War of A Rose

War of A Rose • Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen
Rosaelia

One flight of stairs. That was the only thing standing between me and my room. I just had to make it to the top and my room. I rounded the corner of the hallway. The bottom step stared up at me as I lifted my foot. Just as it landed on top of the marble, a hand slid around my wrist. For a moment, my heart stopped. Alessio had followed me. He had come to antagonize me further.

I sucked in a breath as I turned to face him. Grey eyes peered down at me. Niccolò stopped me. Not Alessio. Of course, Alessio did not follow me.

"Rosaelia?"

"Niccolò."

"What is wrong?" He searched my tear-soaked face for an answer, knowing that I would not give him one. There was only one person who had hurt me in this house. He knew that.

"Let go of me," I tugged my arm as he kept ahold of me, "Please."

His touch was gone instantly. He was not angry that I refused his touch. He hardly even reacted at all. He was too busy examining the bare skin of my body. When he didn't find a single mark on me his eyes returned to mine. "Are you okay?" That was all he could manage as his jaw tightened.

"Are any of us okay?" We stole and killed for a living. We're any of us truly okay with any of that? I did not know. I've never mourned any of the lives that I've taken. I hardly even allowed myself to grieve the men I've lost. My father has never grieved for anyone at all. Not even his brother. When my uncle and aunt died, no one grieved but my mom, Gabriele, and me. I swear to this day I never even saw a tear form in my father's eyes. He lost his brother and he acted as if it was just one of his men.

Niccolò didn't get a chance to answer me. I spun on my heels and climbed the stairs before he could. I didn't want to be around him right now. I didn't want to be around anyone. Not even myself.

Natalia came to pack my bags while I lay in bed drinking the night away. The liquor stopped burning weeks ago. It was the only way I could escape my mind. I was piss drunk by the time she had wrapped up and by the look on her face I knew that she considered me an embarrassment. She had advised me not to loot Alessio's liquor cabinet. Of course, I didn't give a shit about what she had to say. I told her to go fuck my husband and mind her own business. Her face turned as red as a baboon's ass as she tried to return to her room. I wouldn't let her by demanding that she pack my things for me or else we would be dealing with a very angry Alessio in the morning when I was not ready.

In all honesty, I just wanted to keep her busy. Reagan, Alessio was still going to be pissed off in the morning because I was going to show up piss drunk holding his favorite bottle, as Natalia called it, in my hands. It was three in the morning when she had finished with all the suitcases. She would have been done hours ago if it weren't for me waiting until she finished packing one before I informed her that I didn't care to take some of those items. The look on her face was worth it every single time.

Tears of frustration burned her eyes as she unzipped the suitcase and pulled out every single piece of clothing. I couldn't help but laugh each time although I knew that she was becoming infuriated with me. That only made it more amusing. Natalia wanted to rip into me and chew me out but every time she opened her mouth, it would snap shut again seconds later. She was terrified of me. Good.

I hadn't slept for a single moment the entire night. Even after she left me by myself. When she returned to gather me in the morning, I was in the same spot. "You should get dressed. Everyone else is already waiting on the plane. Niccolò is waiting for you in the car." Natalie carried the last of my bags out my door. Liliana and Alessio had already driven to the Airport. Leaving me with only the house staff and Niccolò. With plenty of opportunities to escape if I wanted to. Luckily for them, the alcohol in my system wasn't much motivation.