I threw the door closed between us and shoved the dagger through the handle just as the first bang rattled the wood.
“What the fuck are you doing?!”
Another hit against the door. Harder this time.
“Open the fucking door!”
I leaned my forehead on the other side of the door, trying to steady my breathing.
Then quieter. “Please.”
My eyes squeezed shut as I fought myself.
“Zar… Please don’t do this,” she said through the door, sounding close to tears. “Don’t go back there. Whatever this is, we can figure it out together.”
My throat was so raw I could barely force the words out.
“Adelina… I love you.”
Chapter 71
ADELINA
Icouldn’t fucking breathe.
“Cezar…”
Nothing.
The silence he left was worse than screaming; it was closing in from every direction. One second, Cezar had been holding me so tightly and the next, he was gone.
My fists hit the door again before the last of my strength gave out. I stumbled backward and collapsed beside the bed, naked, tears slipping down my face.
Something was terribly wrong.
The panic in his voice replayed in my head. The way he avoided my gaze. The way he covered my eyes. The way he refused to talk to me. Then my name, not Lina, Adelina. The name, buried in years of blood, lies, and revenge. A shaky breath left me as the tears fell.
He knew. Cezar knew exactly who I was in that moment, and instead of anger or disgust, he was destroyed by it.
The knock against the door made me flinch.
“Adelina?”
Dorin.
I tried to answer, but nothing came out. Moments later, metal scraped against the lock as Dorin pulled the dagger freefrom the other side and eased the door open. He stopped short when he found me crumpled on the floor.
“What the fuck happened?”
I barely noticed him covering me with a robe before I sagged into him, gripping the fabric in my fists.
“He knows,” I mumbled.
“Knows what?”
My throat closed painfully around the words. “Who I am.” I looked down for a second before managing to get the rest out. “He said my name.”
Confusion crossed his face before he realized what I was saying. Despite all of it, I smiled. “It was beautiful.”
