Chapter 4

Matteo’s hatred had not come from nowhere.

After I cried to Lorenzo that time, Vittori’s internal meeting nearly sent Serena away. Her background was unclear, and she had brought a child with her. Many in the family had never wanted her to stay.

The next morning, Matteo volunteered for the northern weapons transfer.

That route crossed the buffer zone between two rival families. Winter blocked the roads, ambushes were constant, and even Lorenzo rarely sent core men there. Matteo went himself, using a near-death assignment to buy Serena and her child a place in Vittori.

Before he left, he looked at me with eyes cold enough to burn.

“Aria, I must have been blind to ever put you first.”

I could not understand it then. They had left me first, broken every promise first, yet somehow they looked at me as if I were the unforgivable one.

Now his hand was locked around my throat.

My chest tightened from the lack of air, and the lights began to blur. I stopped struggling and looked directly at him.

There was no anger left in my eyes, only a hollow despair that made Matteo’s grip falter. For one brief second, shock crossed his face, as if he had finally recognized the girl beneath his hand.

That was when Adrian’s voice cut in.

“Matteo!”

The sound dragged Matteo back. He released me sharply, and I fell into the sofa, coughing until I could barely breathe. Adrian took one step toward me. I saw it and, stupidly, still felt a flicker of hope.

Then the inner door opened.

Serena stood there in a loose coat, clearly woken by the noise. Her eyes landed on Adrian, and the step he had just taken stopped. A moment later, he pushed me lightly away from him. It was not hard, but it was clear enough. My shoulder struck the edge of the sofa, and the burn on my back scraped against the fabric so badly my breath caught.

Dante had also moved half a step forward. When he saw Serena, his fingers tightened once, then loosened. In the end, he stopped by the door.

Matteo looked between them and gave a low laugh.

“Interesting.”

He turned to Adrian, his voice thick with mockery.

“You used to be the one always saying you’d protect Aria for life. Now you’re standing guard here for Serena too?”

Adrian did not answer.

Matteo glanced at Dante, his smile colder.

“Looks like the three of us really do have the same taste. We all ended up wanting the same woman.”

I looked at Adrian, waiting for him to explain, to defend me, or at least to tell Matteo to stop. He avoided my eyes, and the last bit of expectation went out like a spark in the rain.

Serena frowned, her gaze falling to my shoulder and back.

“Your burn…”

Only then did they notice the skin reddened by the coffee. The room fell quiet. Even the boy slowly stopped crying, though he clutched Serena’s clothes harder.

Serena lowered her head and soothed him before looking back at me.

“He’s still little. He was scared. I’ll apologize for him. The salve Adrian brought is still here. Let me treat it.”

I braced myself against the sofa and sat up, my voice hoarse.

“Let him apologize himself.”

Serena’s expression cooled.

“Aria, he’s only a child.”

“Apologize.”

Matteo’s anger came down at once. He stepped in front of Serena and the boy, disgust clear in his eyes.

“Serena already apologized for him. What else do you want? For a child to kneel and beg?”

Dante said nothing. Adrian did not speak either. One stood dark-faced by the door, the other watched me as if waiting for me to back down. The men who used to stand in front of me now stood in front of Serena and her child.

Serena bent and whispered into the boy’s ear. After a while, he turned his face toward me, mouth pushed into a pout, his voice almost too quiet to hear.

“Sorry.”

The apology was reluctant and wronged, as if he were the one being bullied.

Serena looked at me, her tone flattening too.

“He apologized. Can I treat your burn now?”

I did not answer.

Rain was still falling, and wind pushed in from the end of the corridor. I took Dante’s coat from my shoulders, set it on the chair beside me, and forced myself to stand with one hand on the doorframe.

Every movement pulled at the burn across my back, but I stepped into the rain without slowing.