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I stared at him, his hand tracing a circle on my back as he offered me a gentle smile.
“We all have our stories, a tale that made us who we are today,” I murmured as I rested my cheek on his shoulder, feeling the thrum of his heart when I flattened my hand on his chest.
“We’re both survivors, and we did what we had to do in order to survive.” He kissed the top of my head, holding me against him.
The moment was cut short when the door opened, and Enzo let go of me as he stepped away.
“Thought you may want a drink, stray,” Zane said as he stepped out to join us with a glass of red wine in hand.
“I’m going to go check on a few things,” Enzo said as he glanced between us before heading inside, but not before he kissed my cheek.
“How are you feeling?” Zane asked once Enzo had closed the door.
“You guys have a board meeting and decide I need to be asked that every five minutes?” I joked as I accepted the glass of wine he offered me.
“Sorry, I didn’t know he already asked,” he said sincerely, and I moved back to the railing to stare at the city.
“What’d you tell Enzo?” he asked as he moved to lean on the railing beside me.
“That I have to be okay,” I answered.
“No one has to be okay, Veronica. This life, you got caught in it by no fault of your own. And you got hurt because of it,” he said as he frowned at the city like it was partially to blame. “You weren’t born into this world, we all were. We knew what it could be like, how cruel it is.”
“Yeah, well, it’s my world now. I chose it when I asked you guys to end Callum,” I stated.
“Do you regret it?”
I tilted my head as I stared hard at the skyline, contemplating those words and how I felt. So much had happened, and something had shifted.
“No,” I said after a moment. “Not any more. I did feel guilt, but now, after everything, I knew it would never stop.”
“Yeah, he had to die.”
I pursed my lips before sipping my wine, the clear blue sky a stunning sight despite the heaviness of our current situation.
“We should have the men who took you soon enough. It’s taking longer than we’d like, the Morettis are wanting to not see this end in bloodshed, but a crime like this deserves a punishment that will remind them what happens if they go back on their word. They made the first move all those years ago, and they broke the truce. The plans they had, they are punishable by death, and for what they did to you…” His jaw hardened as I looked at him, at the way he glared across the city like it owed him payment in blood.
“It never ends, does it?” I downed the last of my wine before staring up at the sky.
“No. Not really,” he answered honestly. “There will always be something.”
“I never in a million years could have imagined winding up in a life like this,” I said, a sharp laugh escaping me as I shook my head.
“Did you ever think you’d have a life where you’d want to throw it all away to escape a man?” he said pointedly, and I smirked at the harsh but true words.
“No. And yet that’s where I found myself, ready to die to escape.”
“And we’re ready to die in order to live. Protect our own so they can continue on.”
“I couldn’t even protect myself,” I muttered.
“And that’s where we failed you. I promised to keep you safe, and I failed.” His voice was raw, and the lines that creased his brow had me stepping closer, the pain evident in his tone and face.
“You did everything you could,” I said as I touched his arm.
“I should’ve given you a gun, made sure you knew how to protect yourself as well. That should have been something I taught you. No matter how much I’d rather just be there for you, some things are out of my control.” He turned to me, those icy eyes hard. “I’m going to change that. I’m going to teach you to defend yourself.”
I stared at him, at the glint in his eye and the way his lips were set in a grim line.
