𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 | +𝟏𝟖

𝟣𝟣

—

Alessandro and Matteo told me about what happened, and I couldn't be more jealous that I didn't get to watch.

But, she needed that time alone with them. We were getting her used to being exposed this way to us first, before taking it to another level. We wanted her to feel as comfortable as she could before we did anything else.

My arms were crossed over one another, Matteo stood on my left, with Elliot in Marella's room with her whilst we guarded the door.

"Put the book down and look at me, Marella." Elliot spoke, raising his voice. I listened carefully, hearing a thud just before the familiar, sweet voice took over the silence.

"Why would you do that? I..." Marella trailed off, sounding like she was going to say something but gave up. My gaze flickered to the bottom of the door, locked on the wooden planks underneath it.

Whatever was happening, it didn't sound like Marella was liking it.

Waiting a few moments for any more noise, I heard nothing. The silence worried me, so I knocked on the door.

It may not have been my place as a guard, but I needed to know what was going on. I heard a grunt from inside the room before the door was opened. I turned to my boss, who looked irritated. "Do you need something, Marciano?" He asked. I could tell by the way he used my last name that he wasn't happy.

"Just checking in, making sure everyone's okay." I replied, calmly. My back was still facing the wall, my head turned toward the door where he stood.

"Everything's fine. I was just leaving." Elliot pushed himself passed me before descending down the hallway.

I looked over my shoulder at Marella. She looked a mix of disappointed, nervous, and relieved. I caught the sight of one of her books on the ground, a few pages of it ripped from the spine. "You alright, Princess?" I asked. She merely nodded in response.

Looking toward Matteo, his eyebrows were furrowed in concern, though he kept his eyes on the wall across the hallway.

"I'm just going to close this now," Marella spoke softly as she walked over, pushing her door shut with a click.

—

As the season was slowly turning into spring, I noticed the small changes in Marella's wardrobe as the thick turned to thinner. As she spoke to Elliot, her white knitted sweater moved loosely with her arms, clearly a size too big for her. At the sight, I imagined her in one of my own sweaters. Obviously it'd be too large on her smaller frame, but the oversized look on a woman like her would be cute.

I stopped myself in my tracks. Why am I thinking about her like this? I hadn't thought of a woman this way in years.

She's not supposed to be cute to me.

But she is.

She has her wedding coming up soon, anyway. As much as I don't like seeing her with Elliot, she's getting married to the man.

"You thinking about last night? Me too." The familiar voice next to me spoke. I gave Matteo a pointed look. "Listen, I know you weren't there, but oh well. You'll have another time with her soon enough. You should've seen her though, it was more than sexy—"

Alessandro cleared his throat, interjecting Matteo's next words. He went silent.

"You three will take Marella into town today," Elliot started as he made his way closer to us. I held back my surprise as I'm aware that he barely lets her out of the Castle. "Do not let her out of your sight. She is not allowed to speak to anyone. You will speak for her, and stay by her side the entire time."

I flickered my gaze to Marella, her excitement evident in her expression beyond the strict rules.

"I am unable to take her today, which is the only reason I'm not going." He stated.

I nodded as he handed her off to us, headed toward his office room. She was excited for the day, yet once it kicked in that the three of us were all looking at her, she began to look nervous.

"Lead the way, Princess."

—

We ended up having Elliot's driver take us down. I hadn't been in the village for years as there was never any need for me to be here. It looked the same as I remembered it.

Marella's eyes lit up at the town, small homes and shops lined the area, a large forest at the very end of it all. She stepped out of the vehicle and instantly started walking where she desired. "Look at all the little homes, they're so cute." She softly spoke. I nearly cracked a smile at her adoration.

She beelined for the first shop in sight, an older woman on the other side of the large table. It was covered in scarfs, mittens, coats, and hats. They all looked handmade from yarn.

Even though spring was coming up, it was still chilly. And I could assume that these were made a while ago, but she hasn't been able to sell them.

Marella pointed to the pink hat and turned her head toward Matteo.

I was surprised that she hadn't looked toward me, as usually that would be her first instinct. Though, I wasn't disappointed, I was glad she was becoming closer with them, too.

"Can I get this one?" She asked him.

Matteo handed the old woman, who seemed shocked at the sight of us, some change. "The pink one," he said. Marella looked up at him with her eyebrows furrowed, Matteo looking back at her with the same amount of confusion. Once he realized, he cleared his throat, then added, "Please."

I smirked in amusement at how she got him to say that so easily. Though, if I were in his position, I would've done the same thing. You can't deny those pretty eyes.

What was I saying?

It's wrong for an attraction to her to start.

Before I could think more of it, she retrieved the hat and immediately put it on. "How does it look?" She asked with a smile, her voice slightly quiet, probably not comfortable enough to be too outgoing here.

"It looks great." I replied.

She looked so pretty.

Contently, she waved goodbye to the old woman and began her journey down to the next shop. I followed her knowing we were going to be here for a while.

But I couldn't complain.