117
Allesio’s POV
Rosa had a way of finding me when I least wanted to be found.
I’d been avoiding her again, not because I didn’t want to see her-I always wanted to see her-but because I didn’t trust myself to be around her. Not when I was torn between the pull of what I felt for her and the guilt of what I was supposed to do.
I thought I was safe in the garden, tucked into one of the stone alcoves overlooking the manicured hedges. The air was cool and smelled faintly of lavender.. But then I heard the click of heels against the flagstones, and before I could even try to slip away, she was standing in front of me, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Rosa said, her tone sharp enough to cut through the evening air.
I looked up from where I sat, trying to summon my usual charm. “Nice to see you too.”
“Don’t,” she snapped, stepping closer. “Don’t deflect. You’ve been acting weird for days now, and I’m done pretending not to notice. So, spill.”
Her gaze was unrelenting, and for a moment, I considered telling her the truth-everything. About Alaric, the mission, the lies I’d been spinning from the start. But the thought of her looking at me with anything other than the fire I saw now was unbearable.
So, I did what I always did. I lied.
“I’m just worried about you,” I said, standing up and shoving my hands into my pockets. “That’s all.”
Rosa blinked, clearly not expecting that response. “Worried about me?”
I nodded, letting the concern I felt, the real concern, bleed into my expression. “You’ve got a lot on your plate right now. Family business, rivals, everything in between. It’s a lot to handle.”
Her posture softened slightly, but her skepticism didn’t fade entirely. “You’ve never worried about that before.”
“I’ve never seen you look so… stretched thin before,” I countered, stepping closer. “You’ve got enemies, Rosa. People who wouldn’t think twice about hurting you to get to your family. That’s why I’ve been distant. I didn’t want to add to your stress.”
It wasn’t the full truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. I was worried about her-more than I cared to admit.
For a moment, she didn’t say anything, just stared at me like she was trying to read the lines of my face. Finally, she sighed and shook her head.
“You’re an idiot, you know that?” she said, but her tone had softened.
I raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”
She stepped closer, her voice quieter now. “If you’re worried about me, the answer isn’t to pull away. It’s to stay close. You don’t get to just disappear when things get hard, Allesio.”
Her words hit harder than they should have, mostly because she didn’t know just how true they were.
“You’re right,” I said, my voice low. “I’m sorry.”
She blinked again, clearly not expecting me to agree so easily. “Wait, that’s it? No sarcastic comment? No excuse?”
I chuckled softly. “Nope. Just an apology. I was wrong.”
She narrowed her eyes, studying me like she wasn’t sure if she could believe me. But then she sighed and stepped back, letting her arms fall to her sides.
“Good,” she said, her tone lighter now. “Because for a second there, I thought I might have to slap some sense into you.”
I smirked, the tension between us finally easing. “That would’ve been something to see.”
She rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.
“Now let’s gist,” she murmured, sitting on my lap and leaning into me.
We stayed out there for a while, the conversation shifting to lighter topics-her favorite place in the city, a ridiculous story about her cousin getting drunk at a family dinner, the latest gossip from her father’s business associates. I let her talk, hanging onto every word, even as the guilt in my chest grew heavier with every laugh, every smile.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She wasn’t supposed to trust me, to let me into her life like this. And I wasn’t supposed to care.
But I did.
When we finally walked back to the mansion, she stopped me just outside the door, her hand brushing against my arm.
“Allesio,” she said, her voice quieter now.
“Yeah?”
She hesitated, like she wasn’t sure if she should say what was on her mind. Finally, she looked up at me, her expression more vulnerable than I’d ever seen it.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“For what?”
“For being here. For worrying about me, even if you’re an idiot about it.”
I chuckled, but the warmth in her voice made it hard to breathe. “Anytime.”
“By the way, my father has this event he’s organizing in the city and I want you to be there, if you can. He’s curious about you and I need him to see that you’re not as bad as they think-”
“Is that a compliment?” I asked, the side of my lips quirking up into a smirk as I watched her. She just rolled her eyes.
“Call it whatever you want. I don’t care,” she answered.
“Liar,” I purred and she scoffed. “Whatever. Will you go with me?”
“You know I would,” I answered, taking a step closer to her and resting one hand on her cheek as I kissed her.
She nodded, then stepped back, her hand falling away from my arm. “Goodnight, Allesio.”
“Goodnight, Rosa.”
I watched as she walked inside, her figure disappearing into the dimly lit hallway. Only when she was out of sight did I let myself exhale, leaning back against the cold stone of the wall.
This was getting harder by the day.
I wanted to protect her, to keep her safe from the threats I knew she faced. But I also knew that the biggest threat in her life was standing right here, pretending to care while plotting her family’s downfall.
And the worst part?
The caring wasn’t pretend anymore. And Alaric was noticing it.