Both Gianna and Lucia are looking at me in awe, but I don't wait for another set-down. I stand up, ready to go.
I make to pass, intent on getting back to my room, and I don't notice Gianna slowly extending her leg. Not until I trip on it, falling face-down on the floor. The food spills from my makeshift pouch, rolling on the ground. The softer food turns to mush under the weight of my body, and I feel it stick to my clothes.
"Oops," Gianna giggles, and Lucia soon joins in, both of them laughing at me.
Damn!
I don't even care about the humiliation at this point, but there's a pain radiating from my knee. And then there's my shoulder, with its barely healed wound. Safe to say, I'm not doing great.
My mouth opens on a low moan of pain, my eyes squeezing shut in an attempt to withstand it.
I hear a gasp, and then strong arms are lifting me up.
"Are you okay?" I open my eyes to see a worried expression on Enzo's face.
"How silly. Are you okay, Allegra? She must have tripped, right? These floors are a little too slippery." Lucia quickly intervenes, but Enzo ignores her.
"Are you okay?" he asks again, and I give him a slow nod.
Without warning, he swoops me up in his arms, and my arms go around his neck, holding on for support.
He turns toward the pair at the dining table, and the words he says are the ones I least expected from him.
"Gianna, you have no business in this house, and I trust this is the last time I'll see you around. Mother, if you want to see her so much, do so outside the house. She's not welcome here. This is Allegra's house now too, and I trust you won't make her uncomfortable."
He doesn't wait for a reply as he takes me up the stairs to my room. He kicks open the door and lays me on the bed.
"Where does it hurt?" he kneels in front of me, looking me over for injuries.
"I'm fine," I finally find my words, but the answer doesn't satisfy him. He starts tugging at my shirt until the scar from my wound is visible. He leans in, inspecting it, his fingers hovering over it.
"Does it hurt?" he asks again, and I just shake my head.
"Allegra. You have to tell me if anything hurts; otherwise, I can't help you."
"Why would you?" I ask in a small voice. It's not as if he hasn't been bullying me as well. His family just took a more direct route.
"Because I took an oath to protect you. And that's what I'm going to do."
"Really?" I ask derisively. "And who will protect me from you?" Because while Lucia and Gianna's pranks and jibes hurt, they don't have the potential to mess me up inside like he does.
"No one. You're mine to do with what I want."
"Yes, I am, aren't I?" I snort. "I'm the toy that onlyyoucan break."
"You're right on that note, little tigress. Except that right now I want to put you back together. So tell me, where does ithurt? Or I can just find out for myself." His hands go to the hem of my skirt, pulling it up slowly.
"Stop that," I slap his hand away. Instead, I extend my leg and show him the bruise on my knee.
His cold fingers touch the surrounding skin, and a shiver goes down my spine, goosebumps forming all over my body.
"We need to disinfect this." He gets up and heads into the bathroom, coming back with a small first aid kit.
He soaks some gauze in disinfectant and starts dabbing it on my flesh.
"Ouch," I flinch at the sudden sting, but then his hot breath covers my skin, assuaging some of the pain.
"Has this happened before?" he asks quietly, his fingers working on my small wound.
