Chapter 134
KATYA POV
"Don’t..." Roo whispered, reaching for her. He cupped her cheeks with both dried, bloody hands, thumbs brushing the tears she couldn’t stop. "Nonna, don’t cry. Please."
I stared. Because I didn’t think this boy—this cruel, sharp-edged, stubborn boy—knew how to be soft.
Yet here he was, holding her like she was made of sothing breakable. And worse... he looked breakable too.
Nonna leaned into his palms like she’d been waiting years for him to touch her with sothing other than defiance.
Her shoulders shook, her breath hitched, and for a mont she didn’t look like the feared matriarch of a mafia empire.
She looked like a grandmother who had lost too much. "I can’t lose you," she whispered, voice shaking. "Not you, Roo. Not you too."
His expression tightened—not angry this ti. Wounded. He pressed his forehead to her knee, fingers curling around her wrists.
"You won’t," he murmured. "I swear on my life, you won’t." I stood there, shocked.
Shocked that Roo cared this much.
Shocked that he even knew how.
Shocked that beneath all his violence and authority and cruelty... there was soone capable of love.
Capable of caring other than their shitty self. The guards who had been around quickly disappeared, pretending not to stare as they left, leaving just and Mr Antonio.
They both stayed like that—Nonna’s tears falling into his hair, Roo gripping her like she was the only anchor he had left. l
The entire courtyard felt suspended, pulled into their grief. They both began exchanging quite words in their native tongue. I could dispute what was said but it sounded comforting.
Nonna’s shaking eased, but tears still clung to her lashes. She lifted a trembling hand and placed it on Roo’s head.
"I’m sorry" she whispered. "I’m so sorry for my outburst earlier" Nonna seed to be apologizing for her giving Roo a slap but Roo didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t even breathe loudly.
He just stayed there—kneeling, silent, holding on to her.And for the first ti...I didn’t feel afraid of him.
I felt sorry for him.
And that realization unsettled more than anything else that had happened today.
Nonna’s breathing steadied more, it was still shaky, uneven, but no longer drowning in sobs.
Roo seed to notice before anyone else did.
He lifted his head, slowly, like the mont itself was fragile. He didn’t look like the terrifying heir everyone feared.
He just looked... tired. Tired in a way that felt older than both of us combined. He rose to his feet, movents controlled but heavy, and Nonna’s hand dragged briefly against his sleeve as if she didn’t want to lose contact.
He gently rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Let’s go inside, si?" he murmured. His voice was quieter than before—hoarse from too much emotion and too many unsaid things.
Nonna smiled at him before giving a small, slow nod. Roo turned to move behind her wheelchair and that was when his eyes t mine.
Just a split second. Barely long enough to an anything.
But the look...
It wasn’t anger. Wasn’t cruelty. Wasn’t even hate. It was unreadable. A storm with no sound.
Sothing sharp and vulnerable and guarded all at once—like he hated that I’d witnessed any of this, but couldn’t look away either.
My breath caught before I could stop it. Then the mont vanished.
Roo looked away first, stepping behind Nonna and gripping the wheelchair handles like he needed sothing to hold onto.
"Co," he told her softly, and began to push her toward the doors.
Mr. Antonio moved right after them, silent as always, his expression carved into stone. He didn’t look at . Not even once.
Not even in that usual quick, assessing way he does when he’s checking if I’m trouble. He simply followed Roo and Nonna inside like a shadow returning to its owner.
And then it was just... .
Standing alone in the courtyard, watching their figures disappear through the grand doors, swallowed by the mansion’s silence.
The echo of Nonna’s cries still clung to the air.
So did Roo’s pain.
And I stood there—motionless, unsure why my chest felt tight or why I couldn’t shake the feeling of abandonnt.
But the longer I stood there, the worse the feeling got. It hit slowly at first, like a faint sting I could ignore.
Then it settled in deeper... heavier... sharper. I knew Nonna had just broken down in front of her own grandson.
I knew she had every right to cling to him, to lean on him, to cry for him. I knew it wasn’t about .
But sohow... it still hurt.
Because when Roo wheeled her away, Nonna never looked back. Not even a glance.
Not a soft smile to reassure .
Not a frown to show she rembered I existed.
Not anything.
Just... nothing.
And I hated that I cared.
I hated that sothing so small—sothing that shouldn’t matter—burned inside my chest like this.
I wrapped my arms around myself, staring at the spot where the three of them had disappeared.
Why did I feel so... forgotten?
It wasn’t supposed to get to . She had just cried harder than I’d ever seen an elder cry. She had fallen apart.
Her mind, her heart, everything inside her had spiraled because she thought she might lose Roo the sa way she lost her son.
Of course she wouldn’t notice . Of course she wouldn’t think of in that mont.
Of course, she wouldn’t choose over her blood. But my brain understood it while my chest didn’t.
It stung anyway. Like so tiny cruel voice whispering:
You don’t belong with her. You’re not anything here. My throat tightened.
I shook my head quickly, trying to push the thoughts away. I wasn’t supposed to feel this selfish.
Not after what I’d just witnessed. But the truth was simple and ugly:
For all the ti I’d spent by her side—for all the mornings pushing her wheelchair, for all the tis I sat with her when no one else did—I thought maybe... maybe she’d see .
Even a little. But today proved a painful thing
I was still the outsider.
I was still the kidnapped girl, the enemy’s child, the extra piece that didn’t fit anywhere.
Roo had Nonna. Nonna had Roo. Antonio had them both.
And I... had no one.
The courtyard was too quiet now.Too wide.
Too empty.
I hugged myself tighter, feeling the cold settle into my bones even though the sun was still out. "Get it together," I muttered under my breath.
Because this wasn’t about .
It was never about .
†††
Poor Katya? Poor Roo? Poor nonna?
Poor everyone lol
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