Chapter 19 Adrian
ADRIAN
Isit in the chair, watching and waiting.
She's sitting up in bed, her back against the headboard, her arms wrapped around her knees. Her dark hair falls around her shoulders, and her eyes are fixed on me.
My heart pounds in my chest, each beat a reminder that this moment could go either way. One wrong word, one misstep, and she could shut down again. Retreat back into that shell where I can't reach her.
But I won't hold anything back, not when she's finally asking.
The silence stretches between us, and then she shifts on the bed. Her voice is low, fragile, when she speaks.
"Why didn't you come? You were supposed to protect me."
The first part, mixed with her yelling at me earlier, seals my thoughts that she has absolutely no idea what I was told. That last part feels like someone jammed a fucking blade between my ribs.
I lean back in the chair, my hands gripping the armrests, and I take a deep breath.
"Matei and I had just gotten back from searching. It was late. We were in the office with my father when suddenly they came."
"Who?" she asks, leaning toward me slightly.
"The police."
I stop, my jaw tightening, because even though she's sitting right in front of me now, the feelings I felt then still seem real.
"They told me they found what was left of your car, and that the fire was too hot to preserve the body, but they confirmed it was you."
The words come out flat, cold, and I see the confusion flicker across her face.
"What?" Her voice cracks.
"They ID'd you by your tattoo on the back of your neck, that one you got in Florence."
Her hand flies to the back of her neck, her fingers brushing over the spot.
"They told me the good news." I stop, shaking my head. "Fucking good news. Was that you died on impact."
Elena covers her mouth with her hand, and tears well in her eyes.
I look away for a moment because I can't watch her break down without feeling all those emotions again.
"I didn't believe them at first," I say, clearing my throat.
"I told them they were wrong. That they had the wrong girl, the wrong tattoo, the wrong everything.
But they had photos, documents, dental records.
" I stop and swallow hard. "I even saw what was left of the body with my own eyes. They had everything, Elena."
She doesn't say anything. She just sits there, her hand still over her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
I force myself to continue.
"They gave us a week to plan the funeral. A week to bury a basically empty casket because there wasn't a lot left to bury."
My voice falters and I clench my fists.
"I stood under a canopy as rain poured down, watching them lower that box into the ground. I watched the dirt fall over it, handful after handful, and I felt like half my soul died with you."
Elena's breath hitches, and she presses her hand harder against her mouth, trying to stop a sob.
"Your parents were there," I say, my voice dropping.
"Your sister. They were wrecked, Leni. Completely destroyed.
Your mom couldn't stop crying. Your dad just stood there, staring at the casket like he didn't believe it either.
And Stefania..." I stop, shaking my head.
"Stefania screamed your name when they started lowering the casket.
She tried to run to it, and your dad had to hold her back. "
"My poor parents. My sister," Elena says between silent cries, her voice hard to make out.
"They're all okay by the way," I say quickly, leaning forward. "They're in Bucharest. I made sure they were taken care of. Like I promised I would. They don't know you're alive yet, but I promise you we'll figure that part out soon."
She nods, but the tears don't stop.
I rub my forehead and force myself to keep going.
"After the funeral, I..." I stop, the words not wanting to come out. "I didn't handle it well."
That's an understatement, but it's hard to admit your own faults sometimes.
"I drank," I say, my voice low. "A lot. Every night, every morning, every goddamn hour I could. I drank until I couldn't feel anything anymore. Until the world went numb."
Elena's eyes stay on me, wide and glistening with tears, but she doesn't speak.
"Matei, Victor, Lucian, they tried to help," I continue. "One by one they'd show up at my place, drag me out of bed, force me to eat, force me to shower. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered."
I stop, my chest tightening. "I stopped caring if I lived or died."
Elena finally pulls her hands away from her face and scoots forward a little more, staring at me.
"I took reckless jobs," I say. "And if they weren't reckless, I made them be. I told myself I was doing it for the family, for the business, but the truth was, I wanted a bullet to find me so I could be reunited with you."
"Oh Adrian," she says, her voice breaking.
"I'm not proud of it," I say, shaking my head.
"But that's the truth. That's what happened after you were gone.
So you want to know why I didn't come for you," I say and shrug, "I thought you were dead.
I thought my lot in life was to hurry and get through it so I'd see you again wherever it is we go.
" I stop and smile. "I knew if there was an after, I'd find you. "
She stares at me, tears streaming down her face, and I can see the guilt flickering in her eyes.
"Don't," I say, my voice firm. "Don't you dare feel guilty or regret our fight or what was said. None of this is your fault. I'm the one who feels stupid. I'm the one who feels I should have just kept looking, searching."
She shakes her head no.
I rub my face as all these things flood my mind.
"But then life changed," I say, "the universe correcting my path."
Elena's eyes narrow. "What changed?"
"Lucian sent me to Los Angeles to help Matei," I say. "Long story, but we were expanding into the West Coast. Anyway, I didn't want to go, but Lucian insisted. Said I needed to get out of Romania, clear my head."
Elena wipes the last of her tears away and keeps listening.
"I got there and we stumbled onto a Bulgarian trafficking ring," I say, my voice hardening. "We took them down. Every last one of them. We burned their operation to the ground, freed the girls they had locked up, and made sure they could never do it again."
Elena's eyes stay on me, wide and unblinking.
"And on a cleanup, I found a tablet," I say, my voice dropping. "It was in one of their main offices. On it were a bunch of folders and files, of names, dates, locations, and prices."
I stop, as the next part flashes in my mind before I can get it out.
"And then I saw your photo."
Elena's eyes go wide again. "You saw me?"
"Yes," I nod. "It was you. Your face, your name, everything. And next to it was a price tag, fifty million dollars paid by the Volkov Bratva."
She shakes her head, and anger from me saying that name comes across her face.
"The second I saw that photo," I say, "everything changed. I didn't care about the expansion, didn't care about the business, didn't care about anything except finding you."
I stop, cracking my neck to release the rising tension as I bring all this up.
"I told my brothers, got on a plane, and flew back to Romania ready to start tearing Europe, Russia, apart until I found you."
Elena takes a shaky breath, her eyes focused on me and red from crying.
"I tracked every lead," I say, my voice rough. "Every name, every location, every connection. Victor bribed officials and we found our way into that chateau. And then to you."
She doesn't say anything. She just sits there taking it all in. I don't blame her, it's a lot to comprehend.
I lean forward, resting my forearms on my knees, and I look at her, my voice steady and firm.
"I never abandoned you, Leni. I died the day they told me you were gone. And I didn't start breathing again until I broke that door down and saw your face."
The words hang in the air, and I see a few tears fall and her shoulders shake slightly, like she might start sobbing again.
I want to go to her. I want to pull her into my arms and hold her until the pain stops, but I don't move.
I stay in the chair and I wait, because this is her moment to process things. I want her to want me back.
Elena's breath is ragged as she cries, stops, and then cries again.
I stay in the chair, my body tense, every muscle coiled and ready to move if she needs me.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, she looks at me and for the first time, I feel like it's Leni looking at me, and not the shell.
"I missed you, Adi."