Cezar clenched his jaw.
“Innocent lives taken because of greed and power. I’m not a saint, but I’d never be that fucking evil. He raised me. Trained me. Taught me what I needed for the only future I wanted—revenge.”
My voice softened. “I understand now. Having something—someone—you can lose… it changes everything. The things you’d do, the people you’d give up. Love makes monsters of us all.”
My head jerked slightly in panic—I hadn’t meant to say that word out loud—but I forced myself to stay still. I didn’t need Cezar catching on to anything I wasn’t ready to admit.
He stayed quiet for a long moment. I hadn’t moved from the tight ball I’d folded into. When he spoke, his voice was low, steady.
“Lina, I don’t know this man,” he said, “but he clearly did something right when it came to you. And I’m sorry for what he did. I know what betrayal feels like. You’re not alone.”
A shaky smile tugged at my mouth as I wiped my tears away.
Not alone. What a terrifying thing to be.
We held each other for a long time before he shook his head, muttering, “Fuck… the food.”
He threw me over his shoulder and carried me to the kitchen.
He set me in a chair, still visibly rattled, and started cleaning the disaster he’d made by forgetting the food existed in the first place. I watched him in silence, the emotional whiplash of the last few days sinking into my bones. I’d had an incredible time with him, maybe the best of my life. The fucking emotions weretoo much—past, present, future—and they kept catching up, trying to eat me from the inside.
“Cezar, I don’t want to go back to reality.” I finally broke the silence. “But we have to.”
“I know.”
He didn’t even look at me. “I figured you’d say that eventually… even though I was hoping you wouldn’t.”
He turned, staring at me with those sorrowful eyes. I wish this were the life we lived. Peaceful.
Unfortunately, murder and chaos followed us, and someday that would bury us both.
Chapter 58
ADELINA
At the mansion, I stood in the doorway, waiting for the illusion to fade. My people handled the unloading while Cezar and I drifted into the kitchen for a snack.
“You know, Petal.” He smirked, trying so damn hard to lift the heaviness from the air. “I’m always down to spend time with you.”
“I know.” I leaned in and kissed his cheek. The second I realized what I did, my whole body short-circuited. He stared at me—fucking hungry, borderline wild.
“Do it again,” Cezar demanded.
The sudden command caught me off guard. I complied immediately; my mind and body betraying me.
Dorin interrupted us, “Well, hello there, you two. Hope you had a lovely time.” His eyebrows wiggled. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time for whatever this is. We need to be somewhere, Lina.” He tapped his watch, adding a sarcastic little ticktock.
“Already?” Cezar pouted.
“Yes, but I’ll be back in a few days,” I offered, trying to ease the sting.
“A few days?” He latched onto my hands, almost painfully. “Let me come with you. You always tell me no, and I can’t figureout if that’s real or just you pretending you don’t want me there. Lina, come on. I can help. You know I can.”
“No. It’s going to be a few days, and we’ll be in Muntele Verde. You can’t just pop home whenever you want from there.”
I was going to say more, but I stopped. Something sparked in him—fear, rage, recognition; I couldn’t pinpoint it.
“You cannot fucking go there. Don’t fucking tell me you are actually going after some of my father’s men. You have got to be out of your fucking mind. You know what he has done, what he is willing to do.” He stormed off.
