ALESSANDRO'S POV

The white head and his companion asked to be left alone for a while after Akila had told everyone the history of Queen Iolanda and her forbidden son.

That boy with blinding white hair, clear blue eyes and a heart of silver core was the true heir of the Romanian Mafia and not his so-called cousins who turned out to be his half-siblings, sharing the same blood, the same father.

Each of us fell into oblivious, stillness and shock. No one expected to have two potentially powerful world leaders standing with us, unable to claim their rightful throne.

I understood then, why Akila didn't kill him, why she didn't get rid of him when she could.

She knew and felt for him, she felt for his loss, her loss that united them. She may have not been kind or generous to tell the young prince of his past sooner but at least she let him live, thrive and escape on his own, just like she did.

He'd seen her face, in light and transparent, the first being to witness her and live another day.

And right there, it occurred to me how much Akila had changed, given up and sacrificed to stand with us, to be with us, with me.

She didn't let any life faze her, she didn't follow rules or walked on thin lines, she created and drew her lines, building and bending the skies to her liking.

Capable, mighty and fearless. She risked her identity, she risked and surrendered the only way she was bound to live within, within the dark, the secrets.

She'd let that all fall and burn for this, for our war, for our revenge and sometimes, I thought that perhaps it wasn't for our sake, it was for me.

It was an unsettling thought and feeling, despite its beauty and dedication to love and care, it was bittersweet.

If she was willing to give up her boundaries, her promise and walls, parts of the past and the future, what else would she give up?

Maybe my nerves rattled because I was familiar with the feeling, one in which you're not ready any more, you're waiting for that chance to die for those you love.

When I first met Dante, he was just a shy boy, hiding behind his father's clothes as he introduced us. He didn't talk much, at first I thought he didn't like me but I insisted, not because I was annoyed or irritated, I kept trying because I saw in his eyes the same lonely boy who was missing a warm hug, a genuine smile, a faithful friend. I saw in him, and myself, and since then I wanted to free us both, save us, and get saved together before this world cracked and swallowed us whole with little hope and much less time.

One night, I found him standing out in the rain, looking up at the one star shimmering through the darkened and shadowed sky while everyone took cover in their homes.

I asked him why, why that one star and he smiled through tears and rain, "It's my mother."

The shake in his voice, the break and redemption made my heart ache, pain for something, someone I swore an oath that night to fight for, kill for and die for

He might be my right hand, my soldier and best friend, the one who guards me and shields my body with his own if there were a bullet aimed at me, but I had made that vow long before he realised it, long before I was a leader, myself.

So when I looked at Akila to find her already staring at me, I shivered, chills dominated every inch of my body and it made me wonder if she'd also taken the same oath for me.

And if she did, I would have to snap her out of it because no one was dying in this war, not her.

The problem was, I didn't even know how to convince her out of that madness, that strong pull, that possessive bond it held over you, against you, to live, protect and descend. I didn't know how to break it to make her walk away.

In the back of my mind, something told me if I found a solution, it wouldn't work on her because again and again and again, Akila never followed the rules.

"Leave us." Everyone stood to their feet and walked out of the door with no words.

Neither of us said anything for a while, whether overwhelmed with the number of things there was to say or none at all.

"Just say it, Alessandro." And I wasn't sure which part she wanted me to say first.

Her chest rose and fell slower, anger rising in her eyes and cheeks, "Say it, say it to my face if you must."

I bit on the inside of my cheeks until they bled until my heart raced so fast and my blood ran cold.

She chuckled, skating her head left to right, right to left, "You don't want me to fight." Her voice echoed, crashing into the walls and slamming onto me at once.

She slowly lifted her chin, her gaze filled with disgust, disappointment, and betrayal, "you don't know want me in war." It sounded worse on her tongue, a million times hurtful and torturing coming from her mouth, from her, the woman who only lives by fighting and now I was asking her to stop.

