CHAPTER 22 (MARCO)

“Why were you looking in my desk yesterday, Aliyana?” She is standing in the middle of the room looking at me like I am puzzle.

“No reason.” I am not sure what I want her to say, but honesty is not going to be her best policy if she is to get out of this unscathed.

“There is always a reason, what do you want?” She is looking at me like I am more than just the man who hurt her and I am wondering how the fuck am I going to tell her that I have turned against everything I believe in for her. But first I need Aliyana to willingly give me back what she took.

“Maybe a pen.”

“Don’t play coy with me, there is fucking pens everywhere in the goddamn house and you walk all the way here? Try again!” I cross my arms and stand with my legs slightly parted.

“Maybe I like that one.”

“I am done playing nice, first you go behind my back and get Salvatore to snoop in my fucking house and still rant about it to your brother. Then you decide to play fucking Nancy Drew, Talk.”

She says nothing, and Camilla actually cringes, because she knows I am pissed,

“Camilla, get Guilia AND tell Xander to round up the guards and leave. I’ll message you later.”

“Marco…” Camilla mutters,

“NOW.” I bark and she jumps rushing out of the library. I don’t miss the look she gives me.

I walk slowly to the entrance and close the library door locking it. And then I walk to the only camera I keep hidden on the bookshelf and shut it off.

“Now, let’s start, again shall we?” She glares at me, “I’m not your meek wife, I told you I did nothing wrong.” Têxt belongs to .

“My house, my desk, I will judge if it is wrong or not. AND I don’t have a wife.”

I take off my suit jacket and place it on the brown leather chair and slowly remove my cufflinks, watching her in that fucking skin tight little skirt she decided to wear today, barefoot. My sleeves are rolled up as Aliyana’s eyes flick to the door and back to me.

“Don’t even fucking think about it.”

She glares at me and storms closer, “You are unreasonable right now, I told you why I was here, if you wanted no one in the Library, lock the door.”

“It’s my house! Why the fuck should I have to lock the door.”

She tightens her lips and I watch her nostrils flare, as she sees me take off my watch. Her green glare reminds me of a poisonous snake, waiting for its chance to attack.

“I am not scared of you.” I don’t want her to be scared of me, what I want is for her to give me what she took.

“Cut the crap Mezzosangue and tell me what you hiding.”

She looks like she might refuse, but something must come over her when she hears the car’s leaving.

“I will scream, Matteo will hear, I have a loud voice.” Shaking my head, I chuckle.

A step closer is all I take for her to realize how close she already is to me. I could grab her in a second, tackle her in two.

“Matteo left this morning to attend some business and make sure Salvatore gets his ass home.”

“You had no right sending him away.”

“I had every right and you know it, what you also know is you aren’t leaving here until you give me what you are hiding.”

“It doesn’t belong to you.”

“If it’s in my house, it very well fucking belongs to me,” I walk closer to her.

“You know what else belongs to me, Mezzosangue?”

“A shitty personality, because it sure as hell isn’t me,” She walks two steps backwards. Not quite what I want but I can work with that.

“How about this, you show me what it is and if it really isn’t mine, I’ll give it to you and you can run along.”

“But what if it is yours?”

“Then I will have to punish you. Stealing from me is a no-go zone.” I shrug my shoulders, looking at her flushed cheeks, and visibly moving chest.

“Punish, how?”

“Stop stalling and get it, because if I have to, it will be a worse punishment.”

She storms off and goes to the coat hanger by the end of the doorway and lifts it up, and what I see there makes me fucking ticked.

“You stole my journal,” I yell as the temper I was beginning to get under control rises with anger, betrayal, and something too dark to even put a word to. Is this how my life is going to be with Aliyana?

Will it be filled with betrayal?

“It’s not your journal, it belongs to Elladio.”

“And what if it is? Were you planning on giving it to him? What were you going to do? Dig his fucking grave up and perform a resurrection?” I walk closer to her and she grabs the journal close to her chest. There are things in there that she can never know, secrets that will put my entire plan into jeopardy.

“I was going to read it.” The thought of that causes me to lose my last thread of patience and I pounce. I make it to her in seconds grabbing onto her arm as she flees. I pull her with minimal effort, and Aliyana throws the journal and punches me in the throat. Pain is felt as my throat clogs, trying to catch my breath. I release her for a moment and it is all it takes when she runs for the door. I press the safety button I installed to shut the library and turn it into a panic room.

She tries the door and I hold my throat, trying to fucking breathe nicely.

“Open the fucking door.” She screams but no one is going anywhere.