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After what seems like an eternity, I gather what’s left of my courage and ask, “I know Oriana is dead. But what about Alonso?”
I glance behind me, and Tiero’s eyes meet mine. Sadness fills them. “He’s alive, but in critical condition. He might not pull through.”
I take a deep breath as sobs try to make their way to the top, like the bubbles in a lava lamp. And then there’s no holding them back. Tears cascade down both sides of my face. It’s difficult to breathe, the racking sobs nearly suffocating.
Tiero carefully plucks me from the bath and wraps me in a plush robe. I wrap my arms around him as he carries me back to bed and places me under the sheets.
Holding me tight, he whispers into my ear. What, I don’t understand, but it sounds comforting, and eventually my body calms.
I’m exhausted, my eyelids heavy.
“Will you look after their families?” I ask, still pressed against his chest.
“Of course. I always do,” he tells me as he continues to rub my back.
“Rest,cuore mio,” he says, but his voice is fading into the background. My thoughts are still with my guards.
Lips trembling, my voice tired, I ask, “Did you know Alonso wanted to be a chef and have his own restaurant?” Tiero shakes his head.
“And Oriana… she had a crush on you. Whenever you were near, her eyes would light up and then longing would take over… and now she’ll never have the chance to find someone who’ll love her back.”
Tiero remains silent, his hands rubbing in a soothing motion.
“Why did she have to die?” I murmur.
“She knew the risks. They all do. And they accepted them a long time ago. We live in a different world,” he says soberly.
“I don’t want to live in your world, Tiero. It’s filled with hatred, violence, and pain,” I whisper, a single tear trickling down my face.
Images of the carnage left behind last night pop into my mind again, and my stomach twists once more.
Sitting up suddenly, I nearly yell now, giving voice to the anguish that’s inside me. “People die all around you. You rob them of their lives. And for what?!” I continue,“For the sake of power and control? For more money? Haven’t you got enough? Do you really need more?! Is it really okay for everybody in your life to live with a target on their backs? Is it really worth it?!”
Tiero lets me vent without responding. Deep down, I know it’s not fair to blame him. He’s not the one who ambushed me in that bathroom, but logic is the last thing I need at the moment.
“I’m never going to be safe,” I say resigned, collapsing back onto my pillow. “I don’t want to live in this golden cage where I’m under observation twenty-four-seven. This isn’t what I signed up for. I want to go home. Please Tiero, I just want to go home,”I plead as more tears break through.
God, the waterworks just won’t stop.
“I’m sorry, angel. You can’t go back to Ireland. Your home is with me now. The only way out is death, Ella,” he says seriously.
My half-closed eyes fly open at his words. I swallow hard, not wanting to hear this. There’s been so much death already.
I feel defeated.
“Do you remember our time together on the island?” Tiero asks, taking my hands in his, kissing the back of them, one at a time.
“How could I forget? It was one of the happiest times of my life,” I whisper in response.
“We can have that again.” He looks at me imploringly. “What we have, that feeling between us, it’s rare and special, and you know it.”
I do know it.
And if it was just Tiero and me, I would jump at the opportunity to be with him. But it’s everything else around him… his lifestyle, the constant danger.
Could I give my heart to a man who I could lose at any given moment?
Do I even have a choice?
