Lethal Combination

Chapter 18

For a few hours after she collapsed in her room, Ainsdale continued sleeping as if she was put in a deep slumber by some spell. Well, in her case, it was not a spell but a drug which has not been widely distributed on the black market yet. Her fever did not subside and she could not take her medicine because she really wouldn't wake up no matter how much effort Alessio put in, so a fever relief pad was placed on her forehead to ease her fever a little. Nile and Khalil told him it was fine to just let her sleep, so he just let her be. It was her own body's way to recuperate from something without any outside interference. Lunch even passed by so slowly, which Alessio had skipped because he didn't have the appetite to eat after everything that happened. How can he swallow the food when he's worried down to his bone? The only thing that proved she was still breathing was the subtle movement of her chest which rose up and down.

Alessio remained in her room after everyone left. In fact, he almost took all the work he had to finish from his office in the manor up to her room on the second floor because he did not want to be so far away from her. Not just because of her present situation where her brother terrorises him almost every minute to check on her whereabouts, but due to the fact that he wanted to be near her. Simple as that. What if something happened to her again and no one was there to help her when she needed it? Her situation did not actually give her and those around her a choice but to wait idly for what was about to happen to her next, because until the neutralizer for the drug that had been injected into her system to counter it, her life would always hang from the edge of a cliff called death.

"AVII…" he called out to their security system and she appeared on the other side of the table where several documents were spread out in front of him.

The blue hologram looked at him straight in the eyes like a normal human being would. "Mr. Arcane, come posso essere di aiuto? (Mr. Arcane, how may I be of assistance?)"

"Puoi connettermi a mio cugino, Stefano? (Can you connect me to my cousin, Stefano?) I needed to talk to him. He seemed to have forgotten to fill me in on what was happening on his side ever since he left."

"Please wait for a moment while I try and contact him."

For a few minutes, silence settled in the room while he waited for his cousin to answer the call until Stefano's voice was heard through AVII's intercommunication system.

"Alessio?"

"Cosa ti ha trattenuto così a lungo? Sono già passati alcuni giorni da quando te ne sei andato. Ainsdale sta morendo. (What's been keeping you so long? It's already been a few days since you left. Ainsdale is dying.)"

"La struttura in Moldavia dove è stata condotta la produzione è stata svuotata senza lasciare quasi nessuna traccia. Quelli legati al governo che ne erano coinvolti devono aver immediatamente trasferito tutto dopo essere stati liberati dalle sbarre della prigione pochi mesi dopo il loro arresto. (The facility in Moldova where the production has been conducted has been emptied out with little to no trace left behind. The ones connected to the government who were involved with it must have immediately relocated everything after they were set free from prison bars a few months after their arrest.)"

Fuck! He cursed in his mind. That just has to happen right now when time is not on their side. "Where are you?"

"Lewis had given me a lead and asked me to follow it with the hope of getting close to the drug that I needed to retrieve for Ainsdale. I'm on my way to Kyrgyzstan. A spy from the organization who was deployed there due to another assignment reported an activity related to the drugs in question, so I'm on my way there to check."

"How long do you think it will take for you to get the neutralizer?"

"I cannot promise you anything, Alessio. All I can tell you is that I'm doing my all using my connection with the organization where Ainsdale and I used to work at to get it. A dirti la verità, penso che avessero in mente lei quando hanno creato la formula per il farmaco che è attualmente nel suo sistema. (To tell you the truth, I think they had her in mind when they made the formula for the drug that is currently in her system.)"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, so you still have no idea of what she's fully capable of," Stefano stated, his voice sounding like he was not surprised at all that until now his cousin still hadn't grasped yet how capable the woman under his wing was.

Alessio was aware that Ainsdale was different, that she couldn't be compared to anyone else because of how easy it was for her to keep all the stolen data from the family safe from those who wanted to have it in their hands. He had an akin idea of how capable she was by looking at the system she created, but really, that was all he knew about her capability.

"Alessio, you have the most dangerous woman under your wing. Someone who had people involved in the underground cowering in fear at the mere mention of her pseudo-name. Do you know why? Because she was someone who had taken down a whole plane just because her sole target was in it."

"What?"

