Chapter 2
MATTEO
Istood outside her bedroom door, not moving a muscle. I’d taken the camera from her room once Alessandro had asked me to. He said he wanted privacy with her.
I granted it without a second thought. Having him and Tomasso back in my life was a godsend, and if he didn’t want the damn camera in the room, it wouldn’t be there.
Even though Klaus told me I was crazy for removing it. Even Alessio had shaken his head.
I breathed out and opened her door before I stepped into the room to find her sitting by her window and staring out at the gardens below.
“I brought you dinner,” I said, placing the food on the table in her room.
She looked over at me, her bright blue eyes locking on mine. My breath hitched, and I stared back at her, not wanting to show weakness because fuck, the girl made me weak in my knees.
She was beautiful, and Dominic had chosen well. It was more than that, though. She was strong and intelligent. And… she had a fire I admired.
She said nothing and returned to staring at the gardens.
I walked over to her and followed her gaze to all the flowers in bloom.
“They are beautiful,” I commented. “Which is your favorite?”
“That one.” She pointed to the fading flowers. They hung limply, their colors gone, decay taking over.
“Why those?”
“They’re already dead and don’t have to deal with the unknown,” she murmured, rubbing her swollen belly.
Two babies. Twins. Inside her were my family. My… brother’s children. I’d raised him as my son. I’d…. hated him.
I swallowed hard, not wanting to think about it.
Sylar kept slowly putting shit in my head that made me uncertain about everything I thought I knew.
He liked to plant seeds and didn’t always come out and say what he meant.
He liked to let me stew on them, seeing if maybe I had the same family abilities he had.
I didn’t. Not really.
At least not to his extent. I was good at reading people, but that was it. Sometimes I knew things. I had no explanation for it; I just knew people better than they knew themselves. It gave me an edge in our world and probably kept us alive all these years.
“Why do you want to die?” I asked as I stared down at her. She wore a long dress I’d left for her. I’d stocked the closet with all sorts of things for her, but she seemed to really like the long dresses lately.
“I… I want to live,” she said softly. “But I don’t think I will.”
“Have I killed you yet?”
She looked up at me. “Have I killed you?”
I smiled at that. “Not yet.”
“Exactly. Not yet.” She turned back to the window, but I reached out and slid my fingers beneath her delicate jaw. When she’d arrived here months ago, she’d practically ripped my face off.
Now, she seemed to have accepted her fate. I figured Alessandro helped with that. He had a way of relaxing her, it seemed.
I didn’t like that because it meant they were getting close. He’d volunteered to marry her because Rosalie turned him down, but now that the horsemen were in disarray, it seemed like he should be acting on getting his woman.
Yet, he remained faithful to his task.
I admired him. His mother raised our son right. Even Tomasso had a way about him that made me smile. He was more carefree than Alessandro was, but both boys filled my heart with a joy and happiness I thought I’d never feel again.
“Would you like to see the gardens? Perhaps a walk?” I asked.
She hesitated for a moment before looking up at me. “Really?”
I held out my hand, knowing Sylar said I had to do these things. I wasn’t usually a man who was into predictions and fortune-telling, but I knew my family, myself, and I knew Sylar.
I trusted him.
He hadn’t steered me wrong yet.
She stared at my hand for a moment before sliding her palm against mine. I pulled her gently to her feet before she tugged her hand away.
That was OK.
“Come,” I said, nodding for her to follow me.
She slipped her feet into some ballet flats and followed me down the stairs and to the gardens.
My men watched me go.
I employed over a hundred men just on my grounds, so it was unlikely one could move on my estate without someone knowing what they were up to.
We left through the back French doors and walked in silence to the gardens.
She went straight to the dead flowers and reached for them. I watched her trail her fingers gently against the brown petals, her lips parted.
“Cosmos,” I said.
She looked at me with her pretty, wide, blue eyes.
“That is the name of these flowers. My wife liked them.”
“Dominic’s mom?” She withdrew her hand and focused her attention on me.
I nodded. “Yes. Anna did enjoy the garden. Many of these were planted here because of her. She spent many hours out here.”
Bianca sucked her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment.
“Ask,” I said, knowing she had a question.
“Dominic never spoke about her. Was she…?”
“Bad?” I raised my brows at her.
She nodded.
“No.” I shook my head. “She was a victim, I suppose, but then again, I think we all are. Would you agree?”
“I would,” she said fiercely. “And that’s not fair.”
“It isn’t.” I looked her in the eye when I said it. “But if you have a little trust in the things around you, even the seemingly bad things, then you’ll understand there is a purpose. And maybe that purpose is for good.”
She said nothing as she looked at me. Finally, she turned and stared around the massive flower garden.
“Matteo?” she asked, her voice soft.
“Yes?”
“Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”
“Would you believe it?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But I miss Dominic and the guys.”
“You have Drake,” I pointed out.
She shook her head. “I can’t trust him. I don’t have him. I don’t want him.”
I watched as her small body shook. Carefully, I stepped to her side and stared down at her. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
“Look at me, Bianca,” I said.
She looked up at me, her bottom lip wobbling.
I reached out and cradled her face.
“You don’t have to like me, but I do ask that you trust me. Can you do that?”
“You play dangerous games,” she whispered, her tears dripping onto my hands.
“The prize is worth it,” I murmured. “I will not kill you unless you force my hand.”
“What about Dominic?”
“He will live for now. I do this for you. For… him in some ways.”
“Then tell him—”
“It is as it must be.”
“I-I miss him. I need him. Please—”
I went in and pressed my lips to her forehead, silencing her.
“Trust me, sweet princess, and I will make you a queen. Give me time. Can you do that?”
She was quiet for a moment before her soft voice sounded out.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes and kissed her forehead again.
Her trust was all I needed.
That and her willingness to kill me when the time came.