She stared at the unopened file in her trembling hands. “It wasn’t an accident, was it?”
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her shoulder. “No, mia amore. It wasn’t.”
She lifted her head, gazing at the wall as a tear escaped from the corner of her eye, and she pressed her lips together. Every fibre of my body longed to shield her from this pain, but I knew I couldn’t. All I could do was hold her through it and promise that I’d find whoever was responsible and make them pay with their life.
She opened the file and read the report, her fingers pressed against her lips as small sobs broke through. When she finished, she turned to me, burying herself in my chest and curling up on my lap. Seeing someone I loved so emotionally shattered always sparked the deeply unhinged, overprotective side of me. It made my body tremble with fury, and I wanted to set the entire world alight for letting it happen.
I knew it stemmed from my past, from being a child with a vulnerableMammawho struggled with her mental health, and a younger sister who preferred to hide her brilliance from the world because she never felt safe. Gio had his own wife and children to protect. Alessio protected Elle. ButMammaand Raya? I took it upon myself to be their protector—always caring for their wellbeing and safety abovemy own. And now, I had myBella Ribelle, too. There was nothing I wouldn’t do and no line I wouldn’t cross to keep them safe. I’d always be the man who would throw his body in their path to ensure no harm could ever come to them.
“Why?” Aria choked, rubbing her tears away. “Why would someone murder my mum? She never caused anyone any harm. She was so lovely and kind and…” An anguished sob tore from her chest, and I pulled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head as I closed my eyes. “It was because of me, wasn’t it? They were after me.”
I cradled her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me as I frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“Callum. He said…” She shuddered, inhaling a deep breath. “That I had no idea who I was. I was lucky not to have known all this time. That some people are born into wars they never asked for. It felt like he was talking about me, himself, or maybe both of us. I don’t know. But he knows something about me that I don’t.” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, God. Do you think he killed my mum?”
“I don’t know,” I said, trying to stay calm as my heart pounded like a sledgehammer in my chest. I knew this was more than just a dent to my family’s empire. It was also personal. Not just for my family, but for Aria’s as well.
She shook her head, twisting her hands in her lap. “When Callum took me, the things he said and the way he was behaving… was almost as though he didn’t want to do it but felt he had no choice. He called me the most valuable piece. He said he was done with Rome. That a score had been settled and he was leaving.”
“Where was he planning to take you?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t think his interest in me is what we thought it was. I think he was taking me to someone else and then leaving. He said by the time you’d find me, he’d be far away, starting a new life.”
So he was working for someone. Had someone hired him to take Aria? Likely the same person who killed her mother. “Did he say anything else to you?”
“Something about burning down one empire to free another?” She shook her head. “He was talking in riddles. None of it made any sense to me. But… someone is after me, aren’t they?” When her teary blue eyes met mine, my nostrils flared. Her lower lip wobbled. “I’m scared, Sani. What if they want me dead too?”
I pulled her into me, holding her so tight that I hoped it would be enough for her to feel safe. I’d never let them near her.
“They don’t. They waited for you to leave that house before setting fire to it. Callum has had plenty of chances to kill you over the years, but he hasn’t. He’s waited until now to take you. Everything was carefully planned. But they failed.” I forced her head up to look at me again. My jaw was pulsing as I tried to keep the maddening fire inside me from burning her. “Do you hear me? They failed. Because I found you. And from the moment I saw you, you became mine toprotect. I don’t give a fuck who they are, or what they want; no one will ever hurt you. As long as I am breathing, you will always be safe. You’re my priority. Understand?”
She nodded slowly and sank back into my embrace. I gazed at the wall above her head as I gently stroked her hair to soothe her, contemplating everything we thought we knew. We were still missing something crucial.
“Yourmammanever said anything about her past? Her family or parents?”
“Not really. She said she ran away from home when she was a teenager because they weren’t good people, and she’d never seen or spoken to them since. I think that’s why she liked to move around a lot. I remember she used to get agitated if we stayed in one place for too long. I believe that was the reason my parents split up because she wanted to leave Italy but my father didn’t.”
“Do you know her real name? The one she was born with?”
Aria shook her head, running her finger over the photograph of her mother in the file. “No. I didn’t even know she’d changed her name. I’d always known her as Quinn Brown.” She pressed her lips together as fresh tears emerged. “Now, I’m not sure I ever really knew her at all.”
“Aria,” I said softly. “A name doesn’t make a person. You knew her. She was obviously trying to protect herself and you from someone she was very afraid of. She loved you.”
“I know,” she whimpered, nodding with a gentle smile. She raised her fingers to touch the necklace, gazing at the sapphire locket. “She never actually wore this.”
“What do you mean?”
“She used to keep it in a velvet box. Sometimes, late at night when she thought I was in bed asleep, she’d take it out from beneath her bed and stare at it. Almost in a trance-like state. I thought she loved it so much that she didn’t dare wear it. That it was that special, or just really expensive or something. It was the only thing of hers that survived the fire, so I wore it every day to feel close to her.”
I glanced at the sapphire, already knowing it was real. It was worth a fortune. How could a woman constantly on the move possess something so valuable?
“Did your father give it to her?”
“No. She said it was a family heirloom. I asked her why she kept it if she didn’t like her family, and she said that it reminded her that even something beautiful can come from a dark place.” Aria lowered it back to her chest and looked at me. “Callum looked at it as if he recognised it or something. Like it mattered.”
I rubbed my jaw, staring at the sapphire and trying to make a connection to the Leones or… anything that might shed some light on who her mother had been running from, but was coming up blank.
“Look at me,” I ordered. “I love you. You are safe here. We will figure this out, and I’ll deal with it. There is only one man who has the answers we need, and I’mthoroughly looking forward to forcing them out of him,” I growled, too agitated to sit still any longer. I lifted Aria off me, stood up, kissed her, then took her hand and led her out of my office. “Raya!”
