Chapter Thirty-Two Ella
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ella
What do I think?
I’m not sure anymore.
Tiero’s confession has thrown me for a loop. He’s both admitting and denying getting me pregnant on purpose.
After being such an asshole in the early days of my abduction, he tried to redeem himself when I stood my ground.
And after Molinaro’s kidnapping attempt in Rome?
He was wonderful. So attentive. So sweet.
Would he have jeopardized our newfound closeness?
He’d be stupid to. But then again, he might have counted on not being found out. Or on being forgiven the moment I held our child in my arms.
My mind spins with the possibilities.
Every one of them seems logical and entirely possible, no matter how opposing they are.
“I heard you brag to Mateo the next morning,” I say, not willing to simply believe him or drop the subject. I need answers.
That night changed the rest of my life. I can’t dismiss it with ‘we got carried away’.
“What did you hear?” Tiero asks, his brows drawing together as he tries to recall the conversation with his brother. “You don’t speak Italian. You might have misunderstood.”
“Yeah, I don’t speak Italian,” I say, “but you mentioned a bambino, and your tone was so boastful. Mateo hugged you like he was congratulating you.”
Tiero rubs the back of his neck, his expression thoughtful.
“I admit I was excited about the possibility of you being pregnant when I realized that morning what had happened.”
He scoots closer on the bed, attempting again to take my hand. This time, I let him.
“The thought of seeing you grow round with my child thrilled me. It still does,” he says quietly. “I don’t regret that, Ella. But I do regret that it upset you. That you felt blindsided.”
I eye him warily. It’s easy to say this now, when things went his way and he got what he wanted.
But did he?
After all, I ran. There was no guarantee he’d find me. Even with all his resources, my escape might have succeeded. It was a slim chance, perhaps. But still a chance.
I study his face for long seconds.
He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t look away.
All I see is sincerity.
“Is that why you ran?” Tiero eventually asks, his thumb gently stroking over my skin.
The small contact sends shivers down my spine, and I become acutely aware of him. Every sense sharpens. The faint scent of his cologne. The heat radiating from his body. The way his touch is both careful and devastating.
His thumb continues its slow, mesmerizing motion. It’s tender, reverent, even, and I feel myself slipping. Losing focus. Losing ground.
I pull my hand away, forcing space between us. We have things to discuss, and I can’t think when he touches me.
Still, the echo of him on my skin lingers.
“Ella?” he prompts softly.
What were we talking about?
My thoughts are scrambled, my brain useless. That, at least, is familiar when it comes to Gualtiero De Marco.
“What was the question?” I ask, suddenly self-conscious.
A knowing smirk curves his lips.
“Did you run because you were upset with me? Because you believed I forgot the condom on purpose?”
Ah. That.
How could that possibly slip my mind? It’s what shattered everything. What sent me fleeing halfway across the world.
“I wasn’t just upset,” I say. “I was furious. After overhearing you and Mateo, I needed to let off steam. So I went for a run. But I wasn’t plotting an escape. Just imagining ways to castrate you and cause maximum physical pain.”
That makes him chuckle.
“When I saw the gate was unmanned, it didn’t register at first,” I continue. “I ran past it before it clicked.”
My voice steadies as the truth spills out.
“I didn’t think about consequences… or plans. I just needed distance from you and your overbearing attitude of deciding what happens in my life. I wasn’t okay with that, Gualtiero. And I never will be. So I ran.”
The memory of Monza crashes back into me, and my muscles tense. It was such a close call at the train station.
“When I watched you from the train,” I admit, “seeing how devastated you were, it broke my heart. I cried the entire way. But everything was already in motion. Literally. There was no going back.”
“Who helped you?” he asks.
“If you were still in the dark about that, you wouldn’t be here,” I reply carefully. I won’t reveal the extent of my resources when I don’t know for sure how much he truly knows. “How did you find me?”
“Rhia.”
I can’t say his one-word answer comes as a surprise. No wonder I had such an uneasy feeling about her trip here.
“Did you follow her?” I ask. “She said she took ample precautions.”
“We didn’t need visuals,” he says. “One of my men slipped a tracker into her bag at Dublin airport. When her plans changed, the signal led us here.”
“And straight to me,” I finish.
“It did.”
Crap.
After everything Rhia did to fly under Tiero’s radar, it was something so simple as a tracker.
She’ll be livid when I tell her.
Oh God.
“Rhia. Claudette. Lex.”
I’ve totally forgotten about them since Tiero demanded that I open my eyes. The realization hits hard.
“Where are they?” I jump up from the bed.
Tiero rises too, his voice low. “You need to rest. You fainted.”
That tone. Commanding. Familiar.
That’s more like the Gualtiero of old. As is ignoring my question.
I sidestep him.
I won’t let him dominate this situation any more than he already has. But maybe if he shows me more of his Don side, it would make it easier to stay strong against the chemistry still burning between us.
“Answer me,” I demand. “Where are they?”
“Your friends are fine. They’re in the other cabin.”
“I want to see them.”
“They’re unharmed,” he assures me.
“I want to see them,” I repeat. Then, softer, “Please.”
He sighs and reaches out his hand for me. I ignore it and walk to the exit. We throw on our coats, and I slip into my boots as Tiero opens the door.
