novelraw Chapter 252: Loss
Chapter 252: Loss
Chapter 250
ROMEO POV
Seeing Katya break was never my intention.
That thought repeated itself like a useless prayer as I stood alone in the corridor, staring at the car being filled with bags.
I had thrown that girl into Nonna’s room with a very specific purpose—calculated, deliberate, controlled. Everything I did had a reason. It always did. I had brought the maid there to apologize.
To kneel if she had to. To plead. To beg for mercy if that was what Katya wanted. I had stripped her of every shred of pride she had left before dragging her down that hallway.
I had thought—I had been sure—that Katya would feel vindicated seeing it. Relief. Closure. Satisfaction. I thought she would be thrilled to know I had handled it.
That no one would dare look at her with bad intentions. My jaw tightened as the memory twisted in my chest, sharp and ugly.
I hadn’t expected Katya’s face to drain of all color. Hadn’t expected her eyes to go distant, unfocused—like she was no longer in the room with us. Hadn’t expected fear. Not that kind of fear.
Fear of me. My hands curled slowly at my sides. I had misread her. Worse—I had assumed I knew what she needed.
Every step I’d took away from nonna’s room felt wrong, like I was abandoning something fragile and already cracked.
The house itself felt altered, heavier somehow, as though it had absorbed the fallout of my decisions. I had wanted to prove something.
That I could protect her. That I could fix what had been broken. That I could erase the damage with force if I had to.
Instead, I had watched her come apart. Anger flared hot in my chest, sharp and directionless. Not at Katya—never at her—but at the situation, at that maid, at myself.
At the fact that mercy and brutality had blurred so completely in my hands that I no longer knew where one ended and the other began. I had told myself this was justice.
That the maid deserved every second of fear she felt. That bringing her to Katya was a form of respect—look what I did for you. Look how far I went.
A bitter exhale left my lungs. I hadn’t considered that Katya didn’t want power. Didn’t want blood. Didn’t want to be the axis my violence revolved around.
She wanted safety. And I had dragged danger straight into her line of sight. The image of her collapsing replayed without permission—her body giving out, the sound of panic tearing through the room.
Nonna’s voice, sharp with alarm. The smell of blood. The way Katya’s fingers clawed at her own throat like she was drowning on land.
My chest tightened painfully. That wasn’t fear of anything. That was fear of me.
Resentment crept in then, quieter but no less corrosive. A bitter, unwelcome companion to guilt. I had done what needed to be done. I had handled a threat. I had taken control. In my world, that was survival. That was an act of care, of love?
So why did it feel like I was the only one paying the price? I dragged a hand down my face, the weight of the house pressing in around me.
The maids didn’t look at me. They moved with their heads down, hands efficient, practiced—like they’d learned long ago that silence was safer than curiosity.
Suitcases were lifted, stacked, adjusted. Nonna’s things first. Then Katya’s. The distinction burned.
My fingers twitched. For one reckless, vivid second, I imagined crossing the distance between us.
Grabbing the nearest can of fuel from the garage. Striking a match. Watching the car go up in flames so calmly it would almost look ceremonial.
No departure. No escape. No distance I couldn’t close. The thought scared me with how easy it came.
My jaw locked. I forced myself to stay where I was, nails digging into my palms until pain grounded me.
Fire wouldn’t fix this. Force wouldn’t either. I could stop them—God knew I could. One word, one order, one locked gate and the choice would be gone.
I pictured it anyway. Nonna protesting, her voice sharp with betrayal. Katya shrinking back, eyes wide, that same fear flashing across her face again but worse this time. Confirmed. Justified.
What would that make me? The answer came too fast. Exactly what she already saw.
My throat tightened. I had never cared about being seen as a monster before. Monsters survived. Monsters were obeyed. Monsters didn’t get hurt. But this...this was different.
Nonna’s voice echoed in my head, quiet but devastating. I am afraid of you, Romeo. She had never said that to me before. Not once. Not when I was a boy with blood on my knuckles.
Not when I became a man who made others flinch just by entering a room. Fear from strangers was expected. Fear from enemies was earned.
Fear from her? That cut deeper than any accusation.
And Katya—God. The way she had looked at me. Not angry. Not defiant. Just... gone. Like something inside her had shut a door I hadn’t even known existed.
I took a slow breath, forcing air into lungs that felt too tight, too full of smoke that wasn’t there. If I stopped them now, I would never get her back.
Not her trust. Not her softness. Not the fragile thing she had offered me without realizing how rare it was.
I would only prove her right. The car door closed with a dull thud. Final. Ordinary. Loud as a gunshot.
My chest hollowed out as I watched one of the maids straighten, hands clasped in front of her, waiting for instructions that didn’t come.
No one looked at me. No one asked permission. They were leaving. And for the first time in my life, I understood what helplessness actually felt like.
Not weakness.
Choice.
I could burn the world down to keep them. Or I could let them go—and live with what that said about me.
I stayed where I was as the sound of the wheels stopped behind me. I felt it before I saw it—the pause, the hesitation that pressed into the air like a held breath. I turned.
Nonna had stopped just short of the car. Her hands rested on the arms of her wheelchair, knuckles pale.
When she looked at me, her eyes were sharp with resentment, unfiltered and earned.
But beneath it—because I knew her too well—there was something else.
Worry. It sat there, buried deep, stubborn and unwilling to die no matter how furious she was with me.
That realization hurt more than her anger ever could. "We are leaving," she said, her voice steady, final.
No room for negotiation. No plea. Just a line drawn in stone. I nodded once and shifted my gaze past her...to Katya.
She stood beside the car, arms wrapped around herself like she was bracing against cold.
She didn’t look at me. Her focus stayed fixed somewhere just past my shoulder, like if she met my eyes, she might unravel all over again.
I let out a slow breath and reached into my pocket. The phone felt heavier than it should have as I pulled it out.
I stepped forward just enough to close the distance without invading it and extended my hand toward her. "I believe this is yours," I said quietly.
Katya froze. Her eyes dropped to the phone instantly, wide and disbelieving, as if she wasn’t sure it was real.
Then, slowly. her gaze lifted to mine. Just for a second. It was enough.
She took it from my hand with careful fingers, like it might vanish if she moved too fast. She stared at it, thumb brushing the edge of the screen, her breathing shallow.
"My number is saved in there," I added. "If you ever need help." The words felt inadequate. Pathetic, even. But they were all I had left to offer that wasn’t force.
I looked down at Nonna then. She was glaring at me, unyielding, protective, furious in the way only family could be.
I stepped closer and bent until I was at her level, the marble floor cold beneath my knees. "Forza e sicurezza," I said softly.
Safe journey. Before she could stop me, I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
She didn’t return it. She didn’t pull away either. That was the closest thing to forgiveness I was going to get.
I straightened, turned, and walked back into the house. I didn’t look back. Because I knew—I knew—that if I did, I wouldn’t let them leave.
Not with words. Not with mercy. By force or by fire, I would find a way to keep them.
The door closed behind me with a quiet finality, sealing the choice I had made. And for the first time, the silence of the house didn’t feel like power.
It felt like loss.
††
Well well well. The end?
Lmao hahaha. Bye...