Chapter 54

MATTEO

“Help him,” a deep voice said from across the room.

The face of a very small girl was suddenly in front of me. She was obviously not the owner of the deep voice. She knelt above me. She had short brown hair and on her collar was the Rossi crest.

Great, I thought to myself, accepting death, another one.

“Hi there,” her squeaky voice said, “you can move now.”

My body relaxed as Antonio’s power was released from my mind.

Was she really helping me? Or was this a trap?

I groaned loudly in relief but regretted it immediately as pain traveled through my body.

It felt like I had been working out for three days straight, sore and weak from my own commands. Even though I was relieved that I could move again, the small Rossi girl kneeling above me became my main focus.

My hand immediately went to the spot where I had been injected.

“Was that where he injected you with the serum?” she asked as she touched my hand.

I nodded.

“Here, let me help.”

“Don’t touch me, Rossi,” I spat, leaning away from her. “Are you here to aid Antonio?”

“Dear Lord, no,” she smiled brightly. “I’m one of the good guys.”

I didn’t have time to fully process what that meant. Grunting and yelling could be heard outside the room in the hall.

~Shit, what happened to Antonio? Did he get away? Is he hurting ~family~ members?~

I tried to sit up.

“Where’s Antonio?” I asked hoarsely.

Then I remembered Luca.

“The Don,” I gasped.

“Take it easy,” the girl soothed me. “You can’t handle being agitated, you almost died there.”

The girl gasped as I grunted in pain and tried to stand.

“Oh, no! You shouldn’t do that!” She put her hands to my chest and pushed me down onto my back once again.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I said.

“Oh, wow, you’re strong,” she said as I struggled against her, “but you’ve got to stop moving.”

“Look,” she said, and I could detect worry in her voice, “I need you to stop moving so we can treat your injuries.”

My vision was starting to blur. I shut my eyes tightly.

“I can see you’ve been through a lot,” she said, “but you don’t need to worry anymore. At least, not about me.”

I didn’t care what she thought. I needed to find my Don. I needed to protect him.”

Suddenly, she covered my face with a mask.

“What are you doing to me?” I snapped.

“You need oxygen,” she explained.

Slowly, my head steadied as the oxygen flooded my brain again.

“Give it a second,” she said. Suddenly, the pain stopped. I was starting to feel normal again. The room stopped spinning.

My muscles loosened.

My vision cleared. Energy flowed through me. I felt better. The life was coming back to my body.

“You can say thank you now,” the girl teased.

“For what?”

“For saving your life.”

I propped myself up on my elbows.

The girl put out her hand for me to shake.

“Amelia Rossi. Everyone calls me Minnie. King Zefiro’s fourth child and the royal doctor.”

When I didn’t grab her hand, she took mine.

“You must be Matteo King, the Destro of the Conti family. I’m so excited to meet you.”

I was stunned, to say the least. She knew who I was. Was it bad that I had never heard of her?

“Uh, yeah, same here. You’ve got one thing wrong, though. I’m the Atteso, not the Destro. Angelina Johnson is the Destro.”

Minnie shook her head.

“I’m not wrong. You’re the true Destro of this family. Angelina Aude…”

She emphasized the last name, which I had never heard attached to Angelina before.

“…used Antonio’s mind control powers to become the Destro but doesn’t actually deserve the title. I should know. She’s my second cousin.”

~What?~

“Wait… Angelina is a Rossi?”

“Technically yes,” Minnie said. “She just goes by her father’s last name.”

Minnie frowned.

“Her father is—well, ~was~—Destro Carlo Medici. He was taken into the Rossi family.”

I was trying to wrap my head around all this.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. Back up. Angelina’s dad is Carlo Medici? Like, ~the~ Carlo Medici?”

Minnie didn’t get to respond.

There was the sound of breaking glass somewhere in the house.

Minnie glanced over her shoulder, and I was on my feet.

That could only mean one thing.

“More Rossis,” I said.

“And not the good kind,” said Minnie, following me out toward the noise, “This may not be the best time to talk about the good ol’ family tree.”

My heart was pounding as we came across a broken window on the third floor of the house. People crowded around in their pajamas, probably woken by the noise.

“Everyone back to your rooms!” I commanded.

They had no choice but to obey me, especially because I was Atteso—well, Destro.

The authority rested with me when the Don was incapacitated, which he very much was right now.

I texted the rest of the family, telling them to stay inside until further notice. I could hear everyone scampering for cover in their rooms. I had probably scared them and even woken some of them up, but I didn’t care as long as they were safe.

“Whoa,” murmured Minnie, “that’s pretty cool. I can never get anyone to listen to me.”

Ignoring the constant commentary, I ran to the window and looked down to the forest floor.

Someone had obviously fallen out of it, breaking it in the process.

In the snow was Luca’s body. Standing over him was Antonio Rossi.

He was fighting another man with the same dark hair, wearing the royal attire of the Rossis.

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

Zefiro Rossi, king of the Rossi family, was on my family’s land, helping us. I could be one of two things right now: Ecstatic that he had obviously received my letter and come to help.

Or terrified that the two most powerful Rossis were having it out on my front lawn.