“I know, I was the one who killed him,” I confess, hearing the spoon, Aria was eating her grapefruit with, clatter against her plate.

“You…You didwhat?” She stares back at me horrified.

“I made you a promise and I saw it through.” I shrug simply.

“Matteo, you didn’t tell me the plan…” Demitri interrupts and I stop him going any further into this by raising my hand.

“Therewasno plan, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision,” I explain.

“I feel sick.” Aria’s skin suddenly turns pale and her delicate little hand covers her mouth.

Hearing this any other time would make me hopeful, but I know it’s not the condition she may be in that’s causing it. She’s disgusted by my actions.

I can see from the look on his face that Demitri doesn’t agree much with them, himself.

“May I be excused?” She looks up from the table at me, and I see the tears filling her eyes. The unfamiliar tug I feel in my chest has me nodding my head at her, and she gets up and practically runs to the door. I gesture my head to Ludo to follow after her.

“Matteo, you are scaring me with your rash decisions.” Demitri takes up the seat she just vacated and looks at me. “Did you do a clean job? It's been a while since you–”

“Since I took a field trip.” I decide to finish his sentence for him. “Having men brought to me has become boring, besides, I wanted to do this one myself. He was going to marry her, as part of a deal with Fucchini. He would never have made her happy.” I reach across the table to get some bacon for myself.

“And you think you can? Here, like this, forcing her to become pregnant with your child and keeping her like a prisoner?” Demitri scoffs a laugh at me that makes me want to slit his throat too.

“Does it sound so crazy?” I raise my shoulders again and pout.

“Yes, Matteo, it soundsfuckingcrazy. As soon as Fucchini knows where she is, he will come for her. He will bring men and there will be a war.”

“I’m figuring that out,” I admit, trying not to fidget uncomfortably in my chair. Truth is, I have no idea what to do, yet.

“This isn’t about vengeance anymore, is it, Matteo?” My best friend looks at me sternly, daring me to lie to him.

“I don’t know what it’s about, anymore. I just know that I can’t lose her.” I leave him to make of that what he wants, taking the plate Aria left behind and going to find her.

Ludo tells me she went back to her room, so that's where I head and I find her lying on the bed, with a blank look on her pretty, little face.

“You're mad at me,” I tell her, placing the plate beside her like it’s some kind of peace offering. Though, I make no apologies for what I did.

“Here, you can be mad and eat at the same time.”

She surprises me by being compliant, picking up the plate and popping one of the strawberries between her pouty lips.

“Aria, I had to kil–”

“Don’t youdare!” she interrupts. “Don't tell me you had to kill that man because of a promise you made to me.”

“Okay, I won’t say that, but I will tell you this. Me taking you, and keeping you here, comes with a risk. Until I have a better plan, your father could come and try to take you at any time. The only way he could succeed in that is to kill me, and if he did, there would have been nothing stopping him from making you marry that man. I wasn’t going to allow it.”

“You think my dad will find me?” The angry look on her face suddenly turns into worry and it makes my cold heart miss a fucking beat.

“I can’t keep you hidden forever, Princess.” I slowly take a seat on the mattress beside her, running my hand over her smooth thigh.

“It would be no life for you, or our child, to keep you locked away.”

“I told you, I don’t want to go back,” she tells me with wide, worried eyes, that make me feel so fucking weak, it’s scary.

“I know, and I will find a way for this to work out. I promise.” I offer her a reassuring smile and she says nothing, just looks down to the edge of the pillow, that she’s fiddling with in her hand.

“I think there's something wrong with me.” She blushes when she eventually looks back up.