Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Gualtiero
Ella’s body molds into mine as I hold her in my arms. She’s asleep, but her eyes move rapidly beneath her lids, her pulse fluttering wildly under my fingertips.
I tighten my hold around her, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other moving slowly up and down her spine. Steady. Reassuring. I want her to feel that I’m here, anchoring her, keeping everything else at bay.
“Shh… I’ve got you,” I murmur under my breath, even though she can’t hear me.
I wish I could take away every trace of what she’s been through. Erase it from her memory, from her body, from the fear still lingering beneath her skin.
She’s seen things she never should have.
My chest tightens as I press a kiss to her hair.
But despite everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, holding her like this feels… right.
Taking care of her, being here for her.
I bury my nose in her hair, breathing her in, comforted that she’s here with me.
My thoughts drift back to last night.
The moment she walked away to the bathroom, something shifted. Immediately there was a prickle at the back of my neck, a sense that something was off.
A few minutes later, it hit me harder. My instinct screamed something was wrong.
I couldn’t explain it, but I didn’t need to. That connection I have with Ella… it doesn’t lie.
Santino was already moving when I gave the order, alerting the men stationed throughout the club. We didn’t hesitate. The doors to the bathroom wing were bolted from the inside, but it didn’t matter. Nothing would have kept me out.
But when I saw Molinaro’s man shove my angel into that SUV, I froze just for a heartbeat. It was the first time since Enzo’s death.
Santino took over, snapping me back into focus. After that, it didn’t take us long to recover her.
And that’s all that matters.
Sometimes it unsettles me how deeply I’m tied to her. Even when we’re apart, I intrinsically know when she’s calm and when she’s distressed.
The day Emiliano brought her to my house, I felt it just as strongly. Her fear. Her confusion.
And for the first time in years, guilt cut through me. All I wanted was to rush to her and explain everything. Tell her that I love her. That there is no version of my life that exists without her in it.
But business kept me away longer than it should have, frustration clawing at me the entire time.
When I finally returned, she had already pulled back. The walls I had so painstakingly broken down the week before were back in place.
Since then, she’s tested my patience in ways no one ever has. I’m used to being obeyed, followed without question.
Her defiance… it complicates everything.
And yet, I respect it.
Her refusal to simply accept her fate, to bend without question… it’s dangerous. But it’s also part of what draws me to her.
It won’t change the outcome, though.
She will give in. Surrender. And when she does, it will mean something.
I’ve broken through her defenses once. I’ll do it again. This time it will be easier. The foundation is already there.
Our connection is undeniable. She feels it. I’ve seen it in her eyes, felt it in the way she responds to me.
She just needs time to come to terms with her new life.
Keeping her is all that matters.
I will make this work. There is no other option.
Ella stirs in my arms. Her eyes flutter open, her breath catching.
“Hey, princess,” I murmur, brushing my finger over her cheek.
Startled, yet distant, her eyes lock on mine. She looks so sad it twists something deep in my chest.
“What would make you feel better, angel?” I ask softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“You know the answer to that question,” she whispers, turning her face away.
I wish she’d stop asking me to let her go. It’s never going to happen.
“Other than that,” I say softly.
“I want to talk to Rhia… please.” Her voice is so quiet that I have to strain to hear it. “I miss her.”
Tears spill down her cheeks, and I swallow hard, pulling her closer.
I want to give her everything. Yet she keeps asking for the few things I can’t allow.
It’s no surprise she wants her friend. Rhia has been her anchor for years. I want to be that for her now. And I will be.
“She has to wonder why I haven’t talked to her. We always talk,” she whispers, her expression raw, pleading.
I know. Uberto updated me on just how close those two are when he went through Ella’s phone history and mapped out her patterns. The longest they’ve gone without speaking was five days, and that was because they were together.
It’s been ten now.
Rhia, though, believes they’ve been in touch.
Uberto recreated Ella’s voice, built a program around it, and assigned someone to study her tone, her phrasing, the way she writes. Every message, every call is handled and timed so Rhia never picks up, making it look like they’re missing each other.
So far, she suspects nothing.
I considered bringing Rhia here, just to see Ella smile again. The idea didn’t last long. It would create more problems than it solves.
Rhianna Bannaghan is too embedded in her life in Dublin to disappear without consequences. So instead, I’ve made sure she stays occupied.
Her new contract with Anthony Mahome’s boutique hotels will keep her busy for as long as I need it to. He owes me. In this case, it works in everyone’s favor. By all accounts, Miss Bannaghan is brilliant at what she does.
