Impassive

11| Birds

"Mrs. Bellandi? I'm your new bodyguard," the men in front of her said, holding out his hand. Hesitantly, she gave him hers.

MATTEO

"Maybe we should go to the park?" I suggested as we walked toward my car. Ava nodded, grinning. It seemed like the thought of an hour away had rendered her speechless, which had become a rare occurrence ever since her speech fully returned. God, she had so much to say. "Alright." Quickly, I sent Fabio a message letting him know where we were going and asked him to ensure our safety without Ava necessarily noticing. "But you stay by my side the whole time, and if you feel weird in any way, you tell me, understood?"

"Yes," she replied, not even sounding remotely serious. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had rolled her eyes.

"Ava, I mean it." She looked at me, waiting for me to say more. "Fuck around and you find out."

Her face first went blank, then she looked at me with confusion before shaking her head slightly and walking on. Silently, she got in the car, and even as we drove off, she didn't say a word. Then, just before we reached the city, she finally spoke. "Did we have an open marriage?"

"What?" I braked sharply, startled. "Where is this coming from?"

"Well, you said I should have sex. But that's hard when I'm not even allowed to leave the house. But aside from that, I was wondering what kind of arrangement you both had in the marriage. Not that it would bother me." She paused for a second. "Although, yeah, it would."

I cleared my throat. "That's just a figure of speech. I—No, you're not supposed to start having sex with random men and to be clear: no we did not have an open marriage. I never betrayed you."

Ava was quiet for a moment, and I could feel the weight of her thoughts pressing in. Her eyes drifted out the window and she seemed lost in her own head. 

"Okay," she said finally, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to let me off the hook just yet. "Just hypothetically speaking: what would I find out if I fucked around?" My chest tightened at her words, the weight of the question sinking in. What the hell is she asking me? For a moment, I couldn't tell if she was serious or just toying with me. But everything about the way she said it—quiet, almost calculating—made my mind race. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, trying to hold on to some semblance of control.

"Ava, are you serious?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady, but my heart was already beating faster. I glanced over at her, but she was looking out the window, her gaze distant, almost like she was talking about something abstract, something far removed from reality. She shrugged nonchalantly, but I could see the curiosity in her eyes. She wasn't just toying with me. She was curious—and curiosity can be dangerous when you're trying to piece together the fragments of a life you don't fully remember. I swallowed, my heart pounding in my chest. "Do you think I could just sit back and let that happen?" My voice cracked despite myself, and I quickly cleared my throat, trying to regain control. "Nope. You're not doing that. Not gonna happen." Never.

There was a tense silence in the car as the words hung in the air. The feeling of it pressed in on me from all sides, my protective instinct kicking in full force. I wasn't just responding to a hypothetical anymore. I was responding to her asking about something that could very well be real for her again someday. And I wasn't sure I was ready for that. But Ava wasn't backing down. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze still focused on the window, but there was a quiet challenge in her tone when she spoke again. "Well, my body my choice, don't you think?" Her voice was quieter now, like she was testing my limits. "I'm not saying I'd actually do it. I just—"