clenches, the tension radiating off him. “Go inside, now,” he growls, voice low and commanding.
Without thinking, I scramble into the room, slamming the door shut behind me. My heart is racing, breaths coming fast and labored, like I’ve just sprinted for my life. I lean against the door, struggling to steady myself, the weight of the moment pressing in on me.
Nero Castello. A name that once meant little to me now feels like a storm hovering over my life. He remains as much of a mystery as ever, dangerous and unpredictable.
The only difference now is that I know what he tastes like.