didn't lay a finger on me. He knew I'd tried to kill him and he had yet to hurt me. Maybe the events from the previous night were a terrible dream? But when my gaze fell on the music box laying on the nightstand, my breath hitched and I knew the nightmare had been real.
I reached for the small box and opened it. As I watched the little ballerina dance to the music, memories interchanged in distant flashbacks and my eyes filled with tears. Alessandro emerged from the balcony and our eyes met. I searched for traces of anger, but couldn't find any. His expression was grim and utterly undecipherable to me. He came closer and sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't say a word, but just gazed at me as I listened to the music.
“Where did you get this?” I asked in a small voice, unable to bear the palpable tension between us.
“Thrift store,” he said simply.
“Why?” I wondered, keeping my eyes glued to the ballerina.
He exhaled. “Because I know it meant a lot to you.”
I lifted my head and met Alessandro’s glistening gaze. Then, my eyes lowered to his forearm wrapped in bandages. I remembered the cut and gasped in surprise at the obvious damage. “Your arm...” I breathed, consumed by guilt.
He smirked, assessing the damage. “Don't worry, tesoro. I'll live. I've survived way worse than this.”
I looked away, reddening in shame because I knew what he meant.
“Porca miseria! Cara, I wasn't referring to the accident.”
I gulped and forced myself to glance his way. “When we return to New York, I will go to the police station and turn myself in,” I said in a feeble voice.
Alessandro’s jaw clenched. “You will do no such thing,” he asserted firmly.
“If you know, they know as well. I think they have known from the beginning. I'd rather go down quietly than be humiliated in front of the world,” I reasoned.
“Nobody is going to humiliate you, Olivia,” he said with absolute certainty.
“Alessandro, that's not the point,” I argued, closing the music box and gently holding it to my chest. “Justice must be served. I committed a crime and cannot escape the law.”
“The law?!” His voice rang with mockery. “What do we care for the law? We live by our own code. You know that.”
I froze. Their own code demanded him to kill me in cold blood and dump my body where no one would ever find it. What if I misinterpreted his intentions and he planned to make me pay for my offense after all? I caressed my slightly swollen belly and my eyes filled with fresh tears.
Alessandro swore under his breath. “Cara...”
“Please, Alessandro, I just ask for one thing,” I whispered through the painful lump in my throat. “If you’re going to kill me, do it once I have the baby. It's your flesh and blood. It didn't do anything wrong. P-Please...”
“Madre di Dio,” Alessandro said with so much raw emotion, that I was forced into obedient stillness. He went totally pale and made me meet his gaze. “Let's get one thing straight, Olivia. Nobody is going to touch you. Not one side or the other. I won't allow it!” he exclaimed with absolute conviction. “You have to stop stressing. It cannot be good for your pregnancy. Just focus on the baby and let me take care of the rest. I’m here to protect you, not to hurt you, capisci?”
“But I tried to kill you,” I reminded him.
“If I can live with that, why can't you?” he asked, his eyes boring straight into mine.
“Because it's wrong,” I said miserably, my voice cracking. “Because I didn't really want it to come to that.”
He shrugged. “Don't be so harsh on yourself. Nobody is perfect.”
I shook my head, unable to understand him. “How can you be so calm?”
“What do you want me to do?” he demanded faintly. “Do you want me to scream, shout, and break things? Is that going to fix anything?”
“No,” I said meekly.
“Don't get me wrong, cara,” he asserted, grabbing my shoulders in his firm grip. “Am I happy you did what you did? Of course not. I was fucking furious when I first realized it. But I’ve come to appreciate the fact I didn't leave you with much choice.”
I stared at him dumbly, the music box falling into my lap. “Why are you so understanding of the situation?” His lack of anger didn’t make any sense. “You could have been dead.”