No More

**Damiano**

“No. Stay here.” I stopped Jacinta when she tried to go after Althaia. I went in the direction she ran off to, walking as fast as I could.

I stepped outside to the garden, watching her leaning against a tree to catch her breath.

“Althaia.”

“Stop! Just.. please stop. Don’t come any closer.” She closed her eyes, trying her best to control her breathing. I clenched my fists in frustration. Frustrated with myself that I was the cause of this. I stood still, watching her cry and I would rather get shot a hundred times more than seeing her like this.

“How… How could you do this to me?!” She shouted at me with so much anger than I had ever seen from her. She was looking at me with so much fury.

And betrayal

“I did what I believed was the best at the time.” I spoke to her calmly, even though my heart was about to race out of my chest, realizing this could be what drove her away from me. Althaia laughed. But not her usual sweet, joyful laughter that I loved so much. The one that always made me feel like the luckiest man alive.

No.

This one was void of any emotions while looking so torn apart.

“Do you realize how fucked up that is? How fucking sick that is? I was broken to pieces. Mourning her death to the point I had to get away from people. Even away from you. You saw me… How could you watch me go through so much pain, and have me believe I had lost my mother forever?”

“I know. It killed me to see you like that. But it was something that had to be done. To protect your mother. She was in a coma for weeks. It was uncertain if she would make it. It would have made her an easier target for Gaetano to finish the job.” Althaia’s brows pinched together.

“You knew about Gaetano?!”

“I had my suspicions about it. I wanted a DNA test taken to be completely sure.”

“Oh, my God…” Althaia breathed out and grabbed her head as I explained everything to her. That I’ve been digging deeper into the whole mess ever since she showed me the old photo of her mother and Alexei Vasiliev.

Telling her how I was almost a hundred percent sure that Alexei Vasiliev was her biological father.

Telling her about the fake heirloom and the planted microphone in it.

Telling her the plan at the wedding to try and take him down as quietly as possible.

I wanted to come clean and let everything out in the open.

No more secrets.

“… I didn’t think you would understand.” I finished. There were many times I wanted to tell her. To put an end to her pain. To let her know that I was faking her mother’s death and that everything would be okay.

But I couldn’t in fear of losing her.

Because I was a selfish, greedy bastard that just wanted her. So much I couldn’t give a fuck about anyone else in the world.

She was the one who mattered to me.

She was my world.

My fire.

“See, that’s where you fucked up, Damiano. You always think along those lines, that I wouldn’t understand and keep all these secrets from me. But you don’t even make an effort to explain for me to understand.” She spat out.

“I didn’t want to involve you.”

“You can’t just pick and choose what you want to involve me in! This is my life too!”

“Althaia…” I stepped closer to her but she held her hand up to stop me.

“I want to understand your reasons. Part of me probably understands what you had to do, but right now… I’m just so upset with you. I’m overwhelmed and confused. I just need… space. Some time to think and process everything.” Althaia leaned against the tree, wiping her tears away while she looked completely lost.

I had seen her like this before. The day when I nearly went insane because she had to get away from me.

“Are you leaving me?” The question came out before I could crumple it up and shove it away into a deep, dark corner.

Althaia looked at me, surprised that I had asked that. But I couldn’t blame her if she wanted to. I couldn’t even be mad at her like I had been the last time she went away. I had once again proven just how fucked up I was and what a fucked up world I was living in.

Her expression softened and I watched her eyes get filled up with fresh tears. I even had to let out a breath, bracing myself for the answer that was about to come.

At least I would spare her from more pain.

“No… I’m not leaving you, Damiano.” She slowly walked up to me, and it was incredible how my heart didn’t explode by how fast it was pounding. She placed her hands on my cheeks, and I wrapped my arms around her, not wanting her to put distance between us.

I needed to hold her. To have her close to me.

“My love, you’re stuck with me for life. I just need a minute or two to think things through.” She gave me a soft smile and I rested my head against her. Relief couldn’t describe what I was feeling at the moment.

We were going to be okay.

I didn’t say anything and just pulled her into me, burying my face into her neck, and inhaling her scent.

“Damiano, you have to let go.” She mumbled against my shoulder.

“Let me just hold you for now.” I wasn’t ready to let her go yet.

“No, I’m about to throw up on you if you don’t move now.” I stepped away just in time for her to throw up behind the tree.

“Let’s get you inside.” I led her inside again once she was done. She was exhausted and she needed to rest.

I led her to one of the bedrooms on the other side of the house to make sure she wouldn’t bump into her mother for now. This safe house was much bigger than the one she had stayed in, making it possible to create some distance between them.

I went down to grab her a bottle of water and electrolytes. On my way back, Jacinta showed up, looking around for Althaia.

“How is she?”

“She will be okay. She just needs some time to process before seeing you again.” I told her. I could tell she was worried but nodded as she let out a sigh.

“She lost the baby that night, didn’t she?” I stopped by the end of the staircase at her words, not turning around.

“Yes.” I glanced at her over my shoulder.

“You have another visitor outside. Alexei Vasiliev.” Jacinta looked shocked but her expression quickly turned into a frown.

“What is he doing here?” I scoffed.

“You have a lot of shit to explain. You lied and deceived people. The fuck did you expect?” I told her and made my way to Althaia.

I shut the door behind me, hearing her throw up once again in the bathroom. She came out after she had washed up and I gave her the bottle of water.

“Take this one too.” Althaia stared at the pregnancy test in my hand before looking at me.

“I heard you get sick at the hospital too. Just take it so we can be sure.”

“Okay.” She finally agreed. I’ve been wanting her to take one for a while now, but she had insisted it was too early to tell considering it wasn’t that long ago we decided to try for a baby.

I couldn’t stand still while Althaia was in the bathroom. I paced the floor to keep busy in a way and waited, wondering what was taking long to notice she had only been in there for a minute.

I walked up to her when she got out, waiting for her to tell me anything.

“It says to wait three to five minutes.” She wrapped her arms around herself while I checked the watch on my wrist.

The three minutes felt like hours as I continued to keep an eye on the time. I was getting too impatient, wanting to see the result already.

“It’s time.” I told Althaia, and she bit down on her lip, looking unsure.

“Can you check?”

“Are you sure?” I asked and she nodded. I went to the bedroom, seeing the test on the counter. Strange feelings filled my body as I picked it up. I looked at it and turned around to face Althaia.

“Pregnant.” I smiled, unable to keep it in. Excitement flooded me and I had to look at the pregnancy test again to be sure.

Pregnant written in black bold letters.

I could barely believe it.

*Fucking hell.. She was pregnant!*

My smile slowly faded when I saw her looking broken.

“Do you not want it? Did you change your mind?” I asked, not understanding why she was looking so devastated by the news.

“… I’m bleeding.”

I felt the whole world crash.

____

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