Page 83 of Beyond Enemy Vows

And just like that, my mind circles back to him.

Niko.

It's been days, but Rome already feels like another lifetime ago. The way I left gnaws at me constantly. I thought leaving would protect him. I thought if I cut him off, my brothers wouldn't dig deeper, and he'd live, but now I'm not so sure.

And every night, when I close my eyes, I see his face. The betrayal. The heartbreak. And I know I've wounded him in ways that may never heal.

Because that's what love does. It gives you incredible highs and the lowest lows.

I shake my head and start walking again, pushing my sunglasses up against my face, trying to stay hidden from everything.

And then I feel it. That sense women have when out. Someone is walking behind me. Too close. Like I'm being followed. I quicken my pace, and someone rushes me. I feel a strong hand clamp around my upper arm, pushing me sideways into a narrow service alley between buildings. I gasp as I'm pushed up against a brick wall, but before I can scream, a familiar body is up against mine.

"Niko," I say breathless.

His face is inches from mine, jaw tight, eyes burning, wild with fury and something even more dangerous.

He looks like he's angry and relieved, or maybe I'm projecting that.

Stubble darkens his usually clean-shaven face, and of course, he still looks handsome.

"You think you can walk out on me and vanish?" His voice is low, but I can hear the rage beneath it. "You don't get to do that, Callista. You don't get to say nothing and disappear."

"Niko, please?—"

"Four days," he cuts me off. "Four days of nothing. No calls, no texts. Just gone. You think you can ghost me like I'm some fuckboy you picked up at a bar? I'm not disposable, Callista. His hand still gripping me. "I told you I loved you, and you walked out the door."

"You don't understand?—"

"Then make me understand," he demands and slams his palm against the wall near my head, making me flinch. "Was it all a game? Getting close to me? Was that your plan all along?"

"No!" The word tears from my throat. "How could you think that?"

"What else am I supposed to think? You just left, Calli. No explanation. Nothing."

Tears sting my eyes. "I didn't have a choice."

He shoots hot air out of his nostrils. "There's always a choice. You just didn't pick me."

"I had to, okay," I say, wiping tears from my eyes. "I?—"

"Don't give me these vague excuses," he says, cutting me off. "Your brothers called, and you ran. Just like that."

I pause for a moment as he towers over me, boxing me in. "Your father killed mine, okay. That's why I left."

The words hang between us. Niko goes absolutely still, his face draining of color, and the fury in his eyes is replaced by shock.

"What did you just say?" His voice is tense.

"Your father." I force the words out through a tight throat. "Stavros. He killed my father."

Niko releases me and steps back like I've struck him. "No." He shakes his head. "That's not?—"

"It's true. My brothers have proof." I shrug, tears falling more now. "They showed me."

He rubs the back of his head, pacing the narrow alley. "No. There has to be a mistake. That's not... We're business allies. No. He would've told me. I would've known."

"You didn't know," I say gently, taking a small step toward him. "Because he hides things from you. Because he's a monster."