[ARTEMY]
The sight of Raffaele had caused a lava of rage to course through my body. But I had tried to stay as calm as I could.
My only thought was to keep Rebecca safe. Far away from Raffaele.
He couldn’t know that she was my weakness.
But then he looked at Rebecca like he knew her. Like she was something to possess. I wanted to gouge his eyes out, put a bullet right in the middle of his eyes. Only because he was looking at Rebecca. My Angel.
What I never expected was the shock that came next. And the pain of betrayal.
I heard Rebecca whimper behind me and felt her nails digging into my skin. I felt her panic. It was vibrating off her. The air surrounding us growing thick with her fear.
But only Raffaele’s words were ringing through my ears. Everything else was a blur.
The woman you are protecting behind you right now is Rebecca Cavalieri. The late Herman’s daughter and only child. And my very soon-to-be wife. The Italian’s queen. Your enemy.
Rebecca Cavalieri. A fucking Cavalieri.
She lied to me. All this time, it had been a lie.
My shoulder ached with the tension, but I kept my face as blank as I could.
No weakness. Raffaele didn’t need to know how his words affected me. Rebecca didn’t need to know what her betrayal was doing to me.
I trusted her. I let her in.
She was my fucking Angel.
I swallowed the boulder of emotions that clogged my throat and stared straight into Raffaele’s eyes.
“Brayden, get her inside,” I said, my voice calm yet the coldness and deadly warning was there.
The words came out instinctively. She was the enemy, yet my need to protect her never lessened. No matter how much my mind raged, I still felt for her.
She betrayed me, but she was still my Angel.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw Brayden pulling Rebecca toward the gates. She was staring back at me, her eyes never leaving mine, begging me to give her a chance.
I saw everything there. Her pain. Fear. Panic. And lastly, her love.
My stupid treacherous heart hung on to it. I wanted to believe that look.
My decision might have been stupid, but it was the only one that made sense.
Giving Raffaele my full attention, I sent him a chilling glare. “Get the fuck out of here, Raffaele. This is the last time I am going to say this. It takes only one bullet to be fired and war will upon us. Leave my property or my men will be forced to shoot.”
Raffaele raised an eyebrow and started to back away slowly. “You are right. We will let Rebecca decide.”
I was tempted to shoot him right now. Put a bullet right through his eyes. But that would only bring war upon ourselves.
And Rebecca would be right in the middle. Her safety couldn’t be compromised.
My murderous intent must have shown on my face, because Raffaele smirked and then glanced at Rebecca, his look lecherous. “I will be waiting, love.”
I felt Leon’s hand on my arm, making me realize that I had reached for my gun. I was vibrating with the need to end the bastard’s life. Slowly and painfully.
That day would come. Not now. But soon.
I watched the cars drive away before finally taking the courage to turn toward Rebecca. I saw her bend forward, and she started to dry heave, hyperventilating right there in the driveway. Her small body was shaking violently, her sobs making my heart clench tightly.
I wanted to take her in my arms, hold her safely, and tell her everything was going to be okay. But I stopped myself.
I knew I would lash out and hurt her. And the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her…even though she was the reason for my pain right now.
So I walked away. From her.
I did it to protect her.
I had been shot before. Multiple times. But Rebecca’s betrayal was more painful than bullets piercing through my body.
She called out after me, my name on her lips. She begged me to listen, but I was numb. Too numb to care. To numb to understand her lies, her betrayal. I trusted her, but she didn’t give me anything in return.
After giving her myself and opening my heart to her, she still lied.
But even through the tides of anger, I understood why.
I hated the Cavalieris.
And she was one of them. The daughter of the man who killed my mother and sister.
“Fuck!” I swore, punching the wall next to the door. She must have been scared. So damn scared. No wonder she never told any of us.
What about those who are innocent? Will they perish too? Just because they were doomed to be an Italian-an Cavalieri?
Rebecca’s question rang through my ears, and I pulled at my hair in frustration, my fingers digging into my scalp. She wanted to tell me. So many times, she wanted to say it, but my hatred for the Cavalieris always stopped her.
I still remembered my words clearly, as if they were said the day before.
There is no fucking innocence in that family. They are all the spawn of the devil. They are tainted with my mother’s and sister’s blood.
How could I have expected Rebecca to tell me the truth when those were the words I fed her?
You said you’d kill anyone in your path. But what about the innocent?
When realization dawned on me, I felt sick. She was talking about herself. She was the innocent.
I was running away from home when I found you and hid in your car. That’s how we met. I’m not a spy, Artemy. I’m just someone running away from her nightmare, desperately seeking peace.
Everything she said came rushing back to me until my thoughts went wild. And that was when I lost control.
With a roar, I reached for the coffee table and flipped it over, sending it crashing into the wall. Hundreds of glass shards flew everywhere.
My hands clenched into fists, and I punched the wall again, harder than before. My skin over my knuckles tore, but that wasn’t enough.
I was panting, fighting for breath, fighting against the monster that wanted to be unleashed.
The sudden rush was of realization made my head spin. My lungs constricted. “Fuck!” I bellowed.
The man I hated, the man I vowed to kill…my enemy, he was the one who had hurt my Angel. He was the one who caused her pain. The reason for her nightmares.
Raffaele. He had ruined my Rebecca.
My blood roared with the urge to kill him. To end his life. To end Rebecca’s nightmare.
Turning around, I saw Milandro, Brayden, and Leon standing there. Their faces were impassive as they stared back at me, waiting for me to give them orders.
But something else caught my attention. Someone was missing. My heart accelerated in panic as I glanced around the room almost furiously.
“Where’s Rebecca?” I growled, my knuckles aching as I tightened my fists.
Brayden’s eyebrows raised in question, and he looked behind him. “She was right behind me,” he grumbled, his face twisting with slight panic.
“You left her alone!”