I wear his name like a scar.
Alessandro Rossi stole everything from me; my freedom, my future, the lie I told my father to keep him alive. He thinks I'm a tool to be used, a bride to be displayed, a Fraga to be broken. He thinks the ring on my finge...
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I drifted in and out of sleep, aware of Alessandro's hand brushing against my face.
Even half-conscious, I felt the warmth of his touch, the kind of heat that made my body want to sink deeper into the mattress and pretend that the outside world didn't exist.
I wanted to open my eyes, to catch him before he slipped out of the room, but exhaustion held me down. The night had drained every ounce of strength from me. He had taken me to a place where I couldn't think, only feel, and I had followed him without resistance.
With him, it was never just about flesh and breath. It reached a place I should have left untouched, a place that demanded more than either of us had promised.
He had told me with a bluntness I couldn't mistake, "Don't expect me to love you or offer some fairytale comfort. I don't even know what love is anymore."
Those words were like a huge rock dropped into a well, sinking deeper with every replay in my mind.
Still, I couldn't stop myself from wanting to understand him, to peel back the layers of steel he wore around himself. I wanted to know why he believed he was beyond reach, but at the same time, the thought terrified me. If I found something that couldn't be repaired, what then? If he truly had nothing left inside him to offer me, how could I hold on without destroying myself in the process?
I forced the thoughts away and pulled myself out of bed, and went downstairs.
From the office, Diego's vicious voice thundered, carrying a fury that left no space for doubt he was planning something.
"Li voglio morti, tutti quanti. Attenzione, non deve risalire a me (I want them dead, all of them! Be careful, it must not be traced back to me)."
My heart stopped, the blood draining from my face. He wanted them dead, all of them. My stomach twisted violently, my breath caught in my throat. This wasn't business. This was personal, and I had walked straight into the heart of it.
I stood rooted for a moment, my blood cold, until the sound of footsteps approaching shook me out of my paralysis. Panic surged. I slipped behind the staircase, pressing myself into the shadows, praying he wouldn't see me.
Diego had never hidden the contempt he carried for me, and I had always sensed how fragile my position truly was in his world. If he had even the smallest reason to act against me, he would.
The office door clicked shut, his steps fading into the distance, and only then did I allow myself to move.
My heart pounded as I slipped into the office, my hands trembling even before I touched anything. I didn't know what I expected to find, but I knew I couldn't ignore what I had heard. There had to be proof, something that revealed the truth behind his words.