Still, her boyfriend could complicate things. Alexander Dougal is curious by nature. The kind of man who starts digging when something doesn’t add up. If Rhia ever questioned anything, he’d be the one to look closer.
Ella lifts her eyes to mine. I haven’t answered her.
Hope flickers there, fragile and bright, and it nearly undoes me.
“I’m sorry, princess,” I say quietly. “Rhia thinks we’re in Africa for the rest of the week. No reception.”
Her face crumples, and fresh tears spill over. I pull her into me, holding her tight, unable to meet her eyes.
“But it’s a lie.” She hiccups. “I need my best friend.”
“I know, angel.” I press my lips to her hair. “I know it’s not the same, but I’m here. I’ve got you.”
She cries harder, her body shaking against mine.
I hate this.
“If you called her like this, she’d be worried out of her mind,” I continue, keeping my voice calm. “She’d be on the next plane. And once she’s here, she’s involved. Her boyfriend, her family… they’d all be at risk. You don’t want that.”
I’m an ass for using that against her. But I know her. She’d never put them in danger.
As expected, she shakes her head, even as the tears keep falling.
Guilt settles heavy in my gut. I’m the one doing this to her. But there is no other way.
“We’ll get through this,” I say, more to myself than to her.
I take her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing gently over her cheeks, wiping away her tears.
Her eyes search mine, emotions flickering in their depths. Sadness, resignation… and something else. Longing.
“Then let’s run away together, Tiero. Just you and me,” she says out of the blue.
“Somewhere far away, where nobody can find us. Away from all this violence and danger. We could build a life together. Have a family who lives in peace.” Her voice softens. “Or we could stay on your island. Away from all of this.”
Just her and me.
It’s tempting.
I rest my forehead against hers, breathing her in.
For a moment, I let myself imagine it.
No expectations. No obligations. Just her.
Could I give her that? Could I walk away from everything I’ve ever known?
Am I not asking her to do the same?
It would only be fair.
The thought lingers for a fraction too long before reality snaps back into place.
No, la famiglia needs me.
I have a legacy to protect, a position that cannot be abandoned.
As tempting as the life she offers sounds, it’s not truly an option.
We would never be safe.
“You know that’s not how it works,” I say quietly.
She searches my face, waiting.
“You don’t walk away from this life, Ella.” My thumb brushes over her cheek. “It’s impossible.”
Her expression tightens. “Why?”
I hold her gaze.
“I was born into this life, and I’ll die in it.”
Her brows furrow. “That’s not an answer.”
“It is.” My voice remains calm. “The power I hold doesn’t disappear just because I might decide I’m done with it. It shifts. And when it does, people fight for it.”
She frowns but doesn’t interrupt.
“If I walked away, it would create a vacuum. And that vacuum would be filled with violence. There’d be wars over what my family has built.”
“At least you’d be out of it,” she says.
I shake my head.
“No. Men like me don’t get to disappear. As long as I’m alive, I’m a target. Someone would always be looking for me to make a name for themselves by taking me out. Or use me to get to the people I care about.”
Her lips part slightly.
“There would be no peace for us away from la famiglia,” I add, my voice quieter now.
Silence settles between us.
“I don’t want to live like that,” she says finally. “I hate the constant danger, the constant fear… waiting for something to happen.”
“You think I do?” I counter.
“Then why stay in it?” she asks quietly. “I don’t believe death is the only way out.”
I don’t answer immediately.
Her eyes search mine, too perceptive for my liking.
“Why do you keep doing it, then?” she presses softly.
Because I have to. There is no other option. I’ve never allowed myself to consider anything else.
“I’ve already told you,” I say at last. “Besides, this is all I know.”
“That’s not a good reason,” she replies.
“My family built this over generations. I won’t be the one who lets it fall apart.”
“So you’re living their life,” she says quietly. “Fulfilling the ambitions of people who are long gone… people who will never know what you’ve done.”
My jaw tightens. “I’m protecting what they built.”
“At what cost?”
I exhale slowly. “People depend on my family. We maintain order. Stability. If I step away, everything becomes volatile.”
“And that’s on you?”
“Yes.”
She shakes her head, looking away.
“But is being the Don what you want?”
The question catches me off guard.
I don’t answer.
“It’s not about what I want,” I say finally.
“Then what is it about?”
“Responsibility.”
It’s been trained into me from infancy.
She studies me, something shifting in her expression.
“So you’re sacrificing your life for your ancestors.”
“I’m doing what needs to be done.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
The words hang between us.
I hold her gaze and say nothing.
Because I won’t give her the answer she’s looking for.