Chapter 118: Pacify Her

**Althaia**

I stared at the phone in my hand, not too sure if I should take the call or not. I didn’t want to talk to him but I kept thinking maybe something had happened to my father and he was calling to let me know. I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart and hoped there wasn’t anything serious.

“Hello?”

“Althaia! Are you okay?!” He asked frantically, making me frown as to why he was reacting this way.

“I’m okay.” I said, confused.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone? I thought something happened to you!” His voice was laced with frustration but also a relief.

“I was getting ready and didn’t have my phone on me… Is everything okay? Did anything happen to my dad?”

“Listen, I need to talk to you. Can I see you tonight?”

“We can’t.”

“Thaia, please… I know I said some fucked up shit to you and I’m sorry. I really am but I need to see you.” He sounded almost desperate.

“I can’t, Michael. I’m not in the states right now…” I muttered out.

“What? What do you mean you’re not in the states?”

“I’m in Italy.” I said and took a seat on the bed.

“Why? With who…” His voice faded as he realized with whom.

“I’m visiting his family.” He went quiet when I said that and for some reason, I was nervous about his reaction. Not that it would matter what he thought but I didn’t want to hear another hurtful comment from him.

“…Did he propose to you?” His question was barely auditable, and I bit my lip nervously before taking a deep breath. If he wasn’t going to be happy for me then there was no reason for him to be in my life anymore.

“He did. We’re engaged.” I heard him let out a breath and I couldn’t help it as my heart ached for him. To know his feelings for me and to get such news must be heartbreaking. I didn’t want to hurt him. He was one of my best friends after all. But I couldn’t return those feelings he had for me.

“Congratulations…” He mumbled.

“Thank you, Michael.” I stood up and turned around, seeing Damiano was standing by the doorway, looking at me with his blank expression.

“Listen, I have to go but I will talk to you when I can.” I said to Michael.

“Wait -.” I didn’t wait and hung up the phone.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.”

“Eavesdropping, are we now?” I raised a brow at him teasingly as I walked up to him.

“No, I came to give you this but didn’t want to interrupt your phone call.” He handed me the jewelry box I had bought with his mother.

“Oh, okay. Well, now that you’re here can you help me with my dress? I need you to zip it up.” He gave a nod and I went to grab my dress.

“What did he want?” Damiano asked while he was zipping me up. I looked at him over my shoulder and shrugged.

“I don’t know. He asked if we could meet up but I said I couldn’t.” I didn’t give it much thought as I fixed the matching gloves that came with the dress. Damiano didn’t ask anything further and I turned around to face him once he was done.

“Is there something wrong?” He was unusually quiet when it came to Michael.

“No.” He smiled softly as he wrapped his arms around me. “You look beautiful as always, Mrs. Bellavia.” He said quietly and leaned down to place a soft kiss on my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, making me forget all about Michael.

“I have one more thing for you.” He pulled out a black garter band. Before I could tease him about it, he pulled something else out, having me look at him in surprise.

“It’s an OTF knife. Keep it on you at all times when you’re there.” He kneeled and slid the garter band on me and placed the knife securely into the band.

“It eases my mind if you have something to defend yourself with. And no, you’re not getting a gun. Not yet. You handle the knife better.” He immediately said when I was about to ask him. But he was right. I was better with a knife than with a gun at the moment.

“Ready?” I nodded and he took my hand, leading me downstairs.

“Are you coming as well?” I asked when we got outside, seeing cars ready to take us.

“No, it’s ladies’ night.”

“I see. What are you doing then?” He shrugged and stuffed his hand inside his pockets.

“Probably get a tattoo.” He suddenly smirked and looked out of the corner of his eye, seeing his Nonna and mother make an appearance.

“You will do no such thing!” Nonna erupted and smacked Damiano’s head with her clutch. I put my hands up to my mouth to not burst out in laughter at the amusing sight. He looked at her blankly as he slowly rubbed the back of his head.

“It’s the work of the Devil!” She continued to scold him, making a chuckle escape my lips. He took a quick glance at me before his smirk returned.

