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“Excuse me?” she snarled, glaring at him from where she sat, her lip curled and eyes full of fire.

“Look, Z, I wanted to tell you what was up face-to-face and make you aware of how out of the blue this whole situation was. My life is moving in a different direction, and unfortunately, our relationship can’t be part of that.”

“Your life is moving in a different direction,” she repeated slowly, licking her lips. “It’s funny to me how all you’ve talked about since we sat down is you. It’s as if you haven’t thought about me or my feelings.”

“I’m here because I respect your feelings, Zelina. I felt it was better to tell you what was up rather than ghost you. You deserved better than that.”

“Twenty-two years,” she hissed, gritting her teeth. “I’ve been in your life for twenty-two years from the time we met until now, and this is what you give me? You come to town, fuck me, pretend like you aren’t back for good, and then drop me? And the best explanation you can give is that your life is moving in a different direction?”

“Z,” he replied calmly, hoping he could keep her from causing a scene. “My decision has everything to do with me and nothing to do with you. I fully recognize how dope you are. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been around this long. But, like I said, things in my life are shifting, and it’d be irresponsible to keep you in this space, depriving you of the opportunity to meet the man you’re meant to be with instead of wasting time with me. Your behavior the last time we were together made it clear that, despite what you say, you want more out of this situation. I can’t give you that.”

Deciding not to tell Zelina the full truth was a split-second decision he’d made on the fly. Initially, Cassius planned to tell her everything, but her reaction to him ending things was the sign he needed to keep everything about Aella far away from the conversation. To throw it in Zelina’s face while she was spiraling felt heartless. Despite them not being in a relationship, he did respect her feelings and didn’t want to hurt her—at least not intentionally.

An array of emotions flickered in her eyes as she drew in a deep breath before finally replying. “Is whatever you have going on that deep? Maybe we can figure it out—or I can give you some time and space, then⁠—”

“Zelina,” Cassius firmly interrupted. “Don’t do that. You’re much better than settling for voluntarily sitting around waiting for a man to choose you. Even if that man is me.”

To sit and continue the conversation felt like throwing gasoline on a building fire, so instead of discussing a topic he knew was dead, Cassius reached into his pocket for his wallet to take care of the bill and make his exit.

Zelina eyed him hatefully, unable to contain her following few words. “The entire time we’ve been in each other’s lives, I’ve tried my hardest not to be that girl. But if you think I’m letting go of this without a fight, you have another thing coming. I will make your life a living hell.”

To say Cassius was surprised by her threat would be a lie.

“Z, I’ve tried to keep things as cordial as possible with you,” he replied coolly, dropping a few bills onto the table. “But you know exactly what type of man I am. Try me if you want to.”

The thinly veiled threat seemed to snap Zelina back to reality, if only briefly.

Neither spoke as Cassius stood, adjusting his shirt sleeves before leaving her where she was. Part of him felt bad for hurting her, and he understood that her raw feelings put her in an irrational headspace. But if Zelina acted on her intrusive thoughts, he wouldn’t hesitate to handle it.

Aella’s eyes darted to the digital clock over the stove as she dug her spoon into a small cup of ice cream before bringing it to her mouth. Noting the time, she groaned, knowing it would be hell not only forcing herself to work in the morning, but also managing a shred of productivity.

The back door opened and closed, startling her a bit, but she relaxed upon seeing it was her father. Aella couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him so worn down and defeated. It tugged at her heart so deeply that she didn’t have the heart to even try to ignore him when he asked, “What are you still doing up?”

“What has you getting home so late?” she shot back as he went to the freezer to grab his own cup of ice cream.

From the time she was little, it’d always been a quality time routine just between them.

“I’ve been over at Eric’s helping make arrangements for his funeral.”

“How’s Gianna?” Aella asked, mentioning Eric’s wife.

“Holding tough as expected, but I can see right through it. She’s been with that man most of her life. I can’t even imagine the pain she’s feeling. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to your mother.”

“God forbid,” Aella shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Me either,” Severo commented, removing the top of his ice cream after digging a spoon out of the drawer.

“Daddy,” Aella started after a short bout of silence. “I’m so sorry for the way I’ve been acting lately. I was so stuck on the idea of losing my freedom that I missed the bigger picture.”

“I should be the one apologizing to you. I never should have dropped the situation into your lap like that. Discussing it with you first would have been the best move, but the idea of something happening to my children just—” he broke off, shaking his head. “It was the wrong call. And you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Cassius and I actually talked recently and came to an understanding, but we’ll circle back around to that later. I actually wanted to talk to you about Brax.”

Severo’s shoulders tensed as he removed the spoon from his mouth. Although their entire family was aware of Braxton’s existence, they’d avoided any in-depth conversations for the most part. Aella and Ilaria were both too afraid of wrecking the life they were used to by rehashing old wounds, and if Severo and Victoria ever spoke about it, it was never in front of their children.

“What about?”

“I went to see her the other day,” Aella admitted. “We don’t speak about her a lot, but I know you love her just as much as Ria and me. Which means you would have given her the same respect when it comes to your legacy as you did us.” She delivered a look to ensure he knew exactly what she meant. “I don’t know why someone’s coming after me, but if that’s part of the reason, I wanted to warn her.”