Chapter 43

Alessio

The first thing that strikes me from this short exchange is the fact that Chiara has been wandering in the forest all on her own. For some reason, that clouded everything in my head. “Did something happen? Are you alright?”

I expect her to break down in my arms but to my surprise, she just looks me dead in the eye and starts laughing. “Nothing happened and I’m okay! Relax.”

She pinches my arm and tries to get me to smile, but I can’t bring myself to. Perhaps I’ve gone a little paranoid, but I really don’t like the idea of her going out on her own. I look at her giggling now and my heart constricts.

I want to protect her at all costs, even though I know that the biggest danger around her is me.

When she notices that I’m just staring at her, she immediately stops laughing and loops her arm around mine instead. It’s a bit of an effort since I’m more than a foot taller than her, but she does it anyway.

“Hey,” she says in a small voice, “Are you still mad at me?”

I shake my head. “