Page 134 of Righteous Enforcer
How has Adriano explained my absence?
I jerk upright at the sound of the door knob turning. The door swings open, and Ivan saunters in like he owns the world, which in this moment, he might as well.
"Your Romeo seems to have lost interest," he announces, leaning against the doorframe.
“He’s not coming to rescue you.”
I keep my face carefully blank. "I never expected him to."
"Liar." His smile is shark-like. "You've been watching out that window with bated breath.”
"What do you want?"
"To deliver news of your beloved." Ivan steps fully into the room, hands clasped behind his back. "We received an answer to our proposal. Your life in exchange for their surrender."
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it. "You don’t need to tell me. I already know they’ll never surrender to you."
"Perhaps not. But what we received in return…" His expression shifts to something darker. "Well, I thought you should see their answer yourself."
He snaps his fingers, and one of his men enters carrying a box.
The smell hits me first.
Copper and rot. When the lid comes off, I can't stop the scream that tears from my throat.
Glazed eyes stare back at me from the severed head of Ivan's messenger.
“I have to hand it to them, they are dramatic.” Ivan watches my reaction. "No counter-offer. No demands for proof of life. Just this."
The room spins as I struggle not to vomit. This isn't just a rejection of terms, it’s a message back. They won't negotiate. Not even for my life.
It means one thing. Adriano believes I betrayed him.
"Ah, there it is." Ivan's voice is smug. "The moment you realize he's chosen his family over you."
I turn away from the grotesque display. "You've made your point."
"Not quite." Ivan grips my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Now comes the part where I use you to destroy them anyway."
I recoil from Ivan's touch, my skin crawling where his fingers gripped my chin.
"He thinks I betrayed him. I’m of no use to you anymore.” And so now, I die.
Ivan's smile widens. "You did betray him.”
I turn toward the window, trying to tell myself I’m glad that I’m no longer in limbo. I’m not living in a purgatory where I wonder if today is the day I die. The decision is made. Alessandro would have been the one to send this grotesque message to Ivan. Hewas probably happy to do it. To get me out of Adriano’s life, once and for all.
Adriano once told me he could protect me from Alessandro, and I believed him. But he’s not protecting me now. He has finally seen me for what I truly am.
A liar. A spy. A traitor.
I squeeze my eyes shut against the tears threatening to spill.
The last thing I need is for Ivan to see me break.
But it’s difficult to accept that Adriano has given up on me, even as I know it’s what I deserve.
I kept the truth from him even after he found me, even after we reconnected. I was too afraid he'd hate me if he knew.