“Nonna, do you know what Althaia loves to call me?” My eyes slowly started to widen as I knew where he was going with this. “Il Diavolo. Because of the unimaginable things I do to he - “

“Let’s go, shall we?” I said loudly to drown his voice as I sent him a glare to which he responded with a wink.

“Yes, but let me see you first.” She had me do a small twirl to be able to see the whole thing.

“Beautiful, dear!” Nonna has a satisfied look on her face as she gave an approving nod.

“Of course, she is! My son has excellent taste.” Eleanora complimented me as well, having me slightly blush.

“That’s my woman. Have fun, baby.” He kissed the top of my head.

“Will do!” I smiled at him and said goodbye to Damiano before we got inside the SUV. It was some of his father’s men who were driving but I noticed Giovanni and Luca were following in a different car. They were after all my assigned bodyguards.

The backseat was spacious with a lot of leg room as it was designed in such a way we were able to sit across from each other.

“Eleanora, you mentioned that since I am soon to be wife to Damiano, I now have an image to uphold. It made me wonder what exactly is expected of me as a wife?” I wanted to be prepared and have an idea of what I had to do. Damiano never mentioned anything of what he expected of me now that we were married.

“Traditionally, you would be taking care of your home and your children. To be a good housewife.” Nonna answered and I tried not to show how much I disliked that idea. Nothing wrong with being a housewife, I just imagined doing a bit more than that.

“That was more in our days, madre.” Eleanora smiled before she looked at me

“That would be up to you and Damiano and whatever you agree upon. Ask him what he expects of you and you tell him what you expect of him as well. It goes both ways.”

“And of course, your loyalty to him but we will get to it soon, dear.” Nonna said and I nodded as I thought about what they had said.

We arrived at probably the largest ballroom I had ever seen which was so elegantly decorated. A swarm of women was present and I still had no idea what this ball was for. Maybe it was a get-together like the auction Damiano had taken me to but this was just for the women to show off their power and wealth. I was still so fascinated by it all as it never occurred to me one would have to do such things. But it made sense if you had an image and a reputation to uphold.

It looked like we were the last ones to arrive as we stood at the top of a long staircase, overlooking the hall. I noticed the attention was directed at us as Nonna took a couple of steps ahead, standing tall with her head held high and overlooking them all like a Queen and they were her subjects. It was fascinating to witness. It was as if you could feel the power radiating from her just by the way she was carrying herself. Eleanora’s words made even more sense as I watched them present themselves with just their presence. Not a single word needed to be said and it made you almost want to bow down to them in pure respect.

It was beyond incredible.

Nonna was the first to go down the stairs and we followed closely behind as a show of respect to her being the monarch.

“Do you understand now, Althaia?” Eleanora asked with her warm smile.

“I do. I have never seen anything like this before.” I was still in awe but nervous at the same time because I had no idea if I could present myself the same way they had.

“You will learn how to with time.” She assured me as if she had read my thoughts. As we made it down the stairs and walked further into the ball hall, it was as if we got ambushed when a bunch of women eagerly came up to greet Nonna and Eleanora.

It was almost the same experience I had with Damiano at the auction, now just with Nonna and Eleanora but I didn’t mind greeting and talking to them as I was introduced as Damiano’s soon-to-be wife. That gave surprised looks and a few raised their brows as they looked at me from top to bottom and all I did was smile as politely as I could as I didn’t pay much attention to them. Instead, I took this opportunity to observe Nonna and Eleanora, from how they talked and how they continued to carry themselves.

“Excuse us for a moment.” Eleanora smiled and led me away from the group while Nonna was still conversing with some of the older women. I let out a breath as we had already been here for a while, greeting and talking to what felt like everyone.

“Sometimes they just don’t know when to give you a chance to breathe.” She chuckled and grabbed two glasses of champagne, handing me one which I took gratefully.

“It is quite overwhelming, to be honest… It’s definitely something I will have to get used to.”

“It will get easier.”

“Can I ask how long you have been doing this?” I asked while we slowly walked around and looked at the art hanging on the walls.

“As long as I can remember! But it really mattered once I married Riccardo. I was 19 and had Damiano when I was just barely 20.”

“Oh, wow! That’s… young.” I said in surprise.