Stefano chuckled. "And do you know what she said to our superior when she was questioned about her decision? She didn't mind killing a few innocents to save a hundred more. She is that kind of person. Even though she's a woman, she is someone whose assignments mostly involved assassination and she did it cleanly without any emotions involved."

"She was ordered every time, wasn't she?"

"Ordered? No. More of like being remunerated. Her salary depends on the level of danger her assignment has and all decisions involved in accomplishing it are made solely by her," Stefano explained, and Alessio found himself listening to his cousin intently as he processed all the information he was telling him about Ainsdale. "The name Aster brought fear even to those who were working within the organization, those directly connected to the government, because she had the ability to make people disappear without leaving a trace and everyone who was aware of her existence knew that she could burn the organization to the ground if she wanted to. Government officials who had something to hide were afraid of Aster. Hence, why they wanted her gone. Maybe the Black Lake incident was staged just as when she decided to resign from the organization to actually get her involved in it. I actually wondered why she saved me that night. Maybe because Lewis had asked her to. Because for sure, that was the first time she picked up her gun to save someone."

Alessio was speechless. He experienced it himself that Ainsdale could kill. If only she had not been suffering from Flagrare, she would have injured him more seriously that night. Maybe she could have even killed him.

"I owe her my life, so there is no way I will let her die. That is the only assurance I can give you."

"I need a timeline, Stefano," he told his cousin in almost a whisper.

He needed to know how long he would wait, because at least that would give him a little hope that Ainsdale still had a chance to get over what she was going through right now. He couldn't bear to live every day knowing that death was just by her side, waiting for her to break. It was actually quite funny because before, he didn't mind if death came knocking on his door. But then, here comes Aizen's sister Ainsdale, who came into his life to use him for her own gains and everything just became chaotic – may it be in his home, in his mind and in his heart.

"But I can't give you that. What happened exactly?"

He looked over at the sleeping woman in bed once again. "She collapsed this morning and is not waking up. Nile and Khalil said that she just needed to rest, but I can't help myself but worry."

"Non è naturale? (Isn't that natural?)"

"Cosa è naturale? (What is natural?)"

"Se sei innamorato di quella persona, è naturale che ti preoccupi per lei. È la natura umana. (If you're in love with the person, it's only natural for you to worry about her. It's human nature.) Ah, but then it was your first time falling in love with someone after little Euphrosyne, so maybe it was only natural for you to be a little out of it."

He had no words to retort at what his cousin said. What was he supposed to say? He could not deny it nor admit it to Stefano because he would find another reason to tease him. He was used to women pleasing him, not to a woman who almost did not want to ask him for anything. If he had to compare, Ainsdale was standing on the other side of the scale while the other women he knew were on the other, but still she weighed more compared to the rest of them.

"E con te che non dici niente di quello che ho appena detto, deve significare che lo fai davvero (And with you not saying anything about what I just said must mean that you really do)," Stefano joked as he chuckled to himself. "How many times have you actually called her by her name since you met each other? I bet it didn't even reach half of the fingers on your hand."

"What's that got to do with what I feel?"

"You always do that when you like a girl, you know? Ever since we were kids. I just thought you should know."

Alessio pursed his lips. Does he?

"Damn!" Stefano continued. His voice sounded excited for a reason and it was starting to irritate Alessio. "You must be feeling chaotic right now with her situation and everything and I kinda want to see you being miserable because of a woman who obviously shows you that she doesn't need your help."

"f**k you," he cursed at his cousin before he continued. "Here I am worried because of her situation, but you still have the guts to joke when everything is depending on your success in retrieving the drug she needed. If she dies under my care, I'll tell Aizen to send you where she is immediately," he retorted, and his cousin just laughed, not taking his words seriously.

"And where might that be? Wouldn't you get jealous if that happened?"

"Six feet underground, Stefano. Six feet underground."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time. No need to repeat that you're going to have me killed. As soon as I retrieve the neutralizer, I'll be heading back home immediately. Tell Ainsdale to hang on as long as she can," Stefano told him in a more serious tone before he said something in a foreign language. "I have to go."

"Do not forget to give me a call whenever necessary. I needed to know what's happening on your side."

"I'll update you whenever I can. Ciao!"

