Chapter 28 #2
I take her hand, placing it over my heart. "It fucking terrified me, Lu. Feeling anything after being numb for so long... it was like being burned alive."
Her fingers spread against my chest, feeling my heartbeat.
"Every time you smiled, every time you showed kindness to someone, every time you refused to let what happened define you—it cracked me open a little more." My voice drops. "I started to want things I had no right to want."
"Like what?" she whispers.
"Like you. Like a life I don't deserve. Like a chance to be something more than just a weapon."
I watch Lu's face as she processes everything I've told her. Instead of the disgust or fear I expect, her eyes soften.
"You're not broken, Daniel," she says, her voice gentle but firm. "You just needed to survive. That's what you did."
I shake my head. "I could have survived being a better person."
"Could you?" She challenges me with her gaze. "When you're drowning, you don't get to choose how you reach the surface. You just fight to breathe."
Her words hit me hard. I've never thought of it that way.
"I read something once," Lu continues, tracing patterns on my chest with her fingertip. "I can't remember where, but it stuck with me. It said there aren't bad people out there. There are just people who sometimes do bad things."
I raise an eyebrow, skeptical.
"I know it sounds simple," she admits. "Maybe even naive. But it was the only thing that made me feel that humanity and kindness can't be gone completely. It gave me hope when I needed it most."
I take her hand, bringing it to my lips. "Kindness exists because people like you happen to exist among us."
She smiles, but shakes her head. "I'm not special, Daniel."
"You are to me." The words come out rough. "I've done things, Lu. Bad things. Enough for this life and the next three. I've got blood on my hands that will never wash clean."
"We all have regrets?—"
"Not like mine." I cut her off, needing her to understand. "The things I've done for your family, for Damiano... they're unforgivable."
Lu shifts closer, her body warm against mine. "Then don't ask for forgiveness. Ask for a chance to be different going forward."
I cup her face, struck by how much I don't deserve her. "I would hunt you down in all of them, you know."
"All of what?"
"All of my lives. This one and the next three I owe for my sins." I brush my thumb across her cheek. "I'd find you in every single one to brighten up my darkness."
Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. "That's the most romantic terrible thing anyone's ever said to me."
I laugh, the sound rusty from disuse. "I'm not good with words."
"You're better than you think." She leans forward, pressing her lips to mine in a kiss so gentle it breaks something loose inside me.
When she pulls back, I see no judgment in her eyes. Just acceptance. And something else I'm afraid to name.
I pull Lu closer, savoring the warmth of her body against mine.
"Lu," I say, my voice low. "I need to call Damiano."
Her body tenses against mine. "Why?"
"Because he needs to hear it from me too."
She pulls back, searching my face. "He'll trace the call."
I reach for my jacket on the floor and pull out a phone. "Not this one."
Lu watches as I remove the battery and SIM card, showing them to her before reassembling the phone. "Military habit," I explain. "Can't be tracked if there's no signal until the moment you need it."
Her fingers grip my arm. "Daniel, he'll kill you."
"Probably." I don't sugarcoat it. "But I owe him this much. A man-to-man explanation."
"You don't owe him anything."
"I do." I cup her face. "I betrayed him, Lu. I took his sister. Destroyed a business alliance. Compromised his position with the Sartoris. In his world—in our world—that deserves death."
Fear flashes across her face. "Then don't call him."
"If I don't, he'll never stop hunting us. At least this way, he knows it was my choice. My betrayal. Not yours."
Lu's eyes fill with tears. "It was my choice too."
"I know." I kiss her forehead. "But let me do this."
Before she can argue further, I power up the phone. It takes a moment to connect. I dial the number I've known by heart for years.
He answers on the first ring.
"Where is she?" Damiano's voice is deadly calm.
"She's safe," I reply, keeping my tone even. "She's with me."
"You have exactly one chance to fix this, Hayes. Bring her back now, and I might let you live."
Lu watches me, her eyes wide. She can hear his voice through the speaker.
"I can't do that, boss."
"Can't or won't?" The edge in his voice could cut glass.
"Both." I take a deep breath. "She doesn't want to marry Bruno. And I don't want her to either."
Silence stretches between us. When Damiano speaks again, his voice has dropped to a whisper that's more terrifying than a shout.
"You're a dead man, Hayes. You understand that? I trusted you. Made you family. And you betray me like this?"
"It wasn't planned." I look at Lu, drawing strength from her presence. "But I won't apologize for loving her."
Another silence. I can almost see him processing my words, his knuckles white around his phone.
"Bring her back, and I'll make it quick. Keep running, and I'll hunt you to the ends of the earth. I'll take you apart piece by piece."
Lu reaches for my free hand, squeezing it tight.
"I understand," I say. "But I choose her. Over duty. Over loyalty. Over my own life if necessary."
"Daniel—" His voice hardens with warning.
"Goodbye, Damiano."
I end the call, immediately removing the battery and SIM card again. My hands are steady, but my heart hammers.
Lu stares at me, tears streaming down her face. "He'll never stop looking for us."
"I know." I gather the phone parts and wrap them in a towel. "But we have a head start. And I'm very good at disappearing."
"You just signed your death warrant," she whispers.