Claimed | Second Love Romance ✔️

12| Teachers

Chapter Twelve

Alessio

Aria takes a bite out of her small bowl of cereal. "So, how's Alice? When is she coming back?" Aria asks

I grit my teeth as I take my own bite of cereal. "I don't know," I admit. Alice has denied me from visiting her. And I can't even say anything due to me not being her husband. I haven't heard a peep from Alice since they carted her off and out the house. And how can I blame her? She said she didn't want to go, and I helped Dr.Avery take her anyways.

"Oh," she takes another bite of her cereal, and I do the same. This is Aria and my new normal for the last week since Alice has been gone. Every morning, I wake her up at seven, and we have breakfast together before she comes to work with me. I don't think it's a good idea to leave Ari by herself-especially since she's a child of abandonment and many other things.

The last thing an abandoned child needs is to be left alone. There's no one home with the absence of Alice, and Meredith is on vacation. So, for a child-like Aria, it would be best she stayed with me.

"When are you going to bring Charlie back to the house? He misses you," she says.

I know Charlie misses me. But he misses Alice more, and she's not here. At it would hurt for him to come home and for her not to be here. I rather he stays with Odette for now, and he loves Odette. Probably more than me as of late. "Soon."

"For lunch today, can we go to that place again?" Aria asks as she takes another scoop of her cereal.

"You know there are plenty of other places we can go to."

"Yeah, but they have the best steaks there."

"You do know most kids your age prefers cheeseburgers and fries, but you want steak."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I thought it was already obvious enough that I was not like most kids, Alessio."

Well, she isn't wrong.

I grab my bowl of empty cereal and toss it in the sink. Aria scoops the last few bites and tosses her own bowl in too. She grabs her phone and her bag that's probably filled with her sketchbook she made me buy her and pencils. "Aria, for warning, you have your teacher video call to start your lessons." I walk to the garage full of cars with Aria behind me.

Aria grumbles under her breath. Alice, before she left, wanted this for Aria. She wanted her to catch up with her education so she can go to school and attempt to live normally. But, she has a goal to be some assassin. "Why do I have to go to school. I'm just gonna be an assassin."

"Alice, an assassin is not a viable living."

"Tell that to your big house and cars."

I click my tongue. It's not helpful to discourage things, especially when it's so damn profitable. "Well, how about this. You won't be much of an assassin if you can't read or even count the number of people in the vicinity. And besides, we had a deal."

A deal that if she plans on staying with Alice and me, then she had to go to school. And even if she doesn't go to school, I won't kick her out. But she needs an education. I know better than anyone how difficult it is to live through life without the basics.

I still struggle with certain things due to my lack of foundation in life.

We get into the car and drive to the office. I walk next to Aria, and after one week of this, she still looks out of place. A kid in an assassin's office. The look Damien gave me was even more annoying when I told everyone her killer background and how it's somewhat business as usual around her.