For a while after Stefano ended the call, Alessio was silent. His thoughts were as chaotic as before. From his seat, with a few documents in his hands, he glanced at Ainsdale on the bed. She is sleeping peacefully but she doesn't show any sign of waking up soon. Is she dreaming? Probably not. Because when she did, she was screaming and flailing in her sleep. It was certainly a nightmare. A few hours prior, he had to sit up beside her on the bed while he positioned her on his chest for her to be comfortable. He hugged her tight as he kept her calm by whispering soothing words in her ears, caressing her hair and kissing her head lightly in the process. It actually took a few minutes for her to settle down.

He never thought seeing a woman suffer from something he could not understand would hurt him too. It pained him to see her like that and he felt so useless as he remained by her side. Maybe it was a part of loving someone. You don't want to see them suffer because, for sure, you'd suffer yourself. Thinking back on the day he saw her laughing and smiling with his niece brought bitterness to his heart. He wanted to bring those days back. She was known to be strong by those who knew her. But right now, all he could see was a fragile woman who needed his protection even though she did not want it, as Stefano had pointed out. But even so, he would still protect her.

If only her brother Aizen could see him right now, he would definitely give him a weird look while thinking he had finally lost it. Forget about Aizen getting in between him and his sister. He would obviously question why he let himself be drowned in his emotions. Being the one who holds the Arcana as a whole in one place, he always has to keep his emotions in check to carry out his duties and responsibilities as the present head of the family.

Love is a word he had never once given any attention to. After all, before his path crossed with Aizen's sister, lust is what drives him to let his opposite s*x get closer to him. It is what restricted him from pushing the female populace who stuck out their all to him just so he would give them his attention in return. He never says no to the women who throw themselves at him. In fact, if he is in the mood to play, he lures them in with his words, gestures and money until they are all willing to do his bidding. He f****d them until they screamed his name in pleasure, but never once did he promise them his heart. They knew and they were aware of the consequences of getting involved with him, but still they hoped, though it was all in vain. And he never cared if they cried a river because of him.

They said a woman would be the downfall of a king. But he just laughed at that statement. That is before Aizen's sister came into his life. For Ainsdale… hell, she was a different case from the rest of them. He wanted to protect her, but she was strong enough not to depend on a man like him. He was ready to give her the world, but he knew that it was something she didn't need. He could readily offer her jewels, but as a Castiglione, she is overflowing with them. He wanted to promise her everything but she wasn't asking him for it. While his thoughts went from here to there, he bitterly realized for the first time that out of all the women out there, there was someone among them who could make him feel so useless.

He didn't know how much he frowned and then grimaced at how his thoughts went while he was alone with a sleeping Ainsdale in her room after everything that happened. He admitted to his own feelings after finally embracing it, but then his questions would suddenly ruin everything for him. Being someone who has a secret life, he had always welcomed the silence and the dark. But, the silence that surrounds him at the moment is almost suffocating him while he tortures himself with his own thoughts. He sighed and leaned back on the couch as he raised the documents in his hand to hide his face as he closed his eyes. Since when did everything become so complicated? Pondering on things such as feelings is just so not him at all.

"Scion?" A soft whispered voice called out to him, but through the silence he heard it clearly.

Ainsdale blinked and stared at the man sitting on the couch not too far away from her bed. Upon waking up, she was a little bit confused because her memory of what happened before she collapsed was a little bit hazy until she started to remember what happened. Remembering what happened on the night she and her grandfather met an accident brought an unwanted reaction to her nervous system and she blacked out. She is Euphrosyne. The one Alessio lost the night on his twelfth birthday. But somehow, she did not want to say a word about it. There are too many individuals involved in that accident and she is going to hunt them all down. She is going to take back everything they stole from her grandfather, Julio Simonetti. Nico and Frederic, the names that were engraved in her mind with so much contempt and repugnance. She was going to find them even if that was the last thing she would do. And the Euphrosyne who pushed her to her death? She is going to make her regret ever trying to steal her identity. She is going to play with their lives and even if they were already reduced to begging her to kill them, she would make them suffer a little more. But even so, that would not be enough to quench her thirst for revenge.

Alessio stared back at her without blinking, as if his eyes were deceiving him. "Margherita?" He said, wanting to confirm if she really was awake, but he didn't move from his seat. From there, he could see how her eyes portrayed a strong anger and hate, something that would make anyone flinch and cower. What is she thinking?

