Five months into your arranged marriage with Simon Ghost Riley, the cold and terrifying mafia kind of italy and you had finally started to understand him. Your marriage that was made for alliance, you began to see pieces of the man who hid his face day and night from everyone, the way his jaw clenched when you were hurt, the rare softness in his touch when he thought no one was watching and the madness in his dark eyes when someone looked at you the wrong way.

But today.. that darkness has turned into fire.

The Romanovs, ruthless and power hungry, and hungry for Italian soul, had arrived in Sicily, and they declared war. Simon left to the battle without a word. You watched him dissappear through the arched doorway of the villa, his black coat showing his broad sholders, and his most trusted men following him behind. He left you behind guarded, or so he thought.

What he didn't know was that the "trusted" bodyguards had already been bought, they were Romanov spies.

You were in the rose garden when it happened. The sun was begging to set, you were humming a melody, Simon found it comforting when he listened to you humming.

"Ma'am it's time to move inside," one of the guards said. The tone of the guards made your stomach twirl with anxiety.

"I'm fine here." You replied, your tone sharp, which it was not intended to.

"I wasn't asking." Before you could scream, a cloth soaked in something sharp and chemical was pressed against your mouth and nose. Your world blurred and blackened.

When Simon returned three hours later, drenched in someone else's blood. When he stepped foot in the villa, the air shifted, he felt something was wrong.

"Where is she?" He asked, his voice sharp like a knife.

One of the servants stuttered. "The guards said she went to rest sir-" But Simon didn't wait, he searched every corner of the villa, your perfume fading from the hallway, your necklace was still on the bedside drawer, and your favorite cardigan tossed over the garden bench.

You were gone. His heartbeat could be heard through his ears. His mind replayed back the last time he saw you. The way you smiled to him before he left, and he left without saying or doing anything.