I didn’t blame Carvel for getting wound up tight about Aliénor, even if it was years in the past. She was the only woman I’d ever met who changed me. The only woman who softened my indestructible exterior. “Nothing.”
She paused before she looked at me, like she was scared to. “What do you mean?”
I could see how scared she was to lose me. How I ever doubted that this was real was beyond me. “It’s okay, baby.”
The relief on her face was indescribable.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Maybe Carvel just needed some time to process the shock of it all. When he calmed down in a week or so, he would see reason and let this go. “I don’t care what happened between you. I’ll never ask. I don’t care if Carvel doesn’t like it. He’ll get over it.”
She released a breath like she’d been holding it for minutes. The relief swept across her face like the incoming tide, and the affection in her eyes was like one of those sunsets that burned red and orange as if it were on fire. Her heart was on her sleeve. She’d tried to play it cool in the beginning, but now she couldn’t pretend if her life depended on it. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I’d told Carvel I was invested in this, but invested wasn’t the right word. I was committed with undying loyalty, pledging my life and honor to fight for a woman like she was the queen who commanded me. I didn’t know when that moment had happened. When my life stopped being about me—but us. When my dedication couldn’t be shaken by former lovers or strained friendships or half-truths.
I was all in for this woman.
That meant her battles were my battles. That meant those who wronged her had wronged me. That meant whoever had hurt her would hurt a million times worse.
She’d never asked me to destroy those who killed her family. Never told me who it was. I should stay out of a conflict that seemed to have been resolved.
But I couldn’t stay out of it.
I needed to finish this—for her.
I wanted blood.
I wanted bones.
I wanted revenge.
For her.
PROLOGUE
ALIÉNOR
Laura and I sat together in the back seat, talking back and forth while the driver took us to our villa in Paris. In the 6th arrondissement right on the Seine, it had a glorious view of the Eiffel Tower. Friends were always impressed when they came over, because even though I attended private school, most of the other students still didn’t have what I had.
“I know he’s going out with Sara, but I think he likes me.” Raindrops pelted the windows and rolled down the glass. There was still daylight, but it was masked by the clouds and the storm hitting the city.
My sister was sixteen months younger than me, so close in age we always felt more like friends than sisters. We shared everything, clothes and jewelry and sometimes boys. “You get them how you lose them. Remember that.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s texted me a couple times.”
“Red flag.”
“Shut up, it’s fine.” She elbowed me in the side. “You’re just jealous.”
“Why would I be jealous when Ethan and I made out in the bathroom?”
Her eyes widened, and she almost dropped her phone when she turned to me. “You did what?”
I put my finger to my lips to silence her so the driver wouldn’t tattle on me.
She lowered her voice. “Aliénor, I can’t believe you.”
“I can,” I said with a smirk. “We’ve always been on and off.”
“And now you’re on again?”