She smiles softly at him, successfully hiding her negative thoughts and emotions, but the mere effort of doing so tells him that she really is not feeling well. For a while, Alessio thought he might have seen wrong because the anger and hate in her eyes were gone in an instant.

"Mi chiamano ancora con nomi di fiori, vedo. (Still calling me flower names, I see.)"

He put all the papers he was holding down on the table before he stood up and walked towards her with steady strides.

"It's an endearment, cara. You should be used to it by now."

Alessio found himself smiling softly as he sat beside her and, with so much affection, he tucked her stray hair behind her ear. The gesture made her heart skip a beat and her face flush with a tinge of pink as she leaned into his touch, especially when he pulled her into his chest and she basked in the moment as she relaxed in his embrace. How can someone as dangerous as him be so gentle? Why does she feel so safe in his embrace? And when was it that she acted as vulnerable as she is now? She didn't know. After all, she was used to doing and bearing everything alone as long as she could.

"You are still burning."

"Hmm."

"Are you feeling dizzy?"

"A little. Maybe because I haven't eaten anything from breakfast to lunch because of what happened. What time is it?"

Alessio glanced at his wristwatch before answering her. "Sono già le tre e mezza del pomeriggio. (It's already half past three in the afternoon.) Would you like me to ask someone from the kitchen to have your food prepared? You needed to eat since you had medicine that you needed to take."

"Yes. Lo apprezzerei molto. (I would very much appreciate it.) Thank you."

"Is there something you would like to eat in particular?"

"Pastina and te al limone."

"AVII..." Alessio then called out to their security system, whose hologram appeared almost immediately after the call.

"Greetings Mr. Arcane, Ms. Castiglione. How may I be of assistance to both of you?"

"Is there anyone in the kitchen right now?"

"None at the moment. The kitchen staff are all in their assigned quarters."

"Can I talk to the head chef?"

"Of course. Please wait for a while."

A small hologram screen appeared beside AVII and there he saw Mr. Mancini, who looked surprised at the sudden call.

"Signore Alessandro, c'è qualcosa in cui posso aiutarla? (Sir Alessandro, is there something I can help you with?)"

"Mi scuso se ho dovuto farti lavorare tra un orario e l'altro, ma puoi fare la pastina e il te al limone? La mia fidanzata, Euphrosyne, voleva mangiarlo in particolare. (I apologize if I had to make you work in between your work schedule, but can you make pastina and te al limone? My fiancee, Euphrosyne, wanted to eat that in particular.)"

"Lo preparo immediatamente, signore. (I'll have it ready immediately, sir.)"

"Thank you."

Ainsdale smiled at the thought that Alessio is a man who apologizes when he thinks of inconveniencing other people. For a man involved in an underground activity, he is well mannered.

Alessio observed that her eyes didn't have the gleam they used to have and she looked paler than she used to be. From the collar of her shirt which slipped just a little from her shoulder, he could see the darkened veins on her skin which had already spread out a little more compared to before he first saw it. They were glaring at him, telling him that his effort to help her get through the situation she was in was not nearly enough. He felt like it was telling him that the woman caged in his embrace would disappear soon if he didn't do something about it.

"Did my room become your new office somehow? Should I start packing?" She joked as she glanced over the documents spread over the top of the center table in her room.

"Maybe you should. After all, my room is too large for one person to occupy. The cabinet still has space for your clothes and my bed still has space waiting for you to fill in."

"And how long have you been using it?"

He paused and acted like he thought about it for a moment. "A while."

She raised her left eyebrow in question. "And how many months would your 'a while' mean?"

"Few years," he answered with a laugh.

"And you just came to realize that your room was too large for you to occupy it alone?"

"You weren't here to begin with, so yeah," Alessio answered directly without shame.

She chuckled at that. Alessio could really be smooth with his words if he wanted to. No wonder why many women fall for him despite his heart being closed off. He could make one feel like they are loved and are being cared about without making any promises by just his words and gestures that seemed to be natural for him. Those women who became a part of his life, though only to fill his lustful needs, all went through the same struggles at loving him. But then maybe they fell in love with his power and wealth and not him. Who knows?

"How are you?"

Ainsdale closed her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Said by the one who collapsed and has been sleeping for a few hours afterwards. You think I'll believe that?"

