Chapter 42
Bianca Ferrucci
Tiziano was acting strange. There was something about his behavior that didn’t make sense.
He was tense, his eyes seeming to analyze every detail around us, as if he were waiting for something that might never happen.
The thought that he was worried about something he wasn’t sharing with me made me uncomfortable.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I said, my voice lower than I would have liked.
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and, without saying anything, gestured for me to follow him.
The place was strange, a small harbor with rusty containers scattered around in disarray.
But the sea... God, the sea was beautiful.
I had always found the ocean fascinating.
I hadn’t had many opportunities to visit it in my life, but every time I saw it, it seemed to hypnotize me.
“Don’t take long,” he murmured, leaning against the wall near the bathroom.
When I stepped inside, the smell of dampness and rust hit me, but I didn’t mind. The sound of the sea broke through the silence, calming me for a moment, until I heard muffled voices outside.
“Sir, you can go. Everything’s fine.” I heard the soldier responsible for my security say.
I left the bathroom, wrapping my arms around myself against the cold breeze. Tiziano glanced at me briefly before walking away with the soldier who had called him, leaving me alone with the other one.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
The soldier, who until then had been a stranger to me and always spoke about things I never understood, looked at me with something different in his eyes.
“It’s simple,” he began in a whisper. “Your husband is waiting to be attacked. He thinks you’re betraying the family.”
“What are you talking about?” My voice trembled. Tiziano had no reason to doubt me.
He took a step forward, and I automatically stepped back, my heart beginning to race.
“Should we attack?” he asked sarcastically. “I’m sick of that husband of yours. I don’t believe you’re happy with him.”
My back hit the cold wall, and his closeness frightened me even more.
“I could take you away from him. Get you out of that house. And the sons of bitches who raised you? I think about killing them.” He gave a bitter laugh, and my body shuddered.
“Back away,” I managed to say, my voice almost failing me.
He stopped, but his expression hardened.
“Keep quiet, Bianca. I’m your brother. I’m in this shit because of you. Because I think you deserve to have a good, free life.”
The air seemed to leave my lungs. His words spun through my mind, and I couldn’t process them. My brother?
“You’re lying,” I murmured.
He shook his head with a smile.
“I’m not lying. You don’t know anything, but you should. And if you stay quiet, if you listen to me, I can make sure you get out of this alive. But for that, Bianca, you need to trust me, not him.”
Before I could respond, I heard footsteps. My heart raced when I saw Tiziano approaching, his eyes immediately shifting from me to the soldier. He frowned, clearly bothered.
“Bianca?” he called, his tone calm but edged with suspicion.
I straightened immediately.
“Everything all right?” he asked, looking directly at me.
“Yes,” I lied.
Tiziano narrowed his eyes, that suspicious gaze making me feel as though he could see more than I wanted to reveal.
He looked at me as if something were wrong, but I couldn’t confirm his suspicions.
I didn’t even understand what had just happened.
The knot in my mind was as large as the one in my stomach.
“You’re freezing,” Tiziano said with concern as he draped his overcoat over my shoulders. His warm hands closed around mine, rubbing them to bring back the warmth.
It wasn’t just the cold. My blood seemed unable to regain its former warmth. I turned my head to look at Alessandro over my shoulder. My brother? All of this felt like a delusion, a madness that promised to bring a sea of destruction with waves higher than I could withstand.
Tiziano opened the car door for me, his gaze alert to our surroundings.
“Where are we going now?” I asked as I settled into the seat.
“We’re spending the night at a house near the ocean not far from here,” he replied, closing the door.
“I hope everything went the way you planned.”
He let out a long sigh and glanced at me.
“It didn’t go as planned, but it went the way I expected.”
“I hope you were expecting something good and that it happened,” I replied.
Before starting the car, Tiziano turned fully toward me and cradled my face between his hands. His touch was careful. He brought his face close to mine, his warm breath mingling with mine.
“This life is fucked up, Bianca. Loyalty is more important than love,” he whispered, every word carrying pain, an emotion he rarely allowed himself to show.
I swallowed hard, his words hitting me like a punch.
“Love leads to loyalty,” I whispered.
He closed his eyes for a moment, as though my words hurt him more than any weapon ever could.
“Sometimes, there’s neither. And that’s even more fucked up,” he murmured bitterly before taking his hands away from my face and turning to start the car.
The drive was silent except for the sound of the engine and the rapid pounding of my heart. When we arrived, the house looked like a refuge hidden from the world. The sound of the sea was constant, a melancholic backdrop that seemed to match Tiziano’s mood.
He got out first, opened my door, and held out his hand. I took it, feeling the warmth of his fingers wrapped around mine as he guided me inside.
The house was small compared to the properties he owned, with wide windows that allowed the moonlight to reflect against the white walls. Tiziano turned on a soft light that barely illuminated the space and let out a heavy sigh as he removed his coat.
“You’re freezing again,” he murmured, running his hands along my arms before pulling me close. “Let’s warm up.” I knew he wasn’t talking only about the cold.