Chapter Eighty-fourEnzoI still couldn’t believe it.I couldn’t believe that the innocent woman I married, the one whose breath used to tremble just from the sound of my voice, the one who nearly passed out the first time she stepped into my inner room and discovered who I really was—was the same woman who pulled the trigger tonight. The same woman who shot my enemy without flinching. Without hesitation. Without mercy.I still remembered how carefully she used to walk beside me back then, like the very ground she was working on was shifting beneath her feet. How she moved with cautious reverence, as though every step was being watched. After she found out who I truly was, I could sense the fear. I could sense her restraint. If she had gotten the chance, I knew she would have asked me to walk away from it all, to stop, to choose a different path.But that same woman, the same fragile Rain had held up a gun tonight and shot Andrew. Andrew, the man she once loved. The man she had confes
Chapter Eighty-threeRain My hands were shaking uncontrollably, even as I clung to Enzo like he was the only anchor in a world that had turned into quicksand beneath my feet. My entire body trembled with a violent force, a storm brewing from the inside out, threatening to sweep me away, to drown me in the weight of what I had just done.I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to turn or what to feel. My mind was spinning in chaotic circles, unable to process the gravity of what had just happened. It felt like a terrible dream—no, a nightmare. One of those horrifying kinds you fight to wake up from, only to realize the pain is real. The scene played again and again in my mind like a twisted film on repeat: the sound of the gunshot, the recoil that threw me off balance, the sheer force that knocked me backward and down to the floor. And then—Andrew’s face. The anguish. The shock. The slow collapse of his body as the bullet pierced through his chest and he crumpled to the ground,
Chapter Eighty-twoEnzoA punch landed right on my face, followed by another, and another, until I could taste my own blood in my mouth. The thick, metallic taste burning down my throat like betrayal. My head spun. My balance was gone. I staggered, disoriented, and tried to swing back, but I hit nothing but air.I hated this.God, I hated this.I didn’t know this place. I didn’t know how to navigate my ways through this space. I couldn’t see anything. Just shadows in my head and pain in my body. If I could see, if I could even get one glimpse, one sneak into this space, I would’ve mapped out every step, every corner, every face. But right now? I was just drowning in a place I didn’t understand, with enemies I couldn’t even look in the eye.Another kick hit my ribs. I doubled over, clutching my side, gasping, feeling the weight of a boot against the back of my neck slam me to the ground.Hell, this was frustrating and painful at the same time, it was one of the times I was most helple
Chapter Eighty-oneRainThis is all my fault.I shouldn’t have come to Paris. God, I shouldn’t have dragged him here.If I hadn’t been so determined to chase ghosts that weren’t even ready to haunt me, if I hadn’t been so desperate to find pieces of a past that had never wanted to be found, none of this would have happened. We could’ve stayed back in New York or another any other country, or just anywhere else in the world that wasn’t cursed by my longing to know where I came from. But I had asked. I had wanted answers. I had hoped that knowing the truth about my parents would stitch something closed inside me. Instead, I opened a door wide enough for something dark to slip through.And now Enzo was the one paying for it. I shouldn’t have been so desperate. This wouldn’t be happening if I had just stopped when the door closed to this while we were still in New York. Maybe that was the heaven’s way of protecting us, maybe that was the way the heaven’s wanted to prevent us from walking
Chapter EightyEnzoAfter a beautiful, long minutes of driving with Rain and Louis’s laughter spilling like soft jazz into the quiet hum of the car, the vehicle finally came to a halt.Their voices had wrapped around me like warmth, Rain’s laughter light and honeyed, Louis’s slightly louder, more dramatic, but the kind of dramatic that made you feel at home. It had been soothing. It had been everything. And I was glad Rain could be with someone like her and have a good time with her. I didn’t need to see Louis to know what was going to be a good sister to Rain, her presence and voice exuded positivity and love and I could tell that from the moment she realized Rain was the baby her mother picked from the streets years ago.The car eased to a slow stop, and I could feel the gentle shift of weight as Louis unbuckled her seatbelt, still mid-sentence about some boutique they needed to visit after breakfast and some other places she wanted to go. She had went on about lot of places she wo
Chapter Seventy-nineEnzoThe morning felt brighter than any other morning.I didn’t need to see that to know it, I could feel it in the softness of the air brushing against my skin, in the warmth dancing across the room from where the windows faced east. The way the sheets felt lighter on my body, the gentle hush of the world just beginning to wake—it all told me morning had arrived. It was going to be a day carved out just for her. A day to worship her, to drown her in joy, to wrap her in the kind of warmth that seeps into your bones and lingers long after the moment has passed. A day to make Rain feel more than just special—to make her feel seen, cherished, and utterly, selfishly mine. A day to bring her happiness back in full, vibrant color and make sure she didn’t miss a single breath of the pleasure she deserved.She was still sleeping beside me, safe and peaceful.I could tell, I could feel it. Rain’s breath was soft and steady, the kind of sound that could lull a man into beli