Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Aric
Domenico’s body slumps forward, the chair scraping softly against stone. The sound carries farther than it should, but the room absorbs it.
I don’t look at the body again. I look at Nikos. He’s watching me closely, dark eyes calculating. He knows why I did it. He also knows I didn’t have to.
Domenico was Serena’s cousin. Chiara’s brother. Blood, even diluted, still counts for something in this world. Especially to Serena.
She stands motionless beside Nikos, spine straight, hands folded, face carefully neutral.
She would’ve accepted the execution. She understands the rules better than most. She’s in the middle of initiation, being carved into something harder, colder like all of us once were.
She knows betrayal ends one way. But knowing doesn’t mean it wouldn’t leave a mark.
I won’t give Domenico that power. And I won’t make Serena pay for his choices.
Nikos’s gaze flicks briefly toward Ayanna. Then back to me.
“He targeted my wife.” My voice is level. “That made him mine.”
Nikos merely inclines his head, the motion barely perceptible, but in this room, that gesture carries the same authority as a verdict.
Ayanna stands beside me, still too quiet. Too still. But then I see her chest rise in a controlled breath as she steadies herself.
“You should come with us.” Serena breaks the silence, voice composed and gentle like her cousin’s blood isn’t still warm on the floor. “At least for dinner. You’re already here.” Her focus shifts between Ayanna and me. “You can stay the night.”
I don’t answer immediately, pretending I consider the offer. Though I don’t.
Ayanna has already endured enough for one day. Staying here, under the same roof as Serena, as Chiara’s memory, feels unnecessary at best.
“That won’t be required,” I reply. “We’ll return tonight.”
Nikos’s gaze settles on Ayanna for the first time since the gunshot. “We insist.” His attention returns to me. “I believe we have business to discuss, Vold.”
My jaw tightens. I know exactly what this place will stir. Serena’s resentment. Chiara’s memory. Everything Ayanna has been forced to inherit without ever asking for it.
When I finally turn to Ayanna, I find her already watching me. Her chin lifts a fraction before she gives a single nod. That settles it.
“Very well.”
The convoy pulls away from Olympus. We fall into formation behind Niko’s car. Ayanna is next to me. Her gaze is fixed on the tinted window, on the blur of Italy slipping past—olive trees, pale stone, the illusion of warmth after what just happened inside those walls.
I study her reflection in the glass instead. She looks…different. Stripped of the sharp edges she uses like armor. No sarcasm. No challenge waiting behind her eyes. Instead, she’s quiet. Her brows knit together, as though the image had already carved itself into her memory.
“Are you fine with staying here?” The question serves no strategic purpose, yet I ask it anyway.
She turns her head slowly.
“It’s fine,” she says, eyes flicking between mine. “This is the life I married into.”
Not you.
The life.
I don’t answer. There’s nothing to correct there.
She turns back to the window, watching the world pass as if memorizing it, as if grounding herself in motion.
Minutes pass. Maybe more. Then her voice cuts through the quiet, softer than before.
“Why did you do it?”
I don’t ask her to clarify. I know exactly what she means.
“Domenico threatened your life.” I look at her, though she doesn’t look at me. “I vowed to protect you.”
She exhales slowly, like she’s choosing her next words with care. “Is this what protection looks like?”
“Yes,” I state without hesitation. “I will kill any man who so much as considers hurting you.”
Her breath catches slightly. She turns fully toward me now, searching my face as if trying to find a crack, some hint that this is bravado or posturing or something temporary. She won’t find it. I don’t offer reassurance in lies.
“It was her brother,” she whispers. “Chiara will never forgive you for that.”
“I’m aware. It changes nothing.”
Ayanna turns back to the window. Still here. Still breathing. And that’s what matters to me. She’s alive. She’s safe and sound next to me.
I know Chiara won’t forgive me for this. Her brother is dead by my hand, and no amount of justification will make that clean. Serena will understand, but understanding isn’t the same as trust. Whatever this costs me, it’s a price I already decided to pay.
I made my choice the moment I pulled the trigger, and I’d make it again.
Because I’ll pay any price to keep my wife safe.