I hated myself, I hated that she was right, that I'd rather have her stay behind. Me, out of the whole wide world, Hell and Heaven, below and above, the only person who knew what it meant to her, her past, her old self, that broken little girl, struggling to keep her heart beating and her breath steady.

But love. My love for her, my obsession and fear had become too much, so much it was making me change entirely, it made me want her to not fight, to stay, do the one thing she died, she'd actually die before doing, before hiding, before staying behind clueless, useless and turn into nothing.

"You know that's not going to fucking happen." She was standing, fists turning white and then red, blood running down her palms.

I pushed off the table, meeting her eye level, "I know." I whispered softly, watching the heat wash off her ice skin. My arm stretched out, touching her brow. I leaned in and pressed my lips on her forehead.

When I pulled away, she was calm and sincere once again. I fought a smile creeping on my face, she noticed it and examined my mind, she looked at me as if she knew what foolish plan I was thinking of all along, what foolish thing I was about to propose, "Go to war, fight with me, fight for you, Akila. On one condition." So foolish.

Her head tilted, unfamiliar with my tone but she played along, accepting the challenge I was lying bare between us.

And before I would utter a word, I hoped and sent a prayer she wouldn't stab me.

"Marry me."

[V]

Akila had left the room.

I rushed out after her when Dante and Emilion stopped me. "Are you out of your fucking mind?" I might just be, for a while now actually.

"Alessandro, this is insane," Dante said, he and Emilion finally agreed on something and oh, it happened to be the one thing I wanted the most.

I was no maniac, I knew how psychotic it sounded but I wasn't about to let anyone try to touch Akila on my watch.

She can protect herself, she can right off and kill every creature to ever walk the earth, but it didn't mean she had to do it on her own.

Marrying me. Marrying her will give us both benefits. She would be my queen, my equal and my partner and it wouldn't just be on a paper only we had access to, the entire universe will know she'd become a part of the Italian Mafia, and she'd rule and lead next to me, above me if she wanted to.

It will give our men more hope, more will to win for their new king and queen. It will scare those who dare disobey us, and rebel against us.

I wasn't about to force marriage upon her or use her name and title for my own, I was just trying to secure our surroundings, protect whatever we had left and regain trust after what my father and Marcello did.

They knew Venom, they knew Venom and Akila was with me, with my armies and soldiers. If we took that marriage, only until the war was over and everything settled, we could arrange a divorce after if she wanted to. Either way, that marriage would still serve us some time, and strength.

When we unite, no one, nothing would stand in front of us. No wars would arise, no awards drawn and no bullets shot. There would be peace, somehow.

Joining our powers, our names, and our history, would set the world on fire and then turn it into an ice age. The core would be burning, struck with flames but the ice would be too thick, stubborn and deadly that no one survived.

"Move out of my way," I told them. They didn't listen, "I don't care if you love her or doing this for our protection because I don't know what's going on in your head Alessandro. Marrying her isn't going to solve war, it will erupt it." Dante laid a hand on Emilion's shoulder to calm him down when there was no one calming me down.

"Move." This time, it was an order, one from their boss, their leader and higher. There were many times when I was their best friend, their funny charismatic Al but at the end of the day, my words are answered, and my orders are followed.

My people didn't believe in no saint, no gods, they believed in me.

Just when I was about to get going, Adriano fit himself into the picture and Emilion was quick to tell him what happened.

He looked at me, frowned and confused. "Are you mad?" I chewed on my bottom lip and waited for the same useless lectures they thought would change my mind. "You stubborn piece of shit." I smiled, delighted by his realisation.

"She left for a reason, Alessandro. There is no need to chase after her, she already said no." I didn't listen, not until she said no, mouthed it with her own voice.

Adriano shared a couple of glances with Dante and Emilion, and a second later they were both gone, leaving me with an amazing wise cousin.

He took a deep breath before starting, "The day I proposed to Lilanna, I was nervous shitless and you were there, you told me to man up, trust and believe," he waited in order to give me time to recall the memory, "but it wasn't myself you wanted me to believe in, you told me to believe in our love, in our trust, our relationship, that it would last, it would remain until we're old with grey hairs.

