Chapter 58

LUCA

I was about a second away from burning the entire world down.

The thought of my ~destino~ out in the world and vulnerable was clouding my ability to think clearly; my thoughts revolved around finding Freya and never letting her out of my sight.

In the back of my mind, common sense was telling me none of these people here deserved my anger—especially not Matteo and Elio, who had cared for my ~destino~ when I couldn’t.

But that didn’t stop me from nearly grabbing Elio and throwing him across the room when he didn’t immediately tell me what I wanted to know.

“It’s my fault, Don,” he repeated, stepping in. “I left her.”

“Elio,” Matteo said sharply.

He jumped in front of him, locking him from my view.

“I ordered Elio to leave,” he explained. “You can’t blame him.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about blame! Tell me where she ~is~,” I spat.

They exchanged worried glances before Matteo opened his mouth.

“When we found you and that girl yesterday, I knew we needed to get her away from here. She…she wasn’t doing well, Don.”

I remembered her face when she had walked in and witnessed what she thought was me binding myself with someone else.

She had been beyond sad—she had been devastated.

Matteo swallowed roughly before continuing. “I told her to go with Elio so I could stay here and figure out what the hell was going on with you. I knew something was wrong. Elio was going to take her wherever she wanted to go, somewhere you couldn’t find her.”

“But then something happened,” Elio interjected. “It wasn’t you who was in control of your body but Antonio. He had injected you with mind control serum.”

“I remember,” I said curtly, “I was there.”

“What you ~don’t~ remember is what happened after Antonio escaped.”

Matteo stepped in front of Elio protectively.

“You were unconscious for hours. We didn’t know if you were going to live, so we had to make some hard decisions for you. Freya, well…” He paused, nervously looking over at the Rossis and then back at me.

“We ordered him to leave her,” King Zefiro finished.

My head snapped toward him.

~They did what?~

“We thought it would be best for her and for your family if she wasn’t here for the battle.”

My anger spiked. I tilted my head to the side, approaching him slowly, like a deer in the forest I was about to pounce on.

“And you thought that was your decision to make, Rossi?”

Zefiro met my gaze straight on. “She wouldn’t be safe here. Antonio knows she is your weakness. We already know he is willing to hurt her to get to you. He wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if the opportunity presented itself during battle.”

I considered his words as I stopped in front of him, breathing heavily. Somewhere deep down, the logical part of me knew he was right.

Antonio was willing to kill anyone who stood in his way, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would look for Freya and use her to lure and kill me.

But even knowing that, the compulsion to find her and never let her leave my side again was unbelievable, almost blinding me to sense. Her feelings were tangible, sitting on my chest, constricting my lungs.

I imagine that she felt broken, alone, confused—most of all unlovable, as if she were responsible for all the people who had abandoned her.

Everyone she cared for and she thought cared for her all eventually left in one way or another: Her father, who had died and left her to fend for herself… Her mother, who had gone to build a new family… Elio and Matteo, who had promised to stay until reneging at the last minute…

And me. She especially thought of me.

She was going over our months together, all the things she thought she’d done wrong.

She had come to the conclusion that she had pushed me away.

She thought she had done something to make me stop loving her, just as everyone had stopped loving her, no matter how hard she’d tried to keep them happy.

She was probably building a wall in her mind, brick by brick, to ensure that no one had access to her heart or the ability to hurt her ever again.

She was also unwittingly cutting off ~my~ access to her, making it impossible for me to know what she was feeling or how to find her. She thought our bond was broken, but it wasn’t.

She thought she was protecting herself by runningblocking herself off, but she was only weakening our already struggling bond.

She needed me by her side, and soon, or she would become weak and sick.

It could even kill her—not for a while, probably a few months, but ultimately. But not if Antonio killed her first.

The bond wouldn’t even get the chance to hurt Freya if Antonio found her tomorrow.

And he would, inevitably, find her: he was smart, he would figure out where I was hiding her if I brought her here.

Then he would hold her hostage, persuading me to do whatever he wanted.

I knew then that the only way to keep her and the family safe would be to send her away.

It would be hard, but I would put someone in charge of caring for her until the battle was over.

I studied Zefiro. He looked much too small to be the Rossi king. My anger was dissolving.

“You will ~never~ make a decision concerning my ~destino~ ever again, do you hear me?”

Zefiro scowled, most likely annoyed by my disrespectful manner, and didn’t answer.

I sighed. I didn’t want to admit what I was about to do.

“But the decision you made was the right one. Although I would have liked to see my ~destino~ and explain it to her beforehand, I agree with the choice. Your doing that now has saved me the pain of having to let her go.”

Zefiro waited a moment before speaking. “You’re a good leader, Don Luca. I am sure you would have elected to do the same, had you had the chance.”

I could only hope so. I turned to Elio, who straightened the moment our eyes met.

“You know where she is?” I asked.

“I think so. We made a plan before parting ways.”

“Good. Then you will go to her,” I said. “You will find my ~destino~ and keep her safe, call me the moment you have her in your sights.”

Matteo seemed nervous. I paused.

I hadn’t considered the fact that Elio was his ~destino~ and I was sending him away with a devastating war coming.

“Is this okay?” I asked him.

Matteo sighed and nodded glumly. “He’ll be safer there than here,” he muttered.

He took Elio’s hand and squeezed it. Elio smiled sadly. They both knew that this could be the last time they saw each other.

“Very well.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll meet you wherever you are when the battle is over, Elio. For now, you will say your goodbyes and go alone.”

Elio had not let go of Matteo’s hand.

“Yes, Don.”

I averted my gaze as they embraced and whispered their goodbyes.

It wasn’t long before Elio was out the door and Matteo was looking back at me determinedly.

But something made me pause and do a double-take.

Matteo’s eyes were darkening, almost like he was slipping out of his body.

“Matteo?” I asked. “What’s happening to you?”