Chapter Four: Fire and Oaths
1089 Words
Eliana didn’t sleep that night.
Even after the gunshots had stopped, even after the shattered glass was swept away, even after Alessandro posted guards outside every door—her mind couldn’t rest.
The echo of the bullets still rang in her ears.
The weight of his body shielding hers still lingered on her skin.
And the truth of her situation finally began to burn through the shock.
She wasn’t just a nurse anymore.
She was a target.
And she was his wife.
Fake or not, the world saw her as his. And that meant bullets had her name on them now.
She stood by the window of her suite, arms wrapped around her ribs. The courtyard below was quiet, bathed in moonlight and shadows. Armed men moved along the walls like silent phantoms.
“Can’t sleep?” came a deep voice behind her.
She didn’t turn. “Do you ever knock?”
“I do,” Alessandro said as he stepped in. “Just not when I’m worried you might be having a breakdown.”
“I’m not,” she replied. “Not yet.”
He walked toward her slowly. No suit jacket this time—just a black shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows, revealing bandages beneath. His wound still healing. A reminder of how they met.
“How often does this happen?” she asked quietly. “People trying to kill you.”
“Often enough that I know the sound of a sniper rifle better than a lullaby.”
She turned to face him. “And me? I’m just… part of the fallout?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You’re part of the reason they’re desperate.”
“Why?”
“Because I did something they didn’t expect,” he said. “I trusted someone outside the family. I married her. I let her see me bleed.”
Eliana’s heart pounded.
“Don’t make me out to be more than I am, Alessandro. I didn’t marry you for trust or protection. I did it to stay alive.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
For a long moment, they stood in silence. Tension thick between them.
Then Alessandro stepped forward and gently took her hand. “Come with me.”
“To where?”
He didn’t answer.
---
They drove in silence. Just the two of them. His guards followed in an SUV behind, but Eliana didn’t ask questions. She didn’t want answers—not yet.
The car stopped near the edge of the city, where warehouses kissed the waterfront. Alessandro led her through a locked gate and up a flight of rusted stairs. When he pushed open the door, the scent of old wood and sea salt hit her nose.
Inside was a loft. Empty. Quiet. And beautiful in its own strange way—exposed brick, faded paint, and floor-to-ceiling windows that opened to a view of the ocean.
“This place is yours?” she asked.
“It was my mother’s,” he said. “Before she died.”
Eliana turned to him slowly. “You don’t talk about her.”
“I don’t talk about anything,” he replied with a faint smirk. “But this… I wanted to show you.”
He walked across the space and picked up a photo from a dusty shelf. A woman with dark curls and warm eyes smiled back.
“She hated what we were becoming,” he said quietly. “The violence. The blood. She begged my father to leave it behind.”
“Did he?”
“No.” Alessandro’s voice turned bitter. “He let her die instead. Not directly. But he made enemies. And when someone finally came for her, he was too late.”
Eliana took the photo from his hands and studied the woman’s face. “You look like her.”
Alessandro didn’t reply.
After a moment, she said, “Why bring me here?”
He met her eyes. “Because I want you to know I’m not just the man with a gun. I’m also the boy who watched the only person he loved bleed out on this floor.”
Eliana’s throat tightened.
“You think I’m arrogant,” he said. “And I am. I’ve built walls no one’s ever touched. Until you.”
She took a step closer. “You terrify me.”
“Good,” he said. “Because you terrify me.”
Silence stretched again.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.
Her eyes widened. “What’s that?”
“I figured if we’re going to lie to the world, we might as well wear the part.”
Inside the box sat a ring—sleek, elegant, with a single ruby surrounded by dark gold. It looked nothing like the simple band she wore now.
“This is real,” he said, pressing it into her palm. “You don’t have to wear it. But I wanted you to have it.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know where this ends. But if something happens to me, I want the world to know I gave you everything I could.”
Eliana stared at him.
“No one’s ever given me anything like this,” she said.
“No one’s ever earned it,” he replied.
Slowly, she slid the ring onto her finger.
And for a moment, she didn’t feel like a nurse pretending to be a mafia wife.
She felt like someone he’d chosen.
---
The moment didn’t last.
As they stepped back into the car, Matteo was already waiting with grim news.
“We found a body near the estate wall,” he said. “One of the shooters. Tattoo on his wrist confirms he’s with the Armano syndicate.”
Alessandro tensed. “They’re crossing lines.”
“It gets worse,” Matteo continued. “The other shooter escaped, but we found something on the dead one. A phone. Unlocked.”
He handed Alessandro the phone. The screen showed a photo message.
A photo of Eliana.
Alone.
Taken two days before.
Eliana’s heart dropped.
“They’ve been watching me.”
“Longer than we thought,” Alessandro said, voice cold as ice. “This isn’t just retaliation. They’ve been planning this.”
She looked at him, the ruby on her hand catching the light.
“What does this mean?” she asked.
He looked at her, jaw set.
“It means this marriage… just became real.”
- Writer