"You taught me even when you didn't believe in love, when you did look around for it, when you didn't believe or want it for yourself, yet, you had faith in me and Lilanna, you helped us, you walked us on the way and I am forever thankful for that Al.

"But I can't let you marry the woman you love out of fear, your constant need of protecting her at all costs."

If anyone, Adriano should've been the only one to understand my ground, my chaotic idea and my determination. "I get where you're coming from. Our men will respect her almost as much as they fear her, she won't be hidden anymore and her family will know she redeemed her rights somewhere else, somewhere more powerful, most powerful with someone worthy.

"I get it, Alessandro. I really do, though it's not simply business and war. If it were another girl you met and spent a night with, then I would have supported this with my life, I would marry you two if you wished but Akila is not simply a girl you've met and your feelings for her aren't simply some random emotions that comes and goes.

"You love her, and as far as I know and see, she loves you. She may be an expert at hiding her emotions and whatever crazy murderous stuff she thinks about, still, she can't hide the way she looks at you first, in danger, in silence, times when you notice and when you don't, on good and bad days, before and after fights, she turns her head to reach for you, she searches with her eyes, to look for you.

"It's like a reflex, an instant and move she can't resist, she must follow and answer to.

"You haven't seen her that day, Alessandro, when you'd actually commit suicide if you had to. Don't think I didn't see it, perhaps the others didn't but we both did. I know you could've held onto that broken rope, you could've grabbed it and hung there until we pulled you up.

"You let go, and the problem wasn't that I knew, she did.

"She knew and she was determined to clench into you, onto your wrist and drag you up because you were leaving yourself to die so we could live." He stopped, catching his breath. My nerves tackled, something triggered inside of me, making me feel every letter he said as if I was reliving that moment, that second I'd accept death more than anything, I'd want it.

And why, he asked. "I don't owe you an explanation Adriano, about our relationship, about me, about Akila. But listen to me when I say this, whatever is going to happen and what is going to be done, she and I are together, if she fights, I fight, if she loses, I lose, if she dies, I die.

"So don't stand here questioning me, you answer to orders and that's it. Now get out of my way and don't think of following me."

I was harsh, an asshole maybe and that asshole wasn't about to stand with his cousin to prove a point while Akila wandered somewhere with her thoughts after what I said.

In a matter of minutes, I was in my garage, getting into one of my cars to look for her. I would leave if she asked me to, she might want some space and quiet from the crazy man who asked to marry her, however, she might also have room for listening to the same crazy man.

Racing down the road, I appeared like a madman driving, eager to catch his wife cheating.

I felt the urge to slam my head on the steering wheel for making marriage jokes.

Finally, I realised how absurd I sound with that whole proposal. I'd actually ask a woman to marry me.

A year ago, I would choose to die and use my skin as a towel instead of marrying. I was truly going insane.

What touched me the most was that velvet box in my pocket, buried there for a week since it ever crossed my mind.

I was going mad.

Lost in my thoughts, I almost passed her car parked on the side of the streets where from a short distance, you can see a full view of her exquisite castle.

My foot pushed on the brake, stopping the tiers and engine as I got out, on a peaceful beach where the sand sparkled and danced with the colourful sky. There she stood, hair flying with the soft wind, moving the waves and pulling them away right before her feet.

The sun was mercifully riding into the horizon, gleaming its light using a variety of shades and colours to brighten the clouds and chase the darkness leaving behind.

It would have been the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, that, after her.

She carried her body still, motionless, almost dead but alive. Her shoulders didn't bolt up to inhale, they never fell to exhale either.

It was yet another thing about her that I found fascinating, how low and secretly she could breathe, how easily she controlled and hid them as if she never needed to breathe.

And who knew, maybe she didn't.

