Page 49 of Betrayed

“Is that a good thing, or bad?”

“After Isobel, he shut himself off. I feel like he’s more like him again. Open.”

In all this chaos I’ve caused, I don’t feel the same fears about being with Lucian, tied to a man in the mafia, as I once did. It’s starting to seem like I’ve always been part of this life.

Or, that it’s been a part of me.

Revenge, power, violence. They stay hidden away, but they swirl just below the surface.

He’s woken me up.

As if I’m meant for mafia. As if…

I’m meant for him.

Gregory tilts his head and asks, “How did you two meet?”

If Lucian has put all this work into shielding his little brother, I’m certainly not going to corrupt Gregory by telling him how we met.

I take a deep breath. “It’s… complicated. And it has been ever since.”

“I majored in physics,” he says. “I can handle complicated.”

That earns a laugh out of me.

He leans in. “But if you’d rather tell me about yourself, I’m listening.”

I find myself opening up in a way I didn’t expect. I tell him about Cass and Ryan. About Caleb. About running.

I finish, my voice soft. “We ran from a mafia so I could protect them.”

“Now you’re falling for a man who would burn the world to keep you safe. But he comes from the same world as the man he’s protecting you from,” Gregory finishes softly.

“You are good with complicated.”

He laughs.

“But since we’ve been here?” A serene smile comes to my face, the one that does when I think about how I feel about Lucian. “It’s becoming simpler.”

We fall silent for a moment. I think about how I’m starting to like complicated. How I’m maybe even beginning to…love…complicated, even with all its dangerous implications.

Then, Gregory says, “He’s never had that in a long time. Someone he loves after the scars.”

Loves. I leave his word hanging in the air.

Gregory says. “He doesn’t trust easily. He came after you, followed you here. That says everything.”

And I trust him implicitly with everything.

I feel tears prick behind my eyes, but I blink them away.

“Thanks for talking to me,” I murmur.

Gregory smiles. “Anytime. And for the record—I think you’re good for him.”

Just then, the door creaks open again. Lucian steps inside, eyes immediately scanning me as if he needs proof I’m still here. His gaze shifts to Gregory, then to the mugs.

“Did she corrupt you with more of that poison she calls coffee?”