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“I’ll get something to calm her down.” Rosalia excused herself and Antonio kissed the top of my head.

He held me so tightly I almost thought I’d be okay. That everything would be okay. I latched onto his warmth, fighting the voice in my head telling me I did this. I didn’t do this. Did I? I didn’t kill Kiryl— I— I would never. I wouldn’t hurt him. No…

“Look at me.” Antonio took my face in his hands. “You didn’t do this, you hear me? It’s not your fault, Nirah.”

He slowly nodded and even though I wanted to believe him, my guilt was stronger than the trust I had in him.

“Koren.” I managed to choke out. “Can I see Koren?”

“Of course. I’ll have Rosalia bring him—“

“No.” I cut him off. “I want to go see him.”

“Are you sure?”

My nod was instant as I pulled away entirely and headed for the door.

Antonio trailed behind me and led me across the property to the accommodation his men were staying at.

I chewed the inside of my cheek, fiddling with my fingers as he rested his hand on my lower back. The fresh air did me good, but all I could think about was Kiryl. And Koren…

We finally reached the front door and I reached for the door handle but hesitated.

Antonio opened the door for me, and my head snapped up, apologetic eyes clashing with Koren and Silvia. My shoulders slumped as I hurried inside, sitting down beside him.

He was lying back with white bandage wrapped around his neck.

“Miss Nirah.” He smiled with a groan as he tried sitting up but I stopped him.

“No.” I shook my head. “Koren, I’m sorry.” My heart raced as I took his hand in mine. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Miss Nirah.”

I shook my head, guilt gnawing at me. “How are you feeling? Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“I’m healing quite fine, and no, I don’t need anything. Thank you.” He reassured me and I swallowed a ball of tension down my throat as my eyes scanned his face and body.

“It’s been months, I don’t understand.”

“I suffered a terrible blow to the back of my head and required multiple surgeries. Pairing that with all the complications… I had only been released two weeks ago.”

My hands flew to my mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

He merely shook his head. Then, I caught it.

A whiff of Kiryl’s cologne fluttered under my nose and my eyes fell shut for a moment.

I turned my head, looking over at the empty bed beside Koren’s and he gave my hand a slight squeeze.

“I’m sorry, Koren.” I looked down at him, unable to form any other coherent sentence. All I could say was sorry, because that’s all I felt.

“It’s not your fault, Miss Nirah. My brother died doing his job. The only thing he wanted was to keep you safe. He’d be happy to know you’re home.”

I put on my best smile, lowering my head as I looked at our hands.

I took his brother away from him… if anything ever happened to Nereus I don’t know what I—

“If it’s okay with Mr. De Luca…” He started and when I looked up he was looking at Antonio before shifting his attention back to me. “I’d like you to join me when I visit his grave.” His grave… Kiryl’s grave…