Elena.
The blood.
The silence.
The moment I realized I had arrived too late to save the two people I loved most in this world.
Victor lets the silence stretch.
Then he says, “You understand that kind of loss, don’t you?”
My body goes cold.
Of course he knows.
Men like him don’t make moves without studying their prey.
“You buried a wife and daughter once,” Victor says. “Tell me, does the ground feel different when the woman and child beneath it are yours?”
My vision narrows.
“Maverick,” Stefano says quietly.
I say nothing.
I can’t.
Because for one second, I’m no longer sitting inside Patch’s spare cabin.
I’m standing in blood.
Adriana’s hand lies open on the floor.
Elena’s hair is tangled across her cheek.
Too late.
Too late.
Too late.
Victor exhales, pleased with himself.
“Yes,” he murmurs. “There it is.”
My voice, when it finally leaves me, doesn’t sound like mine.
“If you speak of them again, I will peel the skin from your bones while you beg me for death.”
Chris flinches.
Victor laughs.
“That’s the man I wanted to hear.”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“No, Maverick. I made my mistake seven years ago when I underestimated what a Moretti would do for family. I will not make that mistake again.”
