My eyes read the message over and over. Stared at the screen until it turned black. My finger tapped the front to get the message back before I swiped and typed a reply.Thanks, man.I sent it so fast I wouldn’t be able to second-guess the decision. Put it out into the ether. Took his olive branch and extended my own.
I’d fallen asleep in the chair at some point, slouched with my head resting in the corner. There were guest rooms in the house, but this was the one space that felt like it belonged solely to me.
The sound of the door cracking open registered in my mind instantly. I didn’t move, but my eyes opened to see Aurelia step into the room, her shadow Medusa with her.
I took a breath before I straightened in the chair and wiped the sleep from my eyes. My fingers tapped the screen of my phone where it lay on the desk, and I watched it light up with the time. It was almost two in the morning.
“You’ll get a kink in your neck if you stay there.” She was dressed for bed, in one of my T-shirts with the makeup gone from her face, her long hair brushed out. “Come to bed.”
I remained seated, not because I was mad at her, but because I was mad at the world right now.
She watched me for a while before she approached the desk and sat in one of the armchairs that faced me, for guests who never came, business meetings that never took place. It was all part of the stylistic choices of the interior designer I’d hired. My T-shirt fit her like a dress, half of the neckline down her shoulder because it was far too big for her. Her eyes were heavy with fatigue, but they were mostly filled with stress. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I know you didn’t, sweetheart.”
“I just ... want you to know you always have my support.” She chose her words carefully this time.
“You know how lost I was when we came here.”
Her eyes softened as she watched me.
“I turned my back on everyone, and I fucking know it. Wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to bounce back. And then you told me something that put everything in perspective, and I got my life back. Got my joy back. And now ...” I shook my head. “It’s gone again. I wish President Barsetti hadn’t come here. I wish Rome weren’t falling to an asshole dictator. But there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Her eyes dropped down to her hands in her lap.
“It kills me, but I can’t risk the alternative.”
“Can I say something?” she asked quietly.
I drew in a slow breath and tempered my anger.
“Wouldn’t you be able to catch him by surprise?”
“If he’s smart, he’ll be keeping tabs on me.”
“Like, having men follow you?”
“Not necessarily. There are other ways to watch someone’s movements. Their phone records, financial transactions, utility usage, flight records.”
“But if you left right now and hopped on a flight or a ferry, he wouldn’t have much time. You could coordinate with Rocco—”
“Sweetheart, let it go.” I kept my tone even because I didn’t want to push her away, not when I already felt like a mountain stood between us at that very moment. “Darius is petty and spiteful. Even if I hid you away somewhere, he’d spend the rest of his life searching for you. Keepme alive until he found you and then do unspeakable things to you and force me to watch. Just let it go.”
A flash of fear moved across her eyes before she swallowed. “But if you were to defeat him, you would have both. You would have us and the Roman Republic again.”
“Even if that happened, I wouldn’t want it.”
“You wouldn’t?” she asked quietly.
I shook my head. “I’ve been fueled by revenge these seven years. Wanted to defend the Republic, but what my heart truly desired was justice for my brother. But I realize now ... it’s time to move on. I cleaned up his messes his entire life, and now that he’s dead, I’mstillcleaning up after him. He didn’t deserve to die for what he did, but he also knew it would get him killed and he did it anyway, so ...”
She stared at me, hanging on every word. “What if you helped Rocco reclaim the Republic ... and then walked off into the sunset?”
“You know why.”
“But if I say it’s okay—”
“You think your consent is what’s holding me back?” I asked incredulously, unsure how she could ask that after we’d discussed this for so long.
