"Call me as soon as you can, Mijo."
This might be the first time he's ever sounded truly supportive of one of my decisions.
I hope everyone else will forgive me one day. Olivia most of all. She deserves so much better than this life. Better than the scraps I offered her. Better than the monster I just showed her.
Her face haunts me already. Those eyes flooding with tears. That raw, gutted expression when my words finally broke her. The way her whole world collapsed in front of me because I couldn't stop the poison spilling out.
I did that to her. Ripped her open and left her bleeding.
I'm not sure I'll ever forgive myself for it.
CHAPTER 27
RAUL
…present day
The door buzzes with a harsh electric rasp, and my eyes slam shut on pure instinct as panic claws through my chest. I have no idea who's about to step into this concrete cage, but every possibility feels like a fresh hell.
Forcing my eyes open takes everything I have left in me.
And there she is. My body somehow knew it was her before my mind could catch up.
Olivia.
Relief floods me like a dam breaking, raw and overwhelming, tears spilling hot and messy down my face with no chance of holding them back. I watch her cross the room with slow, deliberate steps. Each one tightening the vise around my heart until reality crashes in. She hasn't read the letter yet. She doesn't know the full truth of how I feel, the depth of it all.
"Hi," she says, her voice barely above a whisper as she nears the glass. "I'm sorry. I know you probably hate seeing my face right now."
"Olivia." The word sticks in my throat like broken glass. Silence stretches heavy between us before I finally force out the rest. "I wrote you back."
"You did?" Shock cracks through her voice, genuine surprise widening her eyes. She never thought I'd actually do it.
"Olivia. I love you." The confession rips out of me, gut-deep and unfiltered.
She freezes for a moment, the words hitting her like a physical blow as they sink in.
Tears erupt from both of us then, ugly and unstoppable, sobs tearing through the air between the bars.
"I think I always have," I continue, voice ragged. "I just never knew how to say it. How to show it without fucking it all up."
My foot taps anxiously against the floor, the chain around my ankle rattling faintly like a warning.
"I'm so fucking sorry. For every mean word I threw at you. Every time I tore you down and made you feel small. You didn't deserve any of that shit. Not one second."
"Raul." Her fingertips press hard against her lips as a sob breaks free, choking her.
"I thought pushing you away was the only mercy I could offer. Forcing you to run to someone clean, someone worthy. You'll see it all laid out in the letter. But God, Liv, you're the most beautiful thing I've ever touched. Incredible. No one else ever cracked through my walls like you did. You smashed them wide open and made me less of a monster. I'm sorry. So goddamn sorry for all of it."
We shatter completely after that, full-bodied sobs wracking us both, echoing off the cold concrete walls that trap me here.
"So now what?" she manages through a watery half-laugh, swiping at the tears streaking her face.
"Olivia, be mine. You're way more than a girlfriend to me, but we can start there if that's what it takes."
"Raul, I've been telling everyone you're my man for years already." A real laugh bubbles up through her tears, soft and broken but true.
"Shit. You knew it before I did." I try to wink, but it lands weak and shaky, my gaze dropping heavy to the thick chains coiled around my ankle and the cold steel bars locking us apart.
