“And I hated every second of it. My parents were awful, just like your dad. I decided from an early age I wantednothingto do with this life. I swore I’d never marry a mobster, and that I'd find a way to leave this world and all the things that go with it—the violence, the danger, the constant moral compromises.”
My eyes widen with shock.
She smirks. “What? Nero never told you? The only reason I married Rafe was to help my sister, Gem. She was engaged to Rafe but fell in love with another guy. I walked down that aisle swearing to myself that I’d never have a real relationship with him. I was convinced that besides being smoking hot, he had no redeeming qualities.”
I drag my Coke closer and take a sip. “How did you deal with it?”
Cleo’s lips press together as she considers her words. “It wasn’t easy. There were times I questioned everything—my choices, my morals, my sense of right and wrong. But what I realized is that it’s not about shutting out the darkness completely. It’s about finding a way to shine your light, even when the darkness is all around you.”
I swallow hard, her words hitting close to home. “But what if I can’t?”
She reaches across the table, takes my hand in hers, and squeezes it gently. “Why did you shoot Ekaterina?”
“Because she was about to kill me.”
“And how did you get into that situation in the first place?”
“I…I guess I was alone in the bathroom with her because I had tried to find a way to get help. For Nero and I.”
“So you did something really damn brave to help save the man you love. What’s monstrous about that?”
I bite down on the corner of my mouth.
“Do you love Nero?”
“Yes,” I answer softly.
“Why do you love him?”
A million reasons come to mind. “The way he takes total responsibility for his actions. I’ve never met anyone who does it to the same extent that he does. When he makes mistakes, he commits fully to fixing them. I admire that a lot about him.”
Cleo stays silent, letting me continue.
“I love how loyal he is, and how far he’s willing to go for the people he loves.”
She smiles. “I know a bit about that.”
“His love is intense, possessive, all-consuming. He doesn’t hold anything back. And that can be overwhelming sometimes, but most of the time…”
“It just takes your breath away in the best kind of way?”
“Exactly.”
Cleo's eyes sparkle with amusement. “If you were ever locked up in jail in a foreign country, and you had one phone call, who—”
“I’d call him.” I don’t even need to think about it.
“So you trust him with your life?”
“Yes. And he’s just…fun.” A smile tugs on my lips. “He has a sense of humor. He’s so confident. And he's a great cook. And he’s stupidly hot.”
Cleo laughs. “That’s a lot of good qualities for someone who’s a killer.”
“I don’t think of him as one. When I look at him, that’s not who I see.”
“It sounds like you’ve accepted the darkness in him. You just haven’t accepted the darkness within you.”
My eyes widen. Accept the darkness within me? The very thought sends a shiver down my spine. “I’m not sure I can.”
