Chapter 5
ADRIANO
I stare at Eva's face, taking in every detail. Four years of believing she was gone, of mourning her, of letting her death hollow me out and here she stands, alive and breathing.
"You were never supposed to know I was still alive."
Her words hurt nearly as much as the news when I was told she'd died.
Maybe even worse because that’s what she wanted. She wasn’t taken from me but left on her own accord and faked her death.
Something dark and violent stirs inside me. I just put three men on the ground for her.
Their blood is pooling beneath their bodies not ten feet away.
And this is her response?
Not gratitude. Not relief.
Just fear and regret that I discovered her deception.
"You're right." My voice is surprisingly calm considering how pissed I am. "I was supposed to grieve you every day for the rest of my life until it drove me fucking insane."
The little girl presses closer to Eva's side.
Eva's arm tightens around her protectively, as if I'm the threat here.
As if I'm not the reason they're both still breathing.
"I had my reasons," she whispers.
"Your reasons." I laugh. "I can't wait to hear them."
The words hang between us, and for the first time in four years, I feel something beyond cold emptiness.
Pure, undiluted rage.
I take a step toward them, and Eva shrinks back, pressing the child into the wall behind her.
The girl whimpers, her face half-buried in Eva's side.
The protective stance is primal.
She’s willing to take a bullet before letting anything happen to this kid.
But she’s protecting the child from me. ME!
The one who just saved them.
“If I wanted you dead, I’d have let those Russian goons do it.” I’m flabbergasted that she’s afraid of me. “Do you really think I want to hurt you?”
She looks torn. “I can’t trust anyone. Not anymore.”
Her words make me wonder how long she’s been on the run.
When everything in the world is a potential danger, trust is the enemy.
Something in me shifts.
The Eva I knew smiled easily and trusted me without question.
But that’s not the woman in front me.
This woman before me runs on a survival instinct.
Her eyes dart around, looking for escape routes even as she faces me.
I take a deep breath, forcing my fury down. I need answers more than I need to indulge my rage right now.
"We need to get off the street," I say, holstering my weapon. "More will come. I've got a car and can get you to safety."
Eva's eyes narrow with suspicion. Her lack of trust stings, but I ignore it.
"We should go. Now." I gesture toward the dead Bratva. "Unless you want to explain three bodies to the police."
Eva picks up the child who clings to her. "Thank you for helping us. I appreciate what you did, but we need to go our own way now."
She moves to step around me, and something inside me shatters.
Four years of grief, of emptiness, of believing the only woman I ever loved was rotting in the ground, and she thinks she can walk away with a simple thank you?
"No."
Eva freezes, her body tensing. "Adriano—"
"Four fucking years I thought you were dead. And now I find you alive. You don't get to thank me and walk away. Not this time."
“I can’t—”
“Can’t or won’t? You owe it to me to explain, Eva. What the hell happened that made you fake your own death and disappear like that?"
"Look around you, Adriano." Eva gestures to the bodies I just killed to save her. "This is your answer. This violence, this death that follows you everywhere—I couldn't live in that shadow anymore."
I laugh, but there's no humor in it. “Seriously? How's that working for you? Running from me only to end up in this alley with your daughter, surrounded by killers who are after you?"
She doesn’t respond.
"You didn't escape the violence by leaving me. You just faced it without protection." I step closer. "The difference is I would've killed for you before they ever got close enough to make you bleed." I have an urge to touch her that’s almost impossible to resist.
“I’m in danger because of you, Adriano.”
I go still, every muscle in my body locking tight. The rage I've been fighting suddenly sharpens. "Me? You think I put you in this position? You’ve been dead to me for four years." I can’t understand her thinking.
“Yes.” Eva shifts the child higher on her hip, her eyes never leaving mine.
Even terrified, she's beautiful.
Even lying to me for years, she's the only woman who's ever made me feel anything but numb.
I hate her for it.
"You know, you don’t need to come up with this elaborate tale. If you didn't want me, all you had to do was tell me you didn't love me. I would have let you go."
I’m not sure that’s true. Would I have truly let her walk away if she'd asked? I'll never know now.
"People say I'm cruel," I continue, taking a step closer, close enough to smell the faint scent of something sweet on the child.
A cookie, maybe. "They say I'm a monster. And I’m sure they’re right.
But how fucking cruel were you, Eva, to let me believe you were dead?
To let me mourn you? To visit your empty grave and bring you flowers while you were out there, alive, fucking—"
I cut myself off, unable to articulate the fact that she left and found comfort in the arms of another man.
"I loved you." Fuck. I didn’t want to say that. I hate the vulnerability in my voice, hate that after everything, she still has this power over me. "I would have done anything for you."
Eva's eyes shine with tears, but for all I know, it’s an act.
Maybe everything about us was an act.
The child watches me, and I hate that she probably thinks I’m a monster too.
"Leaving you was the hardest decision I've ever had to make," Eva says. "I never wanted—"
"Spare me. You make it sound like you actually loved me."
Her eyes flash with hurt, but I'm beyond caring.
Four years of grief have hardened whatever softness once existed in me.
"Clearly, it didn't take you long to move on," I say, gesturing to the little girl watching me with wary eyes. "Were you already fucking him? Did he help you escape the Dante family and fake your death?”
The child burrows her face in Eva’s neck, as if she’s trying to hide from me.
Any guilt I feel is for that.
For scaring the child.
But it’s Eva’s fault.
Eva's arm tightens around her protectively, her expression shifting from vulnerability to a cool glare.
"Where's her father?" I demand, ignoring the twisting sensation in my gut. "Does he know you’re on the run? Or did he bail when things got difficult?"
Eva's face goes completely blank in an expression of someone who's mastered hiding their thoughts and feelings.
"He's not in the picture," she says flatly.
"So, what happened to him?" I press, moving closer until only inches separate us. "Did you fake your death for him too? Let him grieve for you like I did, or was I the only one who got that honor?"
Eva's eyes harden. "I told you, he's not in the picture. He never was."
The alley grows quiet except for distant sirens. I don’t think they’re coming here, but it’s stupid to linger.
"We need to go. Now."
Eva hesitates, clearly weighing her options. I can see the calculations behind her eyes.
Trust the man she betrayed or face the Bratva alone.
"I won't hurt you," I add, and despite everything, it's the truth.
I might want answers.
I might want to make her feel a fraction of the pain I've endured. But I could never harm her.
I pull my car keys from my pocket. “You’ll be safe at the estate."
Eva glances down at her daughter, then at the mouth of the alley. I know she’s thinking of running from me.
I brace myself for her to bolt like a cornered animal.
The fear in her eyes makes no sense.
I've never laid a hand on her in anger.
Never would.
"Eva." I force my voice to soften. "Whatever you're running from, I can protect you better than you can protect yourself. You know that."
She takes a half-step back, clutching her daughter tighter.
The way she looks at me, like I'm the danger she's been fleeing all these years, guts me to the core.
After everything we shared, after I mourned her, after I just saved her fucking life… what could possibly make her fear me this way?
She wants to get away from me, and perhaps I should let her go, let her risk her life and her child’s life.
But I want answers for every day, every hour she stole from me.
And yes, a part of me wants to punish Eva for her betrayal even as I simultaneously want to protect her from whatever drove her to such desperate measures.