"What do you want to hear from me then?"

"The truth."

At that, Ainsdale opened her eyes and made herself busy by playing with his shirt, but Alessio had another plan and held her hand with his. She did not want to look up and stare at him because she could feel he was digging holes in her skull with his eyes for the reason that he knew she was lying when she said she was fine. After all, there is no way she is fine. No matter how much she lies, she is suffering. With the way she looks right now compared to the day they kidnapped her from the underground parking area of the company owned by the Castigliones, she is obviously sick. No matter how hard she wanted to act strong in front of those who knew her, they'd certainly see the difference.

"Can't you depend on me just a little?" He asked in a whisper when she did not say anything. He almost sounded like he was begging her to do so.

"Perché? Non era che fossimo imparentati. Non siamo nemmeno amanti. (Why? It was not like we were related. We are not even lovers.) I came here to use you, Scion. Do not forget that. We are just two consenting adults who let ourselves play in the fire twice. We craved each other's touch and we caressed each other the other night, but is there something between us that was more than that? Do not mistake lust for love, Scion."

Alessio became upset at her words and he felt like a knife had been stabbed right into his heart and twisted it. She was not cursing him, but damn how her words hurt him so badly the second they left her lips? While he had been loving her genuinely, something which he let himself feel for the first time towards a woman, had she been thinking all this time that all he felt towards her was lust? Is that why she was still so closed off, like he was a complete stranger to her? Is that why she still has her guard up despite her being under his wing for quite a while?

"Lust?" He asked her, his words held the hurt he was feeling at the moment and Ainsdale had just become aware of it. She had bitten her lips as guilt ate her conscience, but she had chosen not to say a word. "You think what I felt towards you was just lust? Sure, I craved to touch you in more ways than one, but that was not completely it. Did I somehow have some shortcomings when it came to showing that I care about you? That I like you in ways I've never liked anyone before? Ainsdale, I love you. I am in love with you. Do I have to shout the words for my feelings to reach you?"

"Why?"

For a moment, Alessio was dumbfounded. Here he was, confessing, letting her know about what he truly felt for her and she was still questioning him. It's as if there's a wall between them and he fails to take it down every time. After he made a crack, the wall would just repair itself immediately, rendering his efforts to tear it down useless. If it was any other woman, she would have already cried with tears of joy because he had finally fallen. But he had to remember that Ainsdale was not one of them. That she was an entirely different kind of woman. If actions would not easily make her accept one's feelings for her, mere words would certainly do nothing but just serve as a decoration to the actions done.

"You were asking me why I love you?" He whispered, trying to find the right words to tell her. How can he actually reassure her? "Agatea, I can't tell you why. I just do."

For a while, Ainsdale remained tight-lipped and Alessio waited for what she was going to retort to what he said. And while she distracted herself with just anything she could do in his embrace, he gently caressed her arm innocently without any dark and lustful thoughts occupying his mind. He's actually focused on their conversation more than anything else and what will be the outcome of it.

"Compared to the women who were once in your life, I'm not virtuous, Scion. My hands were covered in blood, both from innocents and not," she admitted to him.

Maybe he already had an akin idea of who she really was, but he needed to know about what she was capable of doing. That if she had to kill innocent people, she would do so without any second thoughts or regrets.

"And you think mine was clean?" He asked, wondering why their conversation turned from him admitting what he felt towards her killing people. "Garofano, my hands are painted red too."

"I will still kill in the future."

"If you think that will turn me off, it won't."

"Maybe I'll even kill a few innocents the way I did before when I still carry the name Aster."

"Ainsdale..." he said as he held onto her jaw to make her look up at him in the eye. "I don't care who you kill... or what kind of sin you commit. You can do whatever you want. As long as you do it by my side."

She stared at him without blinking until she frowned as if she didn't exactly know what to tell him at that moment.

"Thank you?"

He laughed. "Why are you thanking me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Because you told me you loved me. But I can't tell you back those words, Scion. I..." she bit her lip and stopped in the middle of saying something.

"I know, mio caro (my dear)," he told her. He lightly kissed her the top of her head and pulled her a little closer to him. "And I'm willing to wait for the day that you finally can," he continued, and then paused for a while when he thought of something. "Maybe the correct statement would be, I'll make you say that you love me one day."