The Devil Wearing Louboutins

**ELENA'S POV**

I couldn't deny that since we still were. We never got a divorce since I ran away the second the opportunity presented itself to me.

“And? We weren't a normal couple so why act like we actually have something to speak about?” I retorted.

Before he could respond, my attention was drawn to Rio, who tugged my hand again.

“Mama… mama, it hurts.”

I turned just in time to see him wobbling at my side. Then his knees buckled.

“Rio!!” I screamed my lungs out as I caught him before he hit the ground. It was then I noticed he was burning up.

“Aria!” I choked, kneeling, clutching my baby. “He’s burning—he’s—he’s burning up!”

Rio’s eyes fluttered. Then rolled back.

He went limp.

“No, no, no, no—baby, stay with me, please—” my voice broke into pieces. I tore open my bag, fumbling for the thermometer, his medicine—anything—but my fingers shook too badly.

“He needs a doctor. Now!” I said, scrambling to my feet while holding Rio.

Aria was already beside me, breathless as she carried Estelle on her hip. “We need Gloria—we need to get back to the village. Let's go!”

I didn’t hesitate as I cradled Rio’s overheated body to my chest and ran, forgetting everyone else.

“Hold on, baby, just hold on—” I kept muttering, trying my hardest not to cry.

As soon as I got up the path that led to the village, I was spun round, only to meet Alessandro's cold eyes.

“Let go of me!” I snarled. “He needs help!”

“I’m coming with you,” he barked, already dragging me toward the vehicles parked beneath the olive trees.

I twisted, trying to get him off me, but Rio whimpered in my arms. That sound alone stopped me.

Now wasn't the time to fight.

“Drive then.” I told before jumping into the backseat with Rio.

Without another word, Alessandro sped down the narrow dirt road toward the village.

“Please stay with me, baby. Please, please...” I kept whispering as I cradled Rio.

“Where’s the clinic?”

“By the church. White walls. Blue shutters. On the right.”

I didn't look at him. I didn’t care.

All I cared about was Rio.

As soon as the brakes screeched to a stop on arriving, I started screaming.

“Help! Gloria! It's Rio!”

~~~

“Here.”

I looked up to see Aria offer me a cup of water as I sat next to Rio on his bed.

He was sleeping while hooked on an IV drip. Gloria it was a sudden viral fever—dangerous, but not uncommon for children in the summer heat.

Coupled with the tension he had felt rolling off me, it triggered his body into a defensive mode.

It was no surprise that it did. Rio has always been sensitive.

The door opened and I turned my head to see that Alessandro had walked in. Now, under the clinic's bright lights, I could see him properly.

‘Does he not age?’ I asked myself as I took in his features.

He looked even more handsome than when I first saw him at the bakery. His black hair was a little longer now and the way it fell over his eyes only added to his appeal.

‘Snap out of it, Elena.’ I chided. ‘Get your hormones in check.’

“He's mine, isn't he?” Alessandro asked.

“No, he's not.” I responded dryly. “He's mine.”

Alessandro's face darkened before he spoke again.

“I'm the only one you've ever been with.”

I laughed, really laughed.

“Funny how you're so sure. I thought I was a slut who could never be satisfied with ten men at a go.” I retorted, staring at him dead in the eyes as I replied to him with his own words from long ago.

“Elena.” His voice was low now, quieter, but no less dangerous. “When he’s better... we’re going back.”

I inhaled sharply. “No.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not going back there with you. Not with my son. Not after—”

“You don’t have a choice.”

I clenched my fists to control myself from lunging at his sexy face. “He nearly died.”

Alessandro’s gaze dropped to Rio, his jaw tight. “Which is why you’re not running again. This life of yours nearly killed him. You think hiding in towers, sneaking onto boats, living off scraps—that’s safer?”

I blinked back sudden tears. How dare he question all I have done to raise Rio?

“You think you’re safe?” I hissed. “You’re the reason I left! Why should I stay with you when you swore to kill any child I would bear?!”

Silence.

He couldn't respond. Instead, he just turned and walked out, the soft click of the door the only sound left behind.

“Are you really going to return?” Aria asked me.

I breathed out the air I had been holding.

“Do I look like I want to? The moment Rio's fine, I'm gonna leave.” I told her.

I didn't want to go back to Palermo with Alessandro. I was able to escape once but twice would be terribly risky especially with Rio in tow.

“How's Estelle?”

“She's asleep. Gloria is with her.”

“Do you think he'd find you too?”

She didn't respond but she knew who I was referring to.

“Whatever the case, we need to find the rest of our team. That's the only way we'd be able to get out of this.”

“Any progress on your end?” She asked.

I shook my head. I was a damn good hacker if I do say so myself but Eden's network was on a freakishly new level.

“So, what do we do now?”

I didn't know how to respond. I was out of ideas. I could only hold Rio's hand tightly and try to think of my next moves.

“What if we went with Alessandro?”

My head whipped up to Aria, confused as to why she'd suggest that.

“Hacking into Eden's network would attract new eyes on us and we may become targets. If we're in Alessandro's estate, he'd be our human shield, long enough for us to plan our next escape and reach the others.”

She was right. Eden was a fortress with guards who acted like wild dogs. When I get in, I'd need a cover long enough to find the rest of my team.

“Okay,” I responded, agreeing with her. “Let's do that.”

~~~

The car slowed as the black iron gates of Alessandro's Palermo estate swung open.

It was just as I remembered.

Compared to the tower back in Greece, where the cliffs had smelled of salt and rosemary, here it was roses—deliberate, ornamental, too red.

They wound around marble columns and trimmed hedges in tight spirals like they had something to prove.

I couldn't help but remember the day Alessandro ordered me to weed his rose bushes with my bare hands. That incident made me come to hate roses and their smell.

I shifted Rio’s sleeping weight against my chest as the estate came into full view. Alessandro's fortress.

The villa itself rose like a crown from the grounds—white stone, terracotta tiles, windows that reflected everything but revealed nothing. Men in black dotted the driveway, sharp-eyed and wordless as they opened my door.

“Elena.”

I didn’t need to look to know it was Alessandro. His hand rested lightly on the small of my back which caused me to stiffen.

I refused to speak with him. Instead, I stepped out and held Rio tighter.

That's when I saw the devil wearing Louboutins.