Her neck slightly turned, revealing barely a part of her side profile. "What are you giggling at?" My laugh dried off in the air, I took a step after another, closer and faster until our shoulders brushed, "Myself."

She chuckled and my heart liberated, released all its worry and tension. She followed into our silly conversation, "Why?" I grinned, feeling proud of my answer, "Kiss me and find out."

I heard her mumble something which may or may not have been very bad vulgar and inappropriate words.

She ran a hand through her hair, forcing it to stay in place despite the rushed breeze, "What do you want from me, Alvaro?"

The question hung on thin lines, one where I had an answer and one where I was hesitant to answer.

I picked the first option in the hope I don't lose my tongue, "you know what I want, Miss Lorenzo."

She breathed in, crossing her arms over her chest, "You clearly don't want me as Miss Lorenzo." Her eyes slowly collected mine, my cheeks flustered the more she went on, "More of Mrs Ssss" The hiss cling to my ears, her lips broke into a shameless grin and the waves grew the size of mountains.

Her tone took me by surprise, heating my skin. I lowered my gaze and watched her carefully, "you're not mad?"

A sigh drained her lungs as if she were locking it for years. "I should be," it hurts. "but I'm not."

My attention plucked to the sky above us, thinking of anything to say since most of what I'd planned was for a furious—going to murder me—Akila.

It was a risky move. I did it anyway, "why aren't you mad?"

She fixed a simple shrug, "Because I know you can't, you won't force me." I didn't want Akila to abandon war, I wanted her there, with our marriage, with any sort and form of extra protection.

"The storming out was fake?" she innocently nodded. "why?" her tongue moved circles in her wicked mouth, holding back a smile, "We had an audience ear dropping into our business and you know how I feel about that."

I cleared my throat, taking a step forwards, Akila tensed and so did I. We both knew what was coming.

"Akila," my voice was low and husky, whispering and dancing around us. I wasn't sure of what came next, what we'll face, what we'll fight and have to kill but I was sure of one thing, no matter what was waiting for us, I chose to walk through it with her.

And before I could open my mouth, she trapped me and left no space for escape. "I'll marry you, Alessandro."

Regardless of the world around us, through war and death, blood and fear, it disappeared, ran away and dumped my heart to pain and beat with every nerve, stroked with excitement and anxiety.

It wasn't a real marriage, not out of love, Adriano said. Then why did it feel so good, so real?

Her eyes lingered and landed on my pocket, of course. They flew back to me and I held onto her strong and firm, digging my hand into my pocket, I pulled out her ring.

The sun rose and it was shining on the ring in approval, it made her brown—golden hair glow, her full lips redden, burned the deepest green range over the amber and she was wearing white

I slid the ring down her finger, and through her long nail and soft tanned skin, it fits perfectly.

At that, my heart settled but then it stung and burned because there was one more thing, "We can get a divorce as soon as this is over." She didn't say much so I felt the need to add, "that's if I don't die first, you'd make a hot widow."

Her fist connected, very harshly and very aggressively with my arm. I rubbed the spot she hit and grinned, "So violent."

"But you like that." She whispered in my ears and for some reason, she ran.

[V]

It was the ball night again, when I reunited with my grandparents, hugging them when the place exploded, when I helped Marcello and carried a bomb to my heart, right when a stranger fell from the sky and picked me up, swung me on top of a building as the bomb went off in the pool.

The stranger was dressed in a deep burgundy dress, looked like a whole delicious snack and took me home and we made love until sunrise.

Akila welcomed me back into her castle, up to her room where we first...

She took off her top, standing in her dark violet bra with silver straps, really testing my self-control.

"Does this place remind you of something?" She tilted her head to catch me shifting uncomfortably on the bed where I felt something hard between my legs.

I tried to shrug it off but she wasn't letting go easily, "I think I remember something or two." she teased and moved close to me, giving my guy down there a hard time.

Her legs parted, her knees buried in the mattress next to each side of my hips. She sat on my lap and I cupped my hands around her ass, for support, "Tell me, what do you think we're going here?" she asked, almost challenging me into saying something inappropriate which I'd be more than glad to do.

