I want to remember him like this.
Peaceful in rest.
Sated in love.
Down the hall, Mirabella sleeps surrounded by her fairy kingdom.
It’s amazing how quickly she’s adapted to life with him.
How much she’s blossomed from his love and attention.
It makes what I need to do all the more heinous.
But I can’t get Ivan's smirk at the ballet out of my head.
The way his eyes lingered on me, highlighting our history for Adriano.
Telling me that my time is running out.
Alessandro's threats echo alongside Ivan's unspoken ones.
A vow to destroy me when he discovers what I'm hiding.
And he will discover it.
It's only a matter of time.
I don’t doubt Adriano’s vow to protect me, but I also know the reality of his world. His loyalty is to his brother.
There is nothing he could do to protect me if Alessandro ordered my death.
Or maybe he’d exile or hand me to Ivan.
Either way, I’d lose my daughter and likely my life.
If I want to stay alive, want to keep my daughter, I have only one move left. I have to take Mirabella and run again.
I press my fingers into my eye sockets, hating the idea of leaving. Wanting another way.
I can’t bear subjecting Mirabella to a life on the run.
Watching her with Adriano these past weeks has shown me everything she's been missing.
And of course, Adriano will hunt for us. He knows we're alive now. He's held his daughter. Loved her. He will tear the world apart to find us again.
But I know what's coming.
The truth will surface and when it does, Adriano won't look at me with love but with hatred.
I can endure many things. I've survived the Bratva, Don Lorenzo's threats, years on the run.
But I cannot survive Adriano's hatred.
I check the clock on Adriano’s nightstand.
Just after two in the morning.
I give myself one last chance to find a way to save myself, to hide my deceit, but nothing comes.
