Chapter Seven: A Dangerous Solution

Romano’s POV

By the time I walked into my father’s office the next morning, I already knew I wasn’t going to enjoy the conversation.

Enzo sat behind his desk, reviewing documents as if he hadn’t spent the last several weeks threatening my future.

He didn’t look up.

“You’re late.”

“I’m here.”

“Unfortunately.”

I took the seat opposite him without invitation.

“What do you want?”

His eyes finally lifted.

“An answer.”

I already knew which question.

“No.”

His expression remained unchanged.

“No?”

“I’m not marrying a stranger because you decided it would look good in a newspaper.”

The corner of his mouth twitched.

“You misunderstand.”

That was never a good sign.

“I wasn’t asking.”

A folder slid across the desk toward me, I opened it. Inside was a photograph, a woman, she was beautiful, expensively dressed. She reminded me of someone I didn’t want to think about anymore.

I looked up.

“What is this?”

“The solution to your problem.”

I closed the file.

“No.”

“Her family controls half the shipping routes through Southern Europe.”

“I don’t care.”

“You should.”

“I don’t.”

“If you’re not going to get married for love, at least marry strategically.”

“I do not want to.”

His patience visibly thinned.

“The council meets in twelve days.”

There it was, the real reason for this meeting.

“You’ve spent years proving you’re strong enough to lead.”

His gaze hardened.

“Now prove you’re stable enough.”

I leaned back in my chair.

“And if I don’t?”

Enzo’s answer came immediately.

“Then the council will begin preparing another successor, and you know who it’ll be.”

Silence settled between us, because for the first time, I realized he wasn’t bluffing.

Years ago I would have walked away, years ago I wouldn’t have cared. But if another successor took my place, eventually control would fall into the hands of the same people responsible for my mother’s death, that wasn’t something I could allow.

“You have one week,” Enzo said.

Then he stood, meeting over.

Just like that, one week.

Or my father would destroy everything my mother had worked for and hand it over to her enemies; how could he and the council be so ruthless..

When I returned to the mansion, something felt different. The mansion was quiet, it usually is but this time was different. I found Dante near the main staircase.

“Where’s Aria?”

“Library.”

I frowned.

“She’s been there all morning.”

That wasn’t like her. Every interaction we’d had so far involved arguing, questioning, or refusing to sit still. I headed toward the library, the moment I entered, I understood.

Aria sat beside the window, there was a cup of coffee rested untouched beside her.

Several newspapers were spread across the table, every single one carried some version of the same story.

RUNAWAY BRIDE VANISHES.

MYSTERY SURROUNDS CANCELLED WEDDING.

SOCIETY WEDDING ENDS IN SCANDAL.

Her eyes remained fixed on the pages, not reading, just staring. She couldn’t believe this was her life.

For a moment I considered leaving, then she spoke.

“Do you think people enjoy this?”

I stopped.

“What?”

She looked at the newspapers.

“Watching other people’s lives fall apart.”

I didn’t answer immediately, because I knew the answer.

Yes. People loved disasters, especially when they belonged to someone else.

Aria laughed softly, not because anything was funny, she laughed because she was exhausted.

“I lost my fiancé.”

She folded one newspaper.

“My best friend.”

Another.

“My apartment.”

Another.

“And apparently my dignity.”

Something tightened unpleasantly in my chest. I recognized that look, the look of someone trying very hard not to break. I had seen it before, years ago. My mother wore it often near the end; the memory arrived without invitation, I watched her smile become smaller, her laughter becoming less frequent. The constant fear she tried to hide, then one day she was gone, because enemies discovered she mattered.

I pushed the thought away immediately, the dead had no place in decisions, yet I couldn’t stop looking at Aria; at the way she sat completely alone despite being surrounded by people.

The way she kept pretending she was fine, the way nobody seemed to stay.

Something about it felt familiar, dangerously too familiar.

“You should eat.”

Her head turned toward me.

“That’s your advice?”

“Yes.”

A small smile appeared, brief, gone almost immediately.

“I thought powerful men gave better speeches.”

“I don’t give speeches.”

“I noticed.”

For the first time all day she looked almost normal, then her expression faded again.

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do now.”

The honesty surprised me, because Aria rarely admitted weakness.

“I can’t go home.”

She looked down.

“I don’t know who broke into my apartment.”

A pause.

“I don’t even know why.”

I watched her quietly, then I said the only thing that mattered.

“We’ll figure it out.”

Her eyes lifted.

“How do you know?”

Because people like us didn’t have another option.

“We will, we have to.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t know.”

I was also shocked as to why I cared, for several seconds she simply stared.

Then she nodded, as though she wanted to believe me.

That evening another call came from Enzo, I almost ignored it, just almost.

“Have you made your decision?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll make it for you.”

My jaw tightened.

“You don’t get to decide my life.”

A laugh, a cold and amused one.

“I already have.”

The line went dead, I stared at the phone.

For the first time in years, I felt cornered, the council, the inheritance, the arranged marriage, my father, everything was closing in at once.

As I was leaving the library, another thought appeared, simple, obvious but dangerous

Aria needed protection, I needed a wife.

I needed a wife.

The solution was sitting under my roof, the realization irritated me immediately, I didn’t want to do anything that will compromise my belief and Aria deserved true love but nobody was going to come between me and keeping my mother’s enemies from taking over the empire, not even father.

The idea made sense, so much sense.

Later that night I found her on one of the balconies overlooking the city. Milan stretched endlessly beneath us.

Aria stood with her arms folded against the cold, lost in thought. She didn’t notice me until I stopped beside her.

“You’re going to catch a cold.”

She smiled faintly.

“That’s your second piece of advice today.”

“It keeps getting ignored.”

“Maybe because it’s terrible advice.”

A short silence followed, then I spoke.

“How long can you stay here?”

Her brows furrowed.

“What?”

“You can’t live in my mansion forever.”

The smile disappeared, reality, always unpleasant but true.

“I know.”

She looked away.

“I just don’t know where else to go.”

The admission hung heavily between us, for the first time since meeting her, Aria sounded defeated. Not angry, not stubborn, she was defeated and something about that bothered me more than it should have.

I looked out at the city, then back at her.The idea had already taken root, I knew it had, I just hadn’t wanted to admit it until now.

“Aria.”

She turned toward me.

“I have a solution.”

Suspicion immediately entered her expression.

Smart woman.

“What kind of solution?”

I held her gaze, long enough for her smile to disappear completely, long enough for her to realize I wasn’t joking.

Then I said:

“Marry me.”

Silence, complete silence. She stared for a long time, then laughed, a real laugh. Disbelieving and shocked

“You can’t be serious.”

I didn’t laugh, the sound slowly died in her throat.

Her eyes widened.

Because she finally understood.

I was completely serious.