Chapter Eight: Terms and Conditions

Aria’s POV

“Marry me.”

For a second I genuinely thought Romano was joking, then I looked at his face and he clearly wasn’t. I stared at him, then I laughed, a long and real laugh, loud enough to echo across the balcony.

Romano didn’t react.

That was when my laughter slowly died.

“Oh my God.”

“I’m serious.”

“No.”

His expression remained unchanged.

“No?”

“No.” I folded my arms. “Absolutely not.”

Romano nodded once as if he had expected that answer.

“Fair.”

Fair? That was all he had to say?

I stared at him in disbelief.

“You can’t just ask someone to marry you like you’re offering them coffee.”

“It wasn’t coffee.”

“That isn’t the point.”

A faint look of amusement crossed his face. Unfortunately, it only made me more annoyed.

“Romano, I just ran away from my wedding.”

“I know.”

“My life is falling apart.”

“I know.”

“My fiancé cheated on me.”

“I know.”

“My apartment was broken into.”

“I know.”

I pointed at him.

“So why would marriage sound like a good idea right now?”

His expression hardened slightly.

“Because neither of us can afford better options.”

The answer irritated me immediately.

“There it is.”

“There what is?”

“The real reason.”

He stayed silent.

“You don’t want me.”

“No.”

The blunt answer caught me off guard and Romano sighed.

“I don’t want a wife.”

“That’s comforting.”

“I need one.”

The wind swept across the balcony. For the first time, Romano looked away from me.

“My father is forcing me to marry.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“The council believes the next leader should be married.”

“Why?”

“They think it proves stability.”

I blinked.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I agree.”

That surprised a laugh out of me, just a small one. Romano continued.

“If I refuse, they’ll begin preparing another successor.”

His voice became colder.

“I can’t allow that.”

The seriousness in his tone made me pause. For the first time, this didn’t sound like a rich man complaining about family pressure, it sounded personal.

“What happens if you lose?”

Romano was quiet for a moment.

“People who shouldn’t have power will gain it.”

The answer felt bigger than what he was saying, but I didn’t push. Not this time but instead, I shook my head.

“Even if all that is true, why me?”

His eyes met mine.

“Because you need something too.”

I hated that he was right, I immediately hated it.

“I don’t need a husband.”

“No.”

His gaze remained steady.

“You need protection.”

The words landed harder than they should have, because they were true.

I looked away.

“I can protect myself.”

“You couldn’t stay in your apartment.”

I flinched.

“You don’t know that.”

“Your apartment was searched.”

His voice stayed calm.

“Someone is watching you.”

I hated hearing it out loud, because hearing it made it real and I was already struggling to keep everything together. Romano took a step closer but not enough to invade my space. Just enough that I couldn’t ignore him.

“This doesn’t have to be permanent.”

I laughed bitterly.

“That makes it sound so much better.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Years of frustration suddenly burst to the surface.

“No.”

My voice cracked, then everything came out at once.

“I am tired.”

Romano’s expression changed slightly.

“I am tired of people leaving.”

I swallowed hard.

“Tired of losing people.”

The words came faster.

“Tired of pretending everything is fine.”

I laughed weakly.

“My parents died.”

I looked away.

“I spent years moving from house to house.”

A pause.

“I finally thought I had something stable.”

My chest tightened.

“And then Luca happened.”

I looked back at Romano.

“And now another man wants to marry me because it’s convenient.”

Silence followed from him, the city lights blurred slightly. I hated how emotional I sounded, I hated it. Romano didn’t interrupt, he didn’t try to fix it, didn’t tell me to calm down. He simply listened, which somehow made everything better. For a moment neither of us spoke.

Then Romano finally said,

“I know what it feels like.”

“No you don’t.”

His jaw tightened.

“My mother died because someone decided she was useful.”

The words stopped me. Romano looked out over the city.

“After that, everybody wanted something from me.”

His voice was quiet.

“Power.”

A pause.

“Loyalty.”

Another pause.

“Control.”

For the first time since meeting him, he looked tired, not physically but emotionally; and suddenly I realized something. Maybe we were both exhausted, but just in different ways.

The balcony doors opened, Dante stepped outside and he stopped immediately, then looked at me, then Romano, then back at me. His eyes narrowed.

“Why does it look like someone died?”

Neither of us answered and he frowned.

“What happened?”

Romano sighed.

“I proposed.”

Silence, complete silence then Dante’s stiff eyes blinked twice and fast.

“You what?”

“I proposed.”

Dante stared, then looked at me, then Romano, then me again.

“That might be the worst proposal in human history.”

I laughed, this time I actually laughed but Romano looked offended, which somehow made it funnier.

Dante shook his head.

“Please tell me she said no.”

“I did.”

“Good.”

“Thank you.”

Romano looked like he regretted involving Dante at all, the sight made something inside me feel lighter, just a little for the first time in days.

—————————————————————————————

The next morning Romano handed me a document in his office, I stared at it.

“What is this?”

“The contract.”

My eyebrows shot up.

“You already had one?”

“I had people prepare it.”

I looked horrified.

“You expected me to say yes?”

“No.”

“Then why make it?”

“Because I like being prepared.”

That sounded exactly like him.

Reluctantly, I sat down and opened it, then frowned, the contract wasn’t what I expected at all.

Separate bedrooms.

Freedom of movement.

No intimacy requirements.

No control over my personal finances.

No restrictions on my investigations.

No ownership.

No demands.

Just protection, public marriage and a time limit.

I read it twice, then a third time.

Romano remained silent the entire time, waiting. When I finally looked up, he was watching me carefully.

“That’s it?”

“What were you expecting?”

I thought about it.

Honestly? Something much worse.

“I’m taking this with me.”

He smiled and he watched me leave his office.

The rest of the day passed in a blur.

I ignored Luca’s constant messages, and Sonia’s too, i gnored the newspapers, I gnored everyone but I couldn’t ignore Romano.

Because no matter how hard I tried, one thought kept returning, Luca had promised forever and then betrayed me. Romano promised nothing, yet he had protected me every single day since we met. That realization followed me everywhere.

By midnight I was sitting alone in the library, unable to think about anything else, I didn’t know when I slept off in the library.

The next morning I woke up exhausted, my phone’s constant buzzing didn’t let me sleep anymore.

Unknown Number.

My stomach dropped immediately.

I opened it.

One message, just one.

YOU ARE STILL BEING WATCHED.

Fear crawled down my spine, I looked around instinctively, then hated myself for doing it, because whoever sent it was winning.

Slowly, I lowered the phone, and turned to see the contract lying on the floor, for the first time, Romano’s offer no longer sounded ridiculous, it sounded safe and like my only option, as his wife I have access to every sort of protection he gets and I need it in my investigation.

An hour later I stood outside his office. The contract in my hand felt heavier than it should have.

I knocked once.

“Come in.”

Romano barely looked up from the papers on his desk, when he did, his eyes went straight to my hand and he saw the contract. For a second I saw him freeze.

I walked forward and placed it in front of him, opening the last page. Signed.

For a second neither of us spoke, Romano stared at my signature, then at me. His expression was unreadable.

“I have conditions.”

One dark eyebrow lifted.

“Name them.”

I took a breath, a deep one; the kind people take before changing their lives forever.

Then I said:

“But yes.”

Silence.

Complete silence.

“I’ll marry you.”