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"Thank you," she sighed in pleasure, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
He tsked at her, cleaning her hand again before noticing her giggle.
"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?"
She gave a shrug, smiling.
"You're a little troublemaker," he said, amused. But he quickly sobered as he remembered the topic he wanted to address with her. "Zia, from now on, you shouldn't talk to strangers again, especially men." he told her sternly. "And you shouldneverfollow them anywhere."
"Why?" she frowned.
"Because they can harm you."
"Harm me?"
He muttered a low curse under his breath, searching his mind for a way to explain it better. "There are a lot of people out there that want to take advantage of you. Hurt you. You don't want to be hurt, do you?"
She immediately shook her head.
"No. I fell yesterday and hurt my knee," she complained. "It hurt a lot. I don't like pain."
"Good. Then to avoid it, avoid strangers," he nodded at her, grimly reminding himself of those scuffs he'd seen on her knees.
"What about you, then?" she blinked, the question so innocent yet it felt like the ultimate test.
"I won't hurt you," he smiled. "And I'm not a stranger anymore," he winked at her.
Her lips spread into a blinding smile, even her tooth gap looking cute as hell as she looked at him adoringly.
"Now let's go. There's one more stop before I take you back to your family," he said as he stood up, getting his stuff and taking her hand.
He didn't miss the way her face fell when she heard about her family, and he felt bad for her situation.
If he had a sister her age, he'd protect her at all costs. Like Gianna and Rafaelo had protected him whenever they could. More so even. He would make sure that nothing and no one could harm her, and that she would never complain about beingunkeptagain.
Swinging by a pharmacy nearby, he got some band-aids and some antiseptic cream with what little spare coins he had left.
"What's that for?" she asked in confusion as he brought her to sit on a bench by the road.
"For your knee, so it heals faster," he told her gently.
She didn't reply, merely watching him as he took some of the cream and spread it over her injured areas. She winced every now and then but didn't make a sound. When he was done, he put a band-aid over each knee and instructed her to do the same while handing her the rest of the supplies.
"If you hurt yourself again just do like I did," he told her, stretching out his hand to help her hop off, finally ready to return to the cemetery.
He hoped the ceremony had ended.
Zia was already yawning, her eyes droopy as she undoubtedly wished to go to sleep.
When they got back to the cemetery, they saw it was almost empty. The procession of people had already departed.
"What…" Michele blinked as he looked around. Everyone had left—including the girl's family.
Not wanting to let panic overtake him, he went back to where Nicolo had left his car, sighing in relief when he noticed it was still there. Upon noticing him, Nicolo opened the door, his sharp gaze skittering from Michele to Zia and their joint hands.
"She was hungry," Michele merely said, attempting a boyish smile.
Nicolo rolled his eyes and shook his head at them, motioning for the car.
