She claimed she loved my family, wanted to be a part of it, but I had come to realize love and hate could both exist at the same time, in the same space, each taking a side.
It was the same for ruthless and romance—same principles, different names.
No matter what names they went by, Ava was learning sometimes there was no separation of the two. There was no bringing them together in harmony.
I had not meant for her to ever come face to face with Elettra Buratti, or even my mamma. I had not given titles while introducing them, but I could feel the tension while the two women fell into roles.
After embracing my father, I took a seat across from him in a plush chair, an emotion I could not describe other thanscaldingfrothing in my heart for him.
He had the power to stop this thing between Elettra Buratti and I, but he wouldn’t. Not even on his deathbed. And by the looks of him, he had been close. He had the yellowish hue of someone who had been knocking on death’s door but had been turned away. His eyes were lowered, as if he did not have the energy to lift them. I could see the outline of his legs through the covers. Long legs like mine that had been severed in close to half.
He cleared his throat, and my eyes met his.
Elettra was talking for two people, stuffing the conversation with wedding details, and he would nod occasionally or make a sound of consent, but his hard stare was on me.
Perhaps because I had never challenged him before.
He might have been bedridden, but there was nothing wrong with his perception.
He read my body language as well as I was reading his.
He knew a war was brewing in my soul, and he was not sure if he could stop it.
However, I had to reign myself in.
Ava knew of my family through immersing herself in it through history books and even social media. Yes, we could walk back in time through pages and words, but unless our feet are on the ground and our eyes open in that time, pieces go missing. Especially when my family hid a lot of who they are—our rules and how the penalties for breaking them could vary depending on the alleged crimes.
We did not have a court system like most countries.
We were mostly tried by our fathers in our kingdom.
I was guilty in my father’s eyes.
My mamma had influence over this ruling as well.
Whoever had made the king seem more powerful had been mistaken. The queen always won, and she never had to take a step on the battlefield to do it. But it was my mamma’s place in his life to do so, to give him an ear to listen and her eyes to see things he might have missed, but she was as hungry for power as my father.
She, too, was seeing Ava as a threat to the arrangement between our family and the Burattis.
If my parents came together on this, Ava might find herself in the middle of a battle. A fragile bird caught between warring lions.
That was why I had to pull back some, not make any sudden movements or become clouded by anger. I allowed my father to feel some of it, but I would take my time planning my next steps. He lost his legs, yes, but he gained Leandro’s. My brother would lead for him, and he would go straight to Ava to get to me.
Aristide had texted me and told me Leandro had been waiting at the exit of the hospital, and how he had snapped his teeth at her, then grinned.
A knock came at the door. My father gave permission to open it.
Leandro strode in and went to my father’s side, embracing him, before he tried to do the same to me. My father immediately dismissed Elettra, and she stared between me and my brother for a second before telling my father goodbye and leaving.
Leandro sighed, about to open his mouth, but my father ordered him to take a seat.
Another knock came at the door, and my father told whoever it was to enter. Aristide walked in and our eyes met.
“Where is she?” I asked in Italian. He was not supposed to be at this meeting. He was supposed to be with Ava.
He looked between our father and me. “Beniamino.”
I could feel my father’s stare on my face. He dared me to look at him.
