Chapter 34
The doctor worked in silence, his gloved hands steady as he inspected the wound on Alessa's lips.
The stitches had torn open, the dried blood around them cracking as he gently wiped the area clean.
She didn't flinch, didn't make a sound but I could see the way her fingers gripped the edge of the blanket draped over her lap.
She was pale. Too pale. Her dress, the white one she had been forced into was gone replaced by one of Sara's long-sleeved nightgowns.
The redness in her eyes. The faint tremor in her fingers. The ghost of Nico's fucking grip on her wrist. A muscle ticked in my jaw as I sat watching her, my hands curled into fists against my thighs.
She hadn't spoken, hadn't cried, hadn't raged since I brought her here. That scared me more than anything.
I had brought her here, to the estate.
The penthouse was no place for her right now. Not after the way I had torn through it, wrecking everything in my path the second I found out she was gone. It was unlivable and the thought of her being anywhere near that mess, seeing the evidence of my rage made my chest ache.
"Hold still," the doctor murmured, threading the needle through her torn skin.
She barely reacted. Just kept staring at the blanket, her breathing steady but shallow.
I forced myself to sit still, watching as he finished his work, snipping the thread and securing the stitches with a final press of gauze.
"She needs rest," the doctor said, packing up his kit. "No strain on the wound. Keep it clean."
I nodded, barely hearing him. The moment he left the room, I pulled the chair closer and sat down in front of her.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
I reached forward, taking her face in my hands, tilting her chin up so she had no choice but to look at me. Her eyes were glassy, unfocused but there was something else there too...guilt.
She swallowed. "I should have told you."
My thumb traced the faint bruise along her jaw.
"The texts... Nico... I should have told you," she whispered, her voice cracking at the edges. "I didn't mean to keep it from you. I was just-"
"Why?" My voice came out rougher than I intended but I didn't let go of her.
Her breath hitched. "Because you didn't trust me. You thought I-" She broke off, looking away. "You thought I was cheating on you. I was angry and scared of how you would react.... I wanted you to see that you were wrong."
My jaw clenched.
I had been wrong. I had called her a whore. Had let my anger, my fucking jealousy, turn me into something worse than the men I swore I wasn't like.
Alessa exhaled shakily. "If I had told you... maybe none of this would have happened."
My fingers slid down, curling around the side of her neck. I felt her pulse beneath my touch, still too fast, too unsteady. "None of this is your fault."
She let out a bitter laugh but there was no humor in it. "Isn't it?"
I shook my head, my gaze burning into hers. "No."
For a moment, she just looked at me with tired eyes, like she wasn't fully here.
I exhaled and ran my thumb along her jaw, softer this time. "You need to rest."
"I can't." Her voice was quiet, but there was something raw in it. "Every time I close my eyes..." She swallowed hard, shaking her head. "I don't want to think about it. I just want to forget."
I cupped her face again, my fingers sliding into her hair as I forced her to look at me. "You are safe now, Alessa." My voice was steady. "No one is ever going to touch you again. I swear it."
Her lips parted slightly, her breath shaky. For a moment, she just stared at me like she was trying to believe it, trying to let the words sink into the cracks of everything that had shattered inside her tonight.
Then, slowly, she nodded. But she didn't speak.
I let out a slow breath before shifting, moving onto the bed beside her. She stiffened for half a second but I just tucked her against me, careful, gentle like she was something fragile. And maybe she was right now.
Her body was tense but when I pressed a careful kiss to the corner of her mouth, the side untouched by stitches, I felt her exhale against my skin.
"Just sleep," I murmured against her temple, my arms tightening around her. "I'm here."
She didn't reply but after a long moment, her fingers curled into my shirt. Not pulling me closer. Just holding on. Like she needed something to anchor her.
I cradled her closer, feeling the way her breathing slowly evened out against my chest. But even after she finally drifted off, I stayed awake.
A few hours later, the first rays of morning light filtered through the curtains, casting a dull glow over the room.
Carefully, I checked the time-8:00 AM.
I hadn't slept.
Alessa was still curled against me, her breathing even, her fingers still loosely gripping my shirt like she was afraid to let go. I eased out of bed carefully not wanting to wake her and tucked the blanket around her.
My gaze lingered on her for a moment longer before I forced myself to turn away. Even in sleep, she looked troubled, her brows slightly furrowed, her lips parted like she was on the edge of waking.
I didn't want to leave her. Not yet.
But there were things that needed to be handled.
???????
Nico was dead now.
It should have ended there. But it didn't.
His father, Piero Romano had collapsed the moment he heard the news. A heart attack, they said. Dead before he hit the ground. The Romano line was finished.
