Page 141 of Brutal Crown

“I brought you some food.” He gestures toward the bag. “And some other things I thought you might need.”

I smile as I grab the bag and peer into it. A bowl of soup. A bundle of folded fabric. I pull it out and unfold it slowly.

Tiny baby clothes. A white onesie. Little socks. A hat with bear ears.

Emotion swells in my chest.

“They’re beautiful,” I whisper.

“I didn’t know what size to get. Or what you’d like. I just thought?—”

“Thank you,” I interrupt with a smile. “This means a lot.”

He nods, rubbing his hands together. His gaze drops back to my bandaged feet.

His expression shifts to something bitter, something broken.

“I should never have let you go through that ritual.”

“Marco…”

“I knew. I knew you didn’t want me. I knew it wasn’t me you would choose. But I wanted to believe so badly that I had a chance at your heart. I wanted to win this… silent battle I’ve been in with my brother for years,” he chuckles bitterly to himself.

“I wasn’t willing to let down my pride.” His voice cracks. “And I let you walk on fire because of that.”

My throat tightens. I reach out slowly to curl my fingers around his.

“It was my choice to perform the rite,” I say gently. “You didn’t make me do it. I chose it. I needed to… for myself. To prove that I was strong enough to face them.”

His eyes meet mine, and my heart clenches at the wetness in them.

“You should hate me,” he says with a broken smile.

“I don’t.”

“You should.”

We stare at each other for a moment, silence stretching between us.

“I understand…” I trail off. “Why you’re the way you are. Francesco says you’re all broken,” I chuckle bitterly.

His eyes flash with emotion at the mention of his brother. “He should hate me too.”

“Well, he doesn’t,” I tell him. “He makes excuses for you all the time.”

Marco laughs. “That doesn’t surprise me. He’s always been like that. It was one of the reasons I envied him, how calm and calculated he could be of his feelings. I was jealous of how he never got jealous or angry at any of us…” He trails off, his eyes meeting mine. “Maybe that’s why, when I realized how he felt about you, I decided to use you to get to him. It worked. I’ve never seen him so strung out over a woman.”

Tears gather at the corners of my eyes. I glance away so he won’t see me struggle to keep them at bay.

“At first, I just wanted to provoke him, but then I got carried away. I started falling for you…”

“Marco…”

“…and I wanted you to feel the same way toward me. I wanted you to look at me the same way you looked at him. I wanted you to choose me, and when you wouldn’t… well, I became a controlling, overbearing prick.”

I chuckle despite myself. A tear slips down my face.

He reaches toward me to wipe it off. “I’m sorry, for everything.”