Page 74 of Born Free

“Roman,” I say with a shaky voice. “Can you? I can’t…”

Without questioning, Roman grabs the envelope, drawing it out of his pocket and tearing the paper open.

“It’s addressed to us both,” he says, his tone surprised but grim.

I squeeze my eyes closed, sending a cascade of tears down my face. “Read it.”

Roman hesitates a moment. I hear him swallow once. “Dear Juliet and Roman. I know neither of you will ever be able to forgive me for what I’ve done. I pray with every little ounce of faith I have left that the plan worked. That your gift is stronger than we could have imagined, and there are no limitations to how many times you can die for the ones you love. I know it was a risk. And I can’t imagine how scarring those moments were.”

Sebastian always said he knew me best, and he proves it to an extent with his words. He knew it would be bad, how much this would break me.

But he was wrong.

There were limits.

There was a price to be paid.

And while Sebastian never wanted to see Roman and I together, now our very souls are bound together.

“But I had to take the risk. Roman was never going to be free unless Orlando thought he was dead. I discussed some dark things with him. Roman, Juliet, you have to understand, Orlando was never,evergoing to leave Chicago without his brother. He used words, he made deals, but heneverintended to keep them. Orlando was never going back to Spain without Andres.

This city that I betrayed was never going to be free so long as Orlando knew his brother was alive in it. So, I did what I had to do. I had to set Chicago free.

I had to set you free. Roman. Juliet. I didn’t know how to set you free any other way.

And I had to set myself free.

I’m broken. I’ve taken what wasn’t mine. After losing everything, I didn’t know how to keep anything without using an iron grip. But all that leads to is suffocation. I can’t live that way anymore.

I love you more than life, Juliet. Trust me when I say this was the only way. I had to set Chicago free. I had to set Roman free. I had to set you free, Juliet.

But I had to set myself free.

I hope the both of you can forgive me someday. But I understand if you don’t.

Just know, I love you, Juliet.

I set us both free.

Love, Sebastian.”

As Roman finishes reading the letter, my eyes screw shut, and my lower lip trembles. I feel like there is an earthquake happening inside of me.

Life is different now. It’s been irrevocably changed. What happened in this empty club feels like a lifetime ago, yet here I am, holding the body of the man who was alive just a few hours ago.

Sebastian sacrificed himself. He gave himself up for this city. For me. For Roman. For himself.

“He planned it all,” I say, my words coming out broken. “Orlando told him things he never told you, Roman. And so he planned it. My death. Coming here. Exposing you as a council member so your brother would never forgive you. Your third death. Orlando killing him.” I suck in a sob, wiping at my face. “He even plotted a fight to break out outside just moments after his death, so Orlando had no choice but to run or face the police. He planned it all.”

My brows draw together as the tears rush down my face. I shake my head.

Sebastian is brilliant. I always knew it. I always said it. The things he was able to manage, the plans he was always able to lay. He’s proven himself a genius even after his death.

“There’s more in here, Juliet,” Roman says, his voice rough, low.

I turn my head in his direction but can’t quite meet his eyes.

“It’s a will. And a deed.”

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