“I hear plenty,” he countered. “That doesn’t tell me howyouare.”
“Confused…”
“Cezar?” Stefan suggested.
“Hmm.”
“Listen,” he sighed. “From what I’ve heard, he’s a good one. I don’t blame you for wanting what you want when it comes to his father, but when it comes to him? There’s nothing wrong with loving him.”
Love?
Stefan kept talking about how good Cezar was for me—even with Viktor poisoning his bloodline. He didn’t tell me to abandon my revenge, but how the hell was I supposed to have both?
What the fuck was Cezar going to think when he learned who I really was? I never used him, not once. But would he see it that way? With how many peoplelovedhim and hurt him for their own pleasure.
I cut Stefan off. “Were… were my parents monsters like Viktor?”
I was so young when everything happened, I couldn’t clearly remember much of anything. Did they hide the worst parts from me?
Were they just as cruel as the man I wanted dead?
“Lina, stop,” Stefan said firmly. “Your parents weren’t monsters. Cruel, yes. Ruthless, yes. But in the ways that protected you and the people they cared for. The ones they killed deserved it. They even kept a ledger.”
My breath lodged in my chest.
“You were everything to them,” he continued. “Everything. Down to the name of their syndicate. Crimson for your red hair… and Rose for your birth month. June.”
I could tell Stefan had more he wanted to say. There would always be more. He cared for my parents in his own way, but loyalty over love never wins. Tears burned behind my eyes, and I wanted to scream. Everything scraped old wounds back to the surface, yet it also solidified something brutal and absolute inside me.
I would take what I wanted. Cezar and Viktor would both be mine.
Just as I was saying goodbye, he walked into the room. He didn’t speak at first—he just sat next to me while I curled my arms around my legs. Cezar pulled me in, holding me tight, rocking us gently.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“You know my family was murdered when I was younger.”
He nodded.
“I had someone who stepped in. A father figure, I guess.” I stopped there, letting him comprehend what I just said.
He loosened his hold and gave me a confused look. Everything about Stefan, everything about the Crimson Rose… all of it sat between us like a loaded gun.
The secrets were eating me alive.
“I can’t tell you his name,” I admitted, “but he taught me everything I know. How to infiltrate. Gather intel. Kill. How to keep allies by having mutual enemies.”
Cezar’s hand tightened around my legs. “What happened, Lina?”
“He sold my family out.”
His body tensed at my words.
“He was my father’s right hand,” I continued. “He knew everything about us. He was practically family. Then one night—an important night—it all fell apart. My parents were gone. And the only reason I survived is because he got me out.” I took a deep breath.
Cezar frowned. “Did he have a change of heart?”
“It wasn’t that.” My voice fractured. “He’s never forgiven himself. And he shouldn’t. I haven’t either. He found out what was promised to him—his family’s safety—was a lie. His wife and kids were murdered the same night my family was. By the time he realized it, it was too late to save anyone but me.”
