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"Until I disagree with you."

His brows draw together.

"I found Karras," I continue. "I found the fee. I reconstructed the transactions. You trusted me to question him because you knew I could get answers from him. But the second I said we weren't finished and you decided we were, suddenly there was no partnership."

"He reported Kalliopi."

"And I hated him for it."

"He helped get her killed."

"I know!"

My voice rises, and I force it down again.

"This isn't about whether he deserved to die. Maybe he did. It's about whether killing him at that exact moment helped us. I believed it didn't. You didn't even consider that long enough to let me finish."

Adrianos watches me quietly.

"You follow violence to conclusions," I say. "That's what you understand. Threat appears, you eliminate it. Problem ends."

"Sometimes it does."

"And sometimes uncertainty contains information."

"Sometimes uncertainty gets people killed."

There it is. Not arrogance. Fear wearing armor.

I exhale. "I understand why you think that way."

"Do you?"

"Yes. More than you think."

He looks away first.

I soften my voice, but not the point. "I'm not asking you to become someone else. I know who you are, Adrianos. I don't need you pretending you're a good man because I'm sleeping with you."

His gaze returns to mine.

"But I can't become you either. I can't start treating every unanswered question like something that needs a bullet. I can't stop caring about how we reach the truth because your methods are faster."

"I've never asked you to become me."

"Not deliberately."

His expression changes, and I step closer.

"But if this is going to be anything, I need to remain myself inside it. Loving you cannot require becoming you."

The words leave my mouth before I can stop them, and everything goes silent. My heart gives one violent beat.

Loving.

Not wanting. Not caring. Not falling.

Loving.