She smiles. “You know the concept of ‘I can change him,’ right? Do something, girl. Turn the beast into a prince. Kick his ass or kiss his lips, just don’t let him repeat the butchery. And if that sounds too impossible, start an NGO there. Help the people who suffered.”
I smile. “You’re right. I can help them.”
She shrugs. “You can also change him. Trust me. That man already—” Her phone rings, cutting her off.
She answers with a grin, listens, then rolls her eyes.
“You can’t listen to my conversation with my sister.”
She pauses, then frowns.
“I’m not feeding her anything unrealistic.”
Another pause. She groans.
“Fine.”
She stabs the screen to end the call.
“He ordered me not to tell you things like ‘you can change him.’ Says it’ll push you down the road of a toxicrelationship, which I don’t even know how these men have decided is toxic.”
I bite my lower lip. “They won’t believe me, will they?”
She purses her lips and shakes her head.
They think of me as someone immature and soft-hearted who doesn’t know how the world works. A big, bad man manipulated me, and I fell for it like a baby.
They can’t see what Salvarioand I have.
Chapter 40
Elowen
Hey Love,
I miss you. And I’m mad at you, even though I know you must have some valid reason for not showing up at my concert. But I’m still mad, and you can’t throw logic at a mad girl. It’s illegal.
I hope you’re fine. You know how my mind works—I always imagine the worst, picture something terrible happening to you, and with no way to reach you, it’s impossible not to spiral. Especially since it’s been three whole months since I last saw your face or heardyour voice.
I kept expecting to see you at every turn. At the concert you promised you’d come to. Then during Leo’s wedding, when we were in Russia. I even let myself hope I’d find you here in San Diego—I’ve gone shopping five times in the past month, just hoping to catch a glimpse of you.
Tomorrow is my next concert, in LA. Please, please show up to this one. Even if you can’t get close, just let me see you from a distance. I need to know you’re okay.
Again, I’m more afraid than excited. Leo will be there with me. He’s heartbroken and subdued, nothing like his usual annoying self, but I still don’t think he’d hesitate to hurt you if he finds you there.
These past three months, I’ve done too much acting to make my family believe I’ve moved on from you. Maybe it’s working. Tomorrow, we’ll see how convinced they are. If the security is like it was at my previous concerts, that’s a green flag. If it’s like that last concert—where not even ghosts could breathe near me—then it means it’s still not over.
Anyway, there’s an update about the NGO. Today Dad called to tell me the building is fully constructed, and now they’ll start recruiting volunteers. Once everything is settled there, I might even be able to visit.
I love you, even though you’re a very, very bad man.
Please meet me tomorrow. I miss you, desperately.
Your Elowen
It took me a full week to convince Dad to help with the NGO. He refused at first, so I started working on it myself, even though I knew nothing about how any of it worked. Eventually, after watching me flounder for a few days, he relented. Uncle Alex helped too. He’s always been easier to persuade than my father.
Now the work is progressing quickly. For my father, it’s as simple as snapping his fingers—hire the best person for the job, and it’s handled in no time. They even managed to build a proper office building within two months.
