“But he loves me, Mom.” I manage to say the words.
“This isn’t love. He’s manipulated you, Princess.” Dad’s voice comes from the doorway.
I get up and run to him.
“That’s not true, Dad. He really loves me. Whatever he was, that’s in the past. He isn’t the same cruel man now.”
His face softens with pity. “You have a very soft heart, dear.” The pity shifts to anger, then settles into a frightening calm. “He will pay for using my daughter’s heart.”
I shake my head, frantic. “You’re misunderstanding this.”
“I’ve never stopped you from anything, Princess. But this, I have to. You’re not to see him again. He slipped through my fingers once as Jonathan. Not again. And one more thing.” His voice turns colder. “You will marry Crown Prince Aziel.”
I purse my lips. “No, Dad. I won’t marry him. I don’t like him, and you can’t force me. You know I’ll go to any length if you try.”
Frustration and hurt burn my eyes. Dad’s face softens.
“Alright. I won’t push. Just don’t start crying, okay?”
I blink hard, forcing the tears back, step around him, and walk out.
I reach my room. The first thing I do is search Il Macellaio di Napoli.
Images fill the screen. Burnt buildings. Devastated places. A satellite view of an ashen city. Pictures of people crying. Children. Women. Men.
I forget to blink. I scroll through image after image of people who survived hell.
So many innocents.
My stomach knots tighter with every scroll.How could he do this?
I find an article detailing the damage from the latest destruction, two years ago. It was smaller than the first four fires, because the city hadn’t recovered enough to rebuild.
No one knows who did it. Some civilians say it’s God’s wrath. Some blame the government. Others think powerful corporations. Some say it’s the Camorra’s new way of terrorizing people. They just call him Il Macellaio di Napoli—a god, a monster, a devil.
I wouldn’t have believed my family if Salvario himself hadn’t said it yesterday. But now I have nothing left to cling to. No denial. Nothing to lessen the guilt filling me as I look at the destruction caused by the man I love.
My door opens. Rosie comes running in, bounding toward the bed. I set my phone aside and scoop her up.
Avi trails behind her, balancing a tray.
Rosie wriggles in my arms, licking my face all over, lightening the heaviness in my heart, if only for a moment. She was with her caretaker since yesterday evening because of the party. And after the party, I was busy with the Butcher of Naples.
The heaviness returns, filling my chest.
Avi settles beside me on the bed. “You okay?”
“How can I be okay, knowing the man I love is a cold-blooded criminal?”
“Are you afraid of him? Or feeling guilty about what he’s done?”
I hug Rosie to my chest, patting her small head.
“It’s the guilt.”
She rests a hand on my thigh. “Don’t burden yourself with that. You can’t change the past. But you can do something about the future.”
“What can I do?”
