Iwoke up after what had to be a twelve-hour coma. I hadn’t slept that long in… ever. My body finally relaxed enough to knock out, and apparently, it seized the opportunity. Felt good, even if every muscle protested the second I moved.
The doctor warned me the soreness would kick in hard, and he wasn’t lying. I was trying to wean off the heavy pain meds, but I’d probably have to take a couple for the first week, especially with physical therapy looming over my head like a fucking guillotine.
It was already close to eleven, and my stomach was growling. When I moved toward the kitchen, I noticed how quiet the house felt. No sign of Vali either.
“Cezar.” Dorin’s voice came from behind me as he hurried over.
I stopped and turned to face him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Like shit. So… pretty normal,” I said, giving him a weak laugh.
He exhaled through his nose like he wanted to roll his eyes but held back. “Right. Well, there’s food in the fridge. Eat something—I know you’re starving. I’ll go tell Lina you’re up.”
“Where is she anyway?”
“In the basement,” he replied before walking away.
The basement? Why the hell was she down there? From what I’d seen while exploring, there wasn’t much besides the weapons room and some locked rooms she hadn’t let me into yet. Probably handling something she didn’t want me involved in—which meant it was definitely something I’d want to be involved in.
I was going to stuff my face first, then snoop. I found something Dorin had cooked; I didn’t even know what it was, but it smelled really fucking good. That was when Vali came out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me.
“Hey… I can heat that up for you, Cezar.” She took the food and gestured for me to sit.
She didn’t ask how I was doing; she knew, even if she was too damn sweet for this world. For that moment, Vali just took care of me, reminding me she was there if I needed her.
Must be nice having a family that actually cared.
I ate until the plate was empty, tossed the dishes in the dishwasher, and grabbed a bottle of water.
A few minutes later, one of Lina’s men appeared at the top of the stairs. “Cezar. She wants you downstairs.”
Suspicious as fuck. Only I would willingly walk my ass into a basement where torture was definitely on the menu. If it was her doing the torturing, then I knew it would be fun.
I wasn’t entirely wrong about what was waiting for me downstairs—just not in the way I expected. The guy leading me brought me to an observation room. Through the one-way glass, I saw Lina standing in the adjacent room with some bastard strapped to a chair.
He looked fucked-up, but seeing her hands stained with blood did something to me. I didn’t hate every aspect of the life that was chosen for me, and neither did Lina.
I had no clue who the guy was or why I was being taken down here to spectate. The man who escorted me must’ve alerted her, because she wiped her hands and stepped into the observation room… holding a bowl of popcorn.
Popcorn.
“Hey there, sexy,” I greeted automatically, laughing because what the fuck else do you say when your girl walks in with popcorn and blood up to her elbows?
She set the bowl beside the viewing chair—smearing bloody handprints across the surface, creating modern art.
“You like this, huh?” she asked, amused, hips swaying in that casual way that made it impossible not to stare.
“I like anything that involves you,” I replied with a grin.
Her smile deepened. “Cezar, do you know who this person is?” She tilted her head toward the barely-human shape in the chair.
I shook my head. Hard to recognize a face when it was covered in blood.
“He shot you. The one who almost killed you. The one who almost took you—”
Lina turned toward the glass, admiring her handiwork.
