Page 101 of The Madman and his broken Princess

Nestore wrapped his arms around me, his warmth a cocoon of comfort. I inhaled his scent, now mingling with an earthy note. For a while, we stood like that, my cheek pressed against his chest, before we pulled apart, and Nestore took my hand. His gaze lingered on the grave before his focus turned to the remains of his father, carelessly tossed aside.

His expression hardened, and he swallowed before he gave a decisive nod as if he’d discussed something with himself and found a solution.

I watched as the tiger tossed my father’s skeleton through the air. He took it into the lake with him, then dove under the surface only to emerge with it in his snout again. After all the pain my father had caused my mother and me while he’d been alive, it was good to see him bring some joy to this tiger in death.

As with Achille’s remains, my men had strict instructions to dump whatever remained of his body into the ocean for it to be swept away and eaten by fish. Nobody would be mourning him.

I felt lighter now that my mother had found peace in her own grave.

When I returned to the upper part of the garden later in the morning, I found Amelia on a bench, eyes closed, her face angled toward the sunny sky, expression peaceful. It was one I never saw inside the manor, and I finally made the decision I had been too weak for years now. I didn’t move closer to my wife, not wanting to disturb her moment of peace.

Instead, I called Niccolo.

“Nestore, what can I do for you? Do you need to slaughter more Bratva assholes?”

“I need you to find a demolition company for me.”

“To demolish what exactly?”

“Romano Manor.”

Silence.

“Umm. Repeat that.”

“I want to tear down Romano Manor and fill the basement with concrete.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “And then what?”

“Then Amelia and I will build a new palace to call our home, but first, the old place needs to go.” It would be even more splendid, created by our wishes. The men who came before me would have no say in our future.

I heard theclick clickof him typing on his laptop in the background. “All right. Are you sure?”

“I am,” I said firmly, my eyes on Amelia. She didn’t notice me yet. Maybe she was asleep. Was this the only place where nightmares didn’t haunt her?

“And where will you and Amelia live while things go down?”

I hadn’t thought about it. I just knew I needed to do this. For Amelia.

And even for me.

“We can live in the pool house.”

Nobody had used it in many years. I never went into the pool, even if I kept it running, and the staff kept cleaning the pool house and changing the linens. Everything was prepared for guests that we would never welcome.

“Well, I’m not sure about that, but I’ll give the construction company we usually work with a call. They’ll be able to help us.”

“I want the house gone by the end of the week.”

“That’s in five days.”

I hung up and moved toward Amelia. She opened her eyes when I sat beside her. “You look at peace.”

“I am, at this moment, in this place, and I feel peaceful.” She took my hand and smiled.

I brought her knuckles to my lips and kissed them. “I’ll tear down the manor. Next week, it’ll be gone, and we’ll have room to build a home without history.”

Amelia’s expression twisted with shock. “Are you serious?”