No heirs. No successors.
Except for Valentina.
She was young, maybe early twenties, I thought.
Beautiful, if I remembered correctly. But none of that mattered now.
With her father and brother both gone, the Romano family was finished.
Their businesses, their properties, all of it were seized.
Nico had been a traitor and traitors families were not spared. That was the rule.
And Valentina? She had nothing.
So the panel meeting would decide her fate today.
By the time I stepped into the building, the air was already thick with tension. It was place where decisions like these were made. Where lives were determined by men sitting behind a long, polished table. My father, Cancio and a few others were already there.
Gavino was there too leaning back in his chair, his gaze locked at the far end of the room, on her.
Valentina Romano.
She sat stiff-backed, her eyes scanning the room. Not a hint of fear in her posture. If anything, she looked like she was ready to lunge at the first person who spoke.
I sat beside Gavino, he must have felt my eyes on him. His eyes didn't shift from Valentina but I saw the flicker of awareness in his posture, the way his fingers tapped against the armrest. Then, just as quickly he leaned back, casual and unfazed.
"How is Alessa?" he asked, his voice low that only I could hear.
I didn't answer right away. My jaw clenched at the memory of her curled against me just hours ago, gripping my shirt like she was afraid I had disappear. Like she wasn't sure if I would stay.
"She is resting." It was all I said.
Gavino gave a slow nod, but his attention was already back on the other end of the room.
The discussion started immediately.
"The Romano name is finished" one of the men said. "Their assets will be divided accordingly among the families. The girl will have nothing to claim."
Valentina's jaw clenched but she didn't say a word.
"And what happens to her?" another asked.
One of the older men, part of the advisory council, leaned forward. "She is too much of a liability to leave alone. No money, no power, but still... she is a Romano."
"She should be married off," another suggested. "A soldier, perhaps. Someone loyal who can keep her in line."
"Marry me off?" She looked at the one who spoke, eyes glinting with challenge. "Like a piece of cattle?"
My father expression remained neutral. "It's not an insult. It's survival."
"No." Her voice was steady, firm. "I'm not some bargaining chip to be handed off like scraps. My father-"
"Your father is dead." Cancio's voice was as cold as ice. "Your brother was a traitor. If it were up to some of us, you'd be buried beside them."
She didn't flinch. If anything, her chin lifted higher, defiant.
Then Gavino spoke.
"I will take her."
Silence.
I snapped my head to him. He was still relaxed, still leaning back like this entire conversation bored him. But his eyes, those sharp, calculating eyes were on her.
The room shifted.
"Marry her?" Cancio asked, his brow arching.
Gavino scoffed. "No." He turned his gaze back to Valentina, who was staring at him now, wary and guarded. "She is the sister of a traitor. A potential rapist." His lip curled slightly. "She needs to prove her worth before I marry her."
Valentina held his gaze. Didn't look away.
Gavino exhaled a quiet breath, shaking his head like he was trying to hold back a smirk.
The panel exchanged glances, the weight of the decision hanging in the air.
"For a girl with nothing, this is an opportunity" one of them said, his voice even. "She should be grateful someone is even considering giving her a place to live."
Valentina's jaw clenched. "I don't need-"
"You have no choice," my father cut in, finality in his tone. "Gavino has put forth a solution. It's more than you were going to get."
One of the older men sighed, fingers tapping against the polished wood of the table. "Three months."
His voice carried the finality of a judge delivering a sentence. "That's all we will give you, Gavino. Three months to decide what to do with her. After that, if you haven't claimed her, we will make the decision for her."
Valentina's lips parted like she wanted to argue but the room was already shifting, Chairs scraping against the floor, men rising to leave. No one was asking for her opinion.
"I don't need three months," Valentina snapped. "I'm not going anywhere with him."
But the meeting was already over.
One by one, the men filtered out, voices dropping to murmurs as they discussed business, alliances, the next steps. It didn't matter to them that Valentina was still there, stiff-backed and furious, her fate sealed without her consent.
Gavino just smirked, watching her like she was an interesting puzzle.
I stayed back, waiting until the last of them disappeared before turning to him.
"What the fuck was that?" I asked him.
Gavino stretched lazily like the whole thing had been nothing more than a casual business deal. "What does it look like?"
I exhaled sharply, narrowing my eyes. "You don't need a wife."
"Who said anything about a wife?" His lips curved slightly.
I scoffed, looking back at her. "She looks like she wants to claw your fucking eyes out."
His smirk widened. "I will have fun taming her."
Gavino pushed his chair back and stood, eyes locked on Valentina.
I shook my head, exhaling sharply before walking away, leaving them both alone.