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Tense silence expanded in the room until I pricked it. “What happened to Benjamin?”
“He’s dead, Darla.”
I wondered if I imagined the scene where Zeno killed him before I fell into a dark abyss.
“I’m sorry, Zed.” So sorry that you had to kill your own sibling. So sorry it had to come down to this.
“Benjamin was angry that Yves chose me as his heir when it should have been him. He was angry that…I was with Violette when he wanted her. He was Pierrot all along. The only reason he made me believe it was Antoine was so I could kill the latter. This entire situation grew from my brother’s jealousy and obsession to see me fall.”
“Oh, Zeno. My heart aches for you. Please know that you didn’t deserve any of this.” I reached for his hand. He twined our fingers together. “How did he get the folder?”
“Benjamin knew about the hidden safe in my office. He cracked the code, stole the folder, and weaponized it, knowing what kind of chaos it would unleash. You were just a casualty in his plans. My brother did not care who he injured in his one-sided rivalry, as long as it hurt me.”
I didn’t have the faintest clue how we would all recover and heal from Benjamin’s destruction.
“Zeno,jet’aime. You know that, right?”
He leaned in to peck my lips. “Je t’aime aussi.”
“I know you won’t like this, but I have to be with Dacia and Diane after everything that’s happened. They need me and I need to be in a stress-freeenvironment just like Doctor Rodriguez said. I can’t go back to that estate yet. Not after everything that happened.” I closed my eyes and all I saw was Ben turning around and shooting me. Blood everywhere and the most excruciating pain I ever felt. “I need to recover in a place where I’m not constantly reminded of what happened to both of us. I need to do this…for the baby.”
Zeno froze and his tan leached of colour.
Neither of us inhaled or exhaled like the small action would disturb the moment.
“Don’t,” Zeno choked out, gripping my fingers a little too tight. “Don’t leave me. You promised.”
I grabbed his hand with both of mine, noticing the way it shook. Noticing how exhausted he looked beyond his thirty-four years. His suit was wrinkled and the collar of his dress shirt was smeared with a hint of blood—probably mine. The goldDIHpin was still stamped on his askew tie. My perfectly put together Zeno resembled a jagged puzzle piece missing his whole and it killed me that I was partly to blame.
“I’m sorry I got mad last night. I was running high on emotions. I wholeheartedly know you would never put me at risk intentionally. I’m human and I lashed out. It’s something I will work on. Not letting my fear dictate the way I talk to you or anyone else.” I squeezed his hand and he watched me with that yearning look in his eyes. “I was angry that you didn’t destroy the folder, but the information leaking is not your fault—it was Benjamin’s. Please don’t berate yourself over it another minute. I forgive you.”
He was struggling with accepting my forgiveness.
“From our bedroom window, I spotted Benjamin near the stables even though he was supposed to be in France. I saw you marching after him with a gun and I understood. I came after you so I could rescue you, Zeno.”
“I almost watched you die,” he rasped. “You should have never tried to protect me, Darla.”
“I’d walk through a hundred fires if it meant saving you, Zeno.”
My husband bowed his neck until our joined hands pressed over his forehead, releasing apuhlike sound from his lips, vibrating with prominent emotions like his body wasn’t big enough to contain everything he was feeling.
“I never thought things would transpire the way they did. I never thought Ben would betray you or shoot me.” Zeno’s head rose, darkness swirling in his gaze. “Yet it’s obvious after everything that’s occurred, we need to tie loose ends and be with our respective families.”
“What if we moved into the penthouse?” he pleaded. “Just you and me. No one else.”
I smiled weakly. “I’m not leaving you. Ever. I’m simply asking for time.”
“I can’t be apart from you.”
“It won’t be for very long.”
“Even a minute away from you feels like an eternity, Darla.”
I huffed and shook my head. “Zeno.”
“Please, Darla.” He held my face with two hands. “Don’t ask me to do this.Je t’ensupplie. We need each other now more than ever.”
“We must. For us. For the baby. So we can put this nightmare behind us and start fresh.”
