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“I’m sorry—are you blaming sex and feelings for the fact that someone tried to assassinate her? Because her feelings are not what caused someone to attempt that.”
“You don’t understand.”
“No, I don’t.”
“I was complacent the day that Stella died too.”
“You could not have protected Stella. You didn’t know what was coming.”
“I should have,” he said. “I should have known. I should’ve done something to save her.”
“But you didn’t. You couldn’t have. Hindsight is all well and good, Maximus, but it doesn’t change the past.”
“People lie to you about who they are,” he said. “They lie to you and then...and then it only puts those you care about in danger.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My father...he’s not everything he appears to be.”
“Your father rescued me from a life of... I would be dead by now if it weren’t for your father.”
“I know. But Stella is dead because of him. Because of his choices.”
“If you have a problem with your father, you should talk to him.”
“There’s nothing to say. There is nothing to say except that actions he made in business created enemies who destroyed my life. And I could never... I could never look at him the same way again.”
“Is this about your grief over Stella’s death? Or is it about anger toward him? Him disappointing you and abusing your love?”
That made him stop. “It’s not.”
“I don’t know that I believe that. You should talk to him,” Dante said.
“We’re not a family that talks about their feelings.”
“Well, maybe it’s high time we did. Because I can see now, Maximus, that you have been living in some kind of private hell and I let you. What kind of friendship is that?”
“Your friendship is not the issue here.”
“Well, perhaps it should be.”
“This is not your concern. I can handle this alone.”
“Clearly you can’t. And speaking as someone who lived under a shroud of their own darkness for a very long time, I can tell you that you shouldn’t have to. Minerva saved me. Loving her saved me. You can laugh all you want about castles and ponies, and you can recoil in horror at the fact that I’m sleeping with your sister, but I love her. I love everything about her. And she forced me to change. She forced me to heal. And it
was the cruelest, kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. She did not leave me to die in my brokenness. Your family gave me so much, Maximus, but not even your father’s caring, your mother’s love or your friendship healed me. It was Minerva, and the way that she demanded I love her back. She was the one that changed everything. That fixed everything. It was her love. So if you found a woman that is demanding you give her your heart, then you damn well do it. And if something stands in your way, that is the thing that you should destroy, not the love that could be between you.”
“You don’t understand what kind of man I am.”
“I don’t need to. Does she understand what kind of man you are?”
“She says she does.”
“So listen. Believe her.”
“Why should I?”
“Because the other choice is a life lived alone. And believe me when I tell you it’s not even a half life. Because I’m standing on the other side of it, and I’m telling you.”