"Engagement sex?" she worked her jaw, holding back a smile through deepened dimples exposing her act.

I caressed a hand down her lower back, dragging my fingers lower, lower,  around her waist and curves.

She reacted to my touch, tightening her grip around my bicep, "Deeper." she whispered, her lips wrapped around my ear. I moved my hips, sending a slow, careful thrust into her. I wanted to rip her pants and feel her against me, hear that sound of her scream

A small tug on my shirt sent it to the floor, she pushed my back on the bed and hovered on top of me. She leaned down, licking the tattoos on my chest, taking my skin between her teeth, sucking on it until purple and blue hickeys marked my whole upper body.

She snuck a hand down my pants and unbuttoned them, flying my zipper open and pulling them down. I squeezed her ass, adjusting her on me and held her until she finished the work and I was left with my boxers. I used my other hand to unhook her bra, leaving it to fall, I gripped and pulled her by the curve of her breast, she sucked in a shocked breath and ordered me, "Fuck me."

That did it.

I stripped out of my boxers and whatever clothes she had left were long forgotten. I flipped us around, wrapping my hands around her inner thighs to open her legs wide for me, "You want me to fuck you?" I got in slowly, gentle with every move, "I'll fuck you until time runs out and every inch of your body screams out for me to stop." And then I went inside her, roughly and raw. I supported her lower back and helped her move with me, with each motion, she moaned, breathing heavily as pain crawled down her legs that hooked around me, forcing and tugging me in, deeper. One day she'll keep doing this and drive me fucking insane.

"We have three hours." she managed to speak which drove me to rip through her, rub and push myself in and out, she let out a loud scream and choked on a moan. I wanted to do this all night and day, every minute and every second so she could never utter another word when I buried myself inside her, sucking out her wet clit. I guess time was running out. "Hold on tight." Her nails dug into my shoulders and we took those three hours on the bed, on the floor, and all over the room.

[V]

When Akila said we had three hours, I didn't think she meant three hours until Dante, Emilion, Adriano, Armando and the girls showed up.

"This place is ginormous." Dante chuckled at Emilion's comment before smacking the back of his head. He was about to fire back when Adriano interrupted instead, "Do you know how many people we can fit in this house?" It was Lilianna who answered him, "Why can't you get us a place like this?" she glared at him, giving her husband a hard time.

I giggled at them from afar, Adriano started walking towards me like a madman. "Tell your girl thanks for making me look cheap." Emilion scoffed from another corner, "All of us." Everyone nodded in agreement.

As for Armando, his head was stuck in the biggest kitchen he's ever seen. We walked in on him, frozen in front of the walk-in pantry, the size of his own room. "Tell me you guys had sex in this kitchen."

I glared at him, taking a seat beside Dante. "They probably did, more than once," Emilion added.

"How many days did he stay here, we can count the days with the hours," fortunately, Akila stepped in, searching around, her eyes pierced on Adriano. "How many times of what, Cesare?" Even Dante choked on thin air.

Adriano cleared his throat, strictly choosing his next words, "How do you know my middle name?" No one knew Adriano's middle name, I never heard of it until really late when I had to plant his documents somewhere for a mission.

It was something about him and his middle name, it was like a treasure to him, a secret, a truth that barely anyone knew of. If Akila knew his middle name, she might as well name the brand of diapers he wore as a kid.

She walked to the sink, filling herself with a glass of water. "I know a lot of things, Adriano." He turned on me, his eyes widened. I raised my arms in the air, making it clear that I didn't tell anyone anything.

Akila set down her glass on the counter, right in front where Adriano sat, "you think if I asked him, he wouldn't tell me?" I couldn't believe half of what I was seeing. Akila was talking to them. She was grinning like a player who finally cracked the code.

I've never seen her show that much emotion outside my bedroom and it sure left us all speechless. "I know he would," Adriano confessed, sending me a wary look, "that's why I looked at him first, Miss Lorenzo."

