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The idea of being trapped in this moment with Leon, as if frozen in a secret moment of our own, suddenly thrilled me.
“Cosmo, come!” Leon commanded, his voice firm yet affectionate.
With a joyful bark, Cosmo bounded toward Leon, and Leo, who had been my shadow just moments before, eagerly followed, completely captivated by Cosmo’s antics.
Leo, it seemed, would fit right in here.
Leon secured the gate behind him, then sauntered over to me with a smile that made my heart flutter.
I tilted my face up to him, my skin already tingling with the anticipation of his touch, the sweetness of his impending kiss.
“Cali, I need to ask you a serious question,” he said, shifting the lighthearted mood instantly.
I blinked at Leon’s face just inches from mine. I swallowed, and my mind clouded with confusion and curiosity. His gaze drilled into me, silent yet insistent.
He didn’t wait.
“Tell me the truth,” he said, voice low and urgent. “If you had the choice, would you rather plunge the blade yourself into the chest of the man who orchestrated your pain, or would you prefer to have someone else do it—wrap his still-beating heart in cloth and deliver it to you as a gift?”
My jaw went slack. A gust of ocean breeze tugged at my hair, and my heart thundered in my ears.
I no longer felt bile rise at the thought of him. Instead, I envisioned revenge and breaking him, just as he had attempted to do to me.
His role as Elias’s father held no significance. Elias nowviewed him solely as his genetic donor. He’d help me gut him if given the chance.
“Leon…” I managed to say, utterly unprepared for the question.
He straightened, dark curls brushing his temples. “Ozias Xenos doesn’t deserve another breath. I just need to know if it’ll be your hand or someone else’s.”
“Leon—” I shook my head. “I’m flattered, I am. But honestly, I just don’t know if revenge will change anything. I’ve spent so much time trying to move on with my life. Do you think it will make things easier?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps it will change nothing for you. But my question still stands, because again, that monster doesn’t deserve to draw another breath after what he did to you.”
I turned away to watch the ripples drifting toward the wooden dock. The water gleamed like molten silver, and my chest tightened as I wrestled with his words. My sisters and Vik had offered me the same choice: say the word, and Xenos would be dealt with.
I’d insisted I wanted to do it myself, “when I am ready.”
Had I ever been honest?
Dark imaginings flickered through my mind: dragging him into a cold cellar, twisting a knife between his ribs, listening to his screams like steel on stone…or watching the life fade from his eyes as I toyed with him.
Each fantasy once blazed inside me. Lately, those visions felt like cold ashes, hollow and meaningless. Instead, I’d beenpainting my daydreams with brighter colors: cozy dinners by a fire with Leon, laughter spilling through sunlit rooms.
I craved a new chapter, a future untainted by blood. Could that future begin with my hands stained?
Well, there was only one way to know.
I drew in a slow, steady breath, tasting the crisp air.
Then I turned back to Leon, meeting his expectant gaze. A steely calm settled in my bones.
“Bring me his heart,” I whispered.
Leon’s grin was feral, his nod decisive. “Consider it done.”
Every beat of my heart thundered in my chest when he spoke.
Warmth radiated from my core. This was exactly the kind of marriage I craved: strong arms that guarded without smothering, thoughtfulness that slipped in like a gentle breeze, respect that never rang false.