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“Adriano.” My tone is steady, but it doesn’t hide the edge, the simmering anger beneath. “I need to know. How long have you been with her?”

I run a hand over my jaw, trying to keep myself from losing it. A silence stretches, thick and heavy, before he answers, and I can almost hear him smirking.

“I’m not with Dinara. We just met at the party. But she’s lovely, that’s for sure.”

Lovely.

That word ignites something inside me: a rush of heat, a surge of pure fucking possessiveness. He’s talking aboutmywoman, even if she doesn’t know she’s mine anymore.

My fist clenches. He needs to shut the hell up.

“She’s mine,” I growl before I can stop myself.

He laughs, low and amused, like this whole thing is some damn game. “Really? According to her, you’re an ex. An asshole, as she called you. What the hell did you do?”

The bastard is enjoying this. The question hangs in the air, sharp and biting, and I fight the instinct to tear him apart with my words. Instead, I force myself to stay calm and in control.

“That’s none of your business.” The words are sharper than I intend, but I can’t help it.

Adriano chuckles again, colder this time. “Perhaps not. But I’m disappointed it won’t work out with you and Lucia.”

“She’s great,” I mutter through clenched teeth, my pulse spiking. “She’s just nother.”

“I understand. But you don’t need to worry about Dinara and me. I have no interest in her.”

I can’t help the small laugh that escapes me, bitter and hollow. “I wasn’t worried.”

“Of course not,” he responds, like the whole conversation is beneath him now. “Have a good day.”

The line goes dead while my hand clenches around the phone. I drop the cell onto the kitchen counter like it’s a hot stone, the cool surface offering some kind of relief, but it doesn’t last.

I should feel relieved. She wasn’t with him. She lied. She was just trying to make me jealous.

And shit, it worked. I was burning with it.

But so was she. And that just means she still cares.

She can pretend all she wants, but the way she looked at me when she saw me with Lucia…I know the truth: she’s not done with me.

And neither am I. I haven’t let go. I never will.

If it takes all my damn willpower, I’ll make her remember exactly what we were. And what we can be.

CHAPTER34

CILLIAN

I walkinto Tynan’s house right on time, greeted by the whole family.

Gio and Iseult; my youngest sister, Eriu, with her husband, Devlin; Tynan and his family—they’re all gathered around the living room. The noise and movement are familiar, but tonight, everything feels heavier.

Brody, Tynan’s oldest, pulls me into a quick hug before his four-year-old sister, Adora, charges toward me. Her tiny arms stretch out, eager for attention.

I scoop her up, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hi!” She grins, her hazel eyes sparkling. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, she asks, “Uncle Cillian, do you have a girlfriend?”

I freeze. And just like that, the interrogation begins.