Page 77 of Vicious Temptation

Fuck. This isn’t where I wanted the conversation to go. Not because I don’t want to know everything about her, but because I’d rather see her giving me shit over a slice of pizza than see her look the way she does right now.

I could tell her I’m sorry and let us sit here awkwardly until the subject changes, but I have a feeling she’s heard those words enough. So I give her something else instead.

“Tell me about him.”

Her eyes stay fixed on mine, narrowing briefly as if she can’t believe what I’m asking. Then her features soften, and the faintest smile touches her lips.

“His name was Ryuji Kuroda. To many people, he probably looked a little scary,” she says with a small chuckle. “But with me, he was different. He listened. He never judged me or underestimated me.”

I’m starting to understand how much that matters to her. She doesn’t want to be judged by what people see on the outside or reduced to whatever they’ve already decided she should be.

“You asked me once about my car. Why I chose Katsura orange.”

I nod.

“He once shared a story with me, one his grandmother used to tell him about two lovers whose souls were intertwined so tightly that even death couldn’t fully separate them. When one of them died, a Katsura tree bloomed from the grave. Every autumn, its leaves turned gold and orange before falling, and their scent carried on the wind to wherever the other lover was.”

Her voice falters on the last few words.

Looking down, she blinks rapidly and rubs her thumb against something hidden in her palm. The smile she wore seconds ago vanishes as she tries to pull herself back together.

“His grandmother told him it was the soul’s way of saying, ‘I was here. I loved you. And some part of me always will be.’”

The final word breaks slightly.

Remi presses her lips together and turns her face away, but not fast enough. A tear slips down her cheek, and she wipes it with the heel of her hand almost angrily.

“Fuck.” A shaky laugh escapes her as she looks up at the ceiling. “I haven’t talked about this in a long time.”

I don’t interrupt her or tell her she doesn’t have to continue. After a moment, she looks back at me.

“That’s why you chose the orange,” I say.

She nods, another tear gathering along her lashes. “After Ryuji died, everyone remembered how he died. I did too.” She pauses, struggling with the next words. “For a while, that was all I could remember. All I could see.” Her fingers tighten around whatever she’s holding. “But I loved him before I lost him.” This time when her voice cracks, she doesn’t try to hide it. “I needed something that reminded me of that.”

My chest tightens as she wipes another tear away.

“So when I bought the car, I had it painted Katsura orange.” She gives me a watery smile. “It was my way of keeping the beautiful part.”

I move closer and brush away the tear beneath her eye with my thumb. She doesn’t pull away, even as my gaze drops to the fist curled tightly in her lap. The same one I’ve watched her fidget with more times than I can count. I rest my hand over it and wait until her eyes meet mine.

“This,” I say. “Can you tell me about this?”

For a few seconds, she doesn’t move. Then her fingers slowly uncurl beneath mine, revealing a dark signet ring in the center of her palm.

I’ve seen expensive jewelry on Remi before, but this is different. The metal is worn in places from years of being handled.

“It’s my father’s,” she says. “It was my father’s.”

My attention shifts to the emblem engraved into the face of the ring, and recognition comes immediately.

It belongs to Ares.

I’ve seen the symbol enough times in files to know exactly what I’m looking at.

“He gave it to me years ago.” Lifting the ring from her palm, she places it in mine, closing my fingers around it. “We all have a story, Thiago. Sometimes it’s ugly and tainted, but without it, we wouldn’t be who we are.”

I’m not prepared for how deeply I feel her words, but even after everything she just said, it’s the sound of my name on her lips that stays with me.