The cold bites immediately. I pity the guards who have to stand watch. They’re huddled around a small fire outside and straighten when they see us.
My unease grows with every step toward the other cabin. The frost-slick path forces me to walk carefully, but my thoughts still race.
I didn’t hear a peep from Lex or Claudette after I pretended to faint. That wasn’t like them. They would have been loud, pushing their way to my side, just like Rhia did. That silence doesn’t bode well for what I’m about to find.
When we enter, my heart stutters.
Rhia and Lex lie motionless on the sofas by the fire. Claudette is on the bed.
I rush to Rhia, ignoring the four soldiers watching over the people who mean so much to me. At least they started a fire in here, to keep them warm. From the corner of my eye, I see Tiero motioning them to the door, a silent command to leave us alone.
Rattled by finding my friends unconscious, I check their pulses.
Steady. Thank God.
Relief gives way to fury. Angrily, I turn to Tiero and pin him with an icy glare that could rival the glaciers in this national park.
“You drugged them?” I hiss. “What is wrong with you?”
“You know they wouldn’t have stayed quiet.”
Of course they wouldn’t.
“They’d want to protect me,” I retort. “Staying quiet goes against their natures.”
Especially Lex. He’s trained to protect people. If captured and conscious, he’d already be working on an escape plan.
“That still doesn’t give you the right to knock them out.”
I’m shaking with anger.
“I can’t believe you did this. God, I’m so pissed at you.”
Tiero’s eyes narrow at my outburst, but wisely, he says nothing.
I draw in a deep breath, forcing myself to steady.
“How long will they be out for?” I ask, my gaze jumping between the people I’d do anything for.
“Until morning.”
Worry for their well-being grips me, my stomach churning.
“What if they suffer from side effects?”
“Dr. Agosti is monitoring them. They’re fine,” Tiero says, trying to placate me.
Easy for him to say. How many times has he been drugged? It’s a horrible feeling, waking up like that.
I kneel, draping blankets over them, guilt clawing at my chest.
“Let’s head back to our cabin,” Tiero suggests.
Our cabin?
How quickly he takes over everything. Last I checked, it was occupied by us girls.
“Your friends will be out all night. It gives us a chance to talk without interruption.”
That much is true. Though I don’t know that there are any solutions to our issues. Tiero is still who he is. And so am I.
I don’t want to leave my friends, but there isn’t anything more I can do for them right now.
Reluctantly, I let Tiero lead me outside, his hand resting on my lower back as we walk back to the lakeside cabin in silence.
As we step into the room, Tiero takes my jacket and his, hanging them on the hooks by the door with careful precision. The silence that follows stretches heavy between us.
I move to the fireplace and stare into the flames. Their flickering light casts restless shadows along the walls, echoing the turmoil churning inside me as the conversation we’ve been circling finally looms.
I can’t see a path that would leave us both content. Our worlds are too far apart, our values pulled in opposite directions. In the quiet, the distance between us only widens.
I stiffen when Tiero comes up behind me, his hands settling on my shoulders.
It’s meant to be soothing, but it only sharpens the tension already coiled inside me. I instinctively cradle my stomach, wishing our baby could be spared the weight of this moment.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly. “You’ve been under a lot of stress—”
“That you put me in,” I cut in.
He exhales, the sound low and weary, but he doesn’t argue. He knows it’s true.
“I want to make things right,” he says. “I love you. A life without you is unimaginable. I want you by my side. Always and forever.”
His breath stutters slightly at the end, betraying the depth of his feeling.
The words should make me melt. It’s what every woman wants to hear from the man she’s given her heart to.
Instead, they cut deep, because they carry so much hope. So much faith in us.
Raw pain rushes through me. Not because he’s wrong to want this, but because I know I can’t give him what he’s asking for.
I turn, pressing my forehead to his, holding him for one brief, selfish moment.
“I love you,” I whisper, closing my eyes. “With everything that I am. That hasn’t changed.”
Emotion surges, burning its way up my throat. I know what I’m about to say will shatter us all over again, but I need him to understand.
My body rebels against the truth lodged in my chest, my resolve wavering under its weight.
Tears pool behind my closed eyelids, threatening to spill, but I force them back.
I need to keep it together. For me, for him… and for Peanut.
With my heart heavier than it has ever been, I open my eyes and meet his gaze.
There is so much warmth there. So much love. The thought of losing it almost breaks me, but I press on.
“But I’ve had plenty of time to think about it, and I just can’t see how we can make this work.”
I pull away and sit on the bed, hanging my head.
“None of our obstacles have moved. Everything is exactly as it was.”
I straighten my spine for the next words.
“I refuse to live in your world with a target on my back for the rest of my life. And I won’t raise a child in the Mafia.”
My hands settle over my stomach, instinctive and protective.
“I’m not raising the next Don. And if we have a daughter, I won’t let her grow up believing she matters less simply because she’s a woman.”
My voice trembles, but I keep going.
“You said it yourself. Women mean nothing in your world. And I want everything for her. Freedom. Choice. Safety.”
I lift my gaze to him. The tears I’ve been holding back finally spill over, tracing hot paths down my cheeks as my chest tightens.
“As much as it’s going to hurt both of us,” I whisper, “you need to let me go.”