The room was getting warmer, and hotter, it was shrinking and growing. It felt like the wind approved, crashing through the long windows as Akila whispered, "Well done."

For the next forty-five minutes, Akila led us upwards to the woods, on top of the clouds where you could see the ocean and trees surrounding the lonely mountains she built her castle on. The view from up there was magnificent, green and light blue coloured the sky.

When I first got there, it was dark and windy. I remember high tide seas and clotted night skies with millions and millions of stars gleaming to the fullest and brightest like nowhere else.

It almost seemed the stars were watching over her, her land, her home and her soul, her remarkable distant heart.

Two huge—tall Hyperions grew from the ground up to the clouds, their leaves leaning in, forming a half ring towards the sky. From a distance, it looked like a gate to the woods, welcoming us and unravelling the history of its time.

And despite the mountains, the oceans and nature at its best, when I looked at her, she was looking at me.

Her footsteps marched lightly so no one noticed her movements, she stopped a few inches away from me and lifted her gaze to meet mine, "Do you like it?" My eyes fell on her lips, how I wanted to kiss her.

I bit the inside of my cheeks, leaning down, I kissed her brow and said, "I like you."

Her cheeks lit with rosey colours for a second and when the wind blew her hair in my face, we laughed, we held each other and smiled in a moment where we were given peace, joy and love. 

Everyone else left, leaving us to share some alone time. "I'll marry you," I played with the ring around her finger, feeling it against her skin, it felt like a dream and for an instant, for a swift heart rate, I was dreaming, dreaming of her.

And when the world dragged me back into reality, she was still standing, breathing and sending shivers down my arms, "I'll marry you, here." I gave her one head node but she didn't know, she didn't know I would marry her there, here, far or near, I would marry her anywhere.

Only when she says yes and I'll follow, I'll follow till the end of the world and beyond.

Her grip tightened around my hand, and she inhaled deeply, prepared for her next words, "After the ceremony, we will use this place as a base and camps for soldiers to train and get ready for war." I tried to protest, saying something but she beat me to it, "I know what you want to say, it's okay Alessandro. Of course, I'll miss this place but I would rather lose this castle, this war, this life than losing you.

"They will have more than enough space for setting up tents and equipment. It's better here and you know it, you can't risk all of your territories turning into dust when I can just let this one go, even if it once meant the world to me because now, you mean more."

My arms took her in, her head rested near my heart where it raced. I didn't have the words, the ability, or the courage to answer because it terrified me, it rattled and frightened my veins, how far I'd go for that woman and how nothing will be able to stop me.

"We finish this and I'll get you anything, anything you want." I softly kissed her forehead, holding her closer, I prayed to whoever was watching over us, I prayed to the past and the future, to make the present easy, to heal the past and welcome the future with open arms.

Far in the distance, her words fluttered with the wind, I heard her voice, "I have all I want."

Later in the evening, an hour before sunset, I was out in a tux, standing in the middle of a forest, waiting for my soon-to-be bride to walk down the aisle that the girls arranged in just a couple hours with a little help from the guys to carry heavy trees for seats. They decorated branches with white and navy flowers, they cleaned the area out of small sticks and dirt, and they did everything perfectly.

Dante fixed my tie, tapping on my shoulders twice and smiled. "I'm happy for you, both." I chuckled and gave him an assurance look, there was a time when I and Dante would have never imagined such events, times when we made fun of and swore I would never marry someone.

But when Akila walked out in a long exquisite dress, hugging her delicate body while her hair brushed lightly on her hips, she stepped down the long path, past the girls who threw small pieces of flowers and cheered.

She looked into me, with bright hazel eyes, burning and dazzling with feelings, so much that words can't comprehend.

And when I took her hand when Adriano announced permitted me to kiss the bride, I held her waist and pressed my lips onto hers, I married the venom, Akila Lorzeno, my equal, my queen. MY WIFE.

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