“We were young and in love. And you have seen how Riccardo’s mother is. Very traditional and had us married as soon as possible.” She said amused as she sipped her champagne.

“I can imagine that.” We both laughed.

“I am very pleased Damiano has found you. You bring out a whole new different side of him I haven’t seen before, and as a mother, it makes me beyond happy. Thank you, honey.” She gave my shoulder a light squeeze and my heart warmed up by her words.

“Let me just use the restroom and then we can go to our seats.” I gave a nod and sipped my champagne as I looked at some of the paintings.

“So, we meet again, Althaia.” I turned around, seeing Miciela and two other women with her.

“Miciela.” I smiled tightly. There was just something about her that gave me a hard time hiding my dislike towards her.

“Have you been feeling good lately?” I raised my brow at her question, tilting my head a little.

“How’s the pregnancy?” My heart stopped at the mention of it. I looked at her and she faked a sweet smile but her eyes were cunning.

“Oh, silly me.” She put her hand up to her mouth as she let out a chuckle. “I forgot you lost it. So awful for you.” She put her hand to her chest and exaggerated a sad look on her face as she took a step closer to me.

“What you did to Sofia, I won’t let it slide.” She hissed before she quickly let out a satisfying smile and turned around to leave with the two women.

No words came out of me.

My chest heaved from the sharp intake of breath.

My eyes burned as tears wanted to spill.

But I refused to let them.

Instead, I followed her.

I downed the champagne in my hand and took out my knife from my garter band.

Anger consumed me.

I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t see anything. Except for red.

I was seeing red.

And she was going to pay.

She was standing close to a table, chatting with people around her.

“Miciela!” I said her name loudly, making her turn around to face me, her smirk still present.

Until her eyes landed on the knife in my hand.

Miciela tried to step away from me but I was faster. I held tightly onto the handle when I quickly stabbed into her hand, feeling the knife connect with the table to prevent her from moving away from me. She let out a blood-curling scream and I grabbed a fistful of her hair while breaking the champagne glass against the edge of the table. I shoved the broken and now sharp-edged glass into her mouth.

But it was not enough.

I smashed her head down at the table. One time. Two times. I forcefully raised her head to look at me, seeing the blood run down her mouth. I covered her mouth as she wept, keeping the glass inside as I pressed against her mouth.

“You should have kept your mouth shut.” My voice was low and calm as I looked deep into her eyes.

“Sofia should have been an example of that to you. Yet, you decided to ignore it. *I* am the reason she is still alive, and she should be fucking grateful for that. *You do not get to fuck with me!*” I hissed out, my entire body shaking in anger.

I wanted more blood.

I wanted to see the life disappear from her eyes. To see her body become lifeless the more I pressed my hand against her mouth. I shoved her away from me as I snapped back to reality, my heart pounding behind my chest.

“You’re lucky I’m not a killer. But I made sure you won’t ever speak to me like that. Ever again.” I turned around, ignoring how everyone had been standing still in shock, and saw the scene unfold.

“I would like to leave now. Please.” I said to Nonna and Eleanora who had made their way to me.

“Let’s get you out of here.” Nonna said when she took a look behind me and Eleanora quickly led me out. I was feeling hurt but also numb at the same time as my legs carried me outside while I continued to be in this weird daze.

“What the fuck happened?” Giovanni frowned as he looked at me, he and Luca immediately drew out their guns.

“You need to get her to safety right now!” Eleanora ordered them. They all moved quickly, getting me inside the backseat of the car with Giovanni before Luca drove us away while Eleanora and Nonna stayed behind with his father’s men.

“Call Damiano.” Giovanni said to Luca as he looked at my gloved hands. I followed his gaze, only now noticing I had glass stuck into the palm of my hand.

“I need to cut your glove off.” He took out his knife when Luca’s voice caught our attention.

“Hold her!” He shouted just in time for me to see a car coming out of nowhere and hitting us. Giovanni held me tightly into him, protecting my head with his arm as we got violently swung into the car door.

“Are you okay?!” I looked at Giovanni, seeing he was fine before checking with Luca. Words got stuck in my throat when I sat up and looked out of the still intact window.

A rifle aimed right at me before shots were fired.

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