CHAPTER 248: NEVER LET YOU GO

CHAPTER 248: NEVER LET YOU GO
"Thank you, Doctor," Rosa murmured softly, offering a quiet nod.

"I will leave you to rest," Dr. Vance said, walking toward the private elevator with his team.

Rosa patted Alexandro's arm gently. "Go sit with her, Alex. I am going to my room to pray." She turned and walked slowly down the corridor.

Alexandro and Maria pushed the heavy doors open and stepped back into the master bedroom.

The room was quiet once more, dominated by the soft, steady hiss of the high-flow oxygen mask strapped over Bella's nose and mouth. She looked paler now, drained of every drop of color, her frail body sunken slightly into the mattress after the trauma her nervous system had just endured.

Alexandro pulled the leather armchair right up to the side of the bed. He sat down heavily, leaning his elbows on his knees, staring at her motionless face. Maria pulled a small wooden chair to the opposite side of the mattress, dropping into it with a tired sigh.

For ten minutes, neither of them spoke. The only sound in the dark room was the rhythmic hiss of the oxygen unit.

"She loves you, you know," Maria said softly, her voice barely breaking the silence as she stared down at Bella's hand.

Alexandro didn't look up. "What?"

"Bella," Maria clarified, pulling her knees to her chest. "She loves you. I've known her for years, Alexandro. I've seen her wear dozens of faces, live under different names, run missions across different countries. But I have never seen her love a man. Not once. Until she met you."

Alexandro turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto Maria's weary face.

"That persona she used... Serafina," Maria continued, a faint, melancholic smile touching her lips. "It wasn't just a mask she put on to infiltrate your world. I've watched her slip into disguises for two years at a stretch, but with you... Serafina was the closest she ever came to being her true self. She was happy when she was with you. The favorite colors, the little quirks, the music—none of that was fake. She was living the life she wished she could have had."

Alexandro looked back at Bella, his chest tightening with an overwhelming, crushing weight. He reached out with a trembling hand, gently brushing his thumb across the back of Bella's cold knuckles.

Maria watched him closely, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What are your plans for her, Alexandro?"

Alexandro frowned, his brow pulling low. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you keeping her here?" Maria asked, her tone sharpening into something protective and defensive. "Are you holding her because she's a traitor in your world? Are you keeping her as a hostage because she spied on your syndicate? Or are you keeping her because you want her?"

She leaned forward, her voice trembling with raw, bitter intensity. "Bella has lived a horrifying, brutal life. She has bled for everyone else's war since she was a child. She doesn't need any more of this mafia bullshit. She deserves to be free."

Alexandro sat in absolute silence for a long, heavy moment. He stared down at Bella's face under the translucent oxygen mask, listening to the quiet hum of her breathing.

"I want her," Alexandro said, his voice dropping into a low, terrifyingly steady register. "I need her. And I will never let her go."

Maria stiffened instantly, a cold sneer curling her lip. She pulled back into her chair, shaking her head with deep disgust. "That is exactly what I fucking hate about men in your world. You are all so goddamn possessive. You hoard things, even when keeping them is against their best interest."

Alexandro tilted his head, his dark eyes observing the bitter, defensive posture Maria had taken. "That sounds awfully personal, Maria. You are generalizing quite a bit."

Maria let out a harsh, humorless laugh, looking away toward the window. She was thinking of her own father—a man whose possessive, violent control had destroyed everything he touched, treating women like property to be locked away. "I'm talking from experience."

"I will never hurt her," Alexandro stated flatly.

"It's not about what you think you will or won't do," Maria countered coldly, glaring at him. "Your actions will hurt her. Your world will hurt her. Look at her right now!"

"If I hurt her," Alexandro murmured, his lips curving into the faintest, darkest trace of a smirk, "I think we both know Bella is more than capable of putting a bullet through my chest. She won't let me get away with it."

Maria stared at him for a second, catching the silent, lethal truth in his words. A quiet, breathless laugh escaped her lips. "Yeah... that's probably true. She'd shoot you twice just to be sure."

Alexandro looked back at Bella, his fingers gently tightening around her cold hand.

He didn't care what Maria thought of him. He didn't care if the entire world viewed him as a monster, a tyrant, or a toxic, possessive mobster. The only opinion in this world he cared about belonged to the woman lying motionless on this bed. Bella was strong enough, wild enough, and lethal enough to make her own choices when she woke up.

But as he stared at her pale, quiet face, he knew one thing with absolute, unshakeable certainty.

He had let her walk away once. He had let her disappear into the shadows, and it had nearly cost her her life. It had left her broken, bleeding, and flatlining on a trauma room table. He was never making that mistake again.

Whether she fought him, cursed him, or pointed a gun at his heart, Alexandro D'Soto was never letting her go.