Page 129 of Shameless Royalty

Gio shoots him a look. “You think you’d still have Maddy if last year didn’t happen?”

Mihai just smirks. “She’s obsessed with me.”

“She’s obsessed with your hair,” Nikolai mutters.

Mihai shrugs. “Same thing.”

I groan, dragging a hand down my face. “Can we focus?”

“Alright, alright.” Gio leans forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “You fucked up.”

“Obviously,” I snap.

He lifts a brow. “And you know Malachi better than any of us. You think he’s the type to let you waltz back in and grovel?”

My stomach twists and I shake my head. “No.”

Nikolai sighs. “Then don’t grovel.”

I scowl at that stupid as fuck advice. “And what? Just pretend like I didn’t abandon him?”

“Not saying that,” Nikolai says. “But from what you’ve told us, Malachi’s not the type to want pity. He’s a stubborn little shit.”

That makes my lips twitch. Even now, when I feel like I might fucking drown in this, thinking about Malachi’s stubbornness—his sharp tongue, his fire—does something to me.

Konstantin watches me carefully, then leans back in his seat, tilting his head. “You ever told him?”

“Told him what?” I ask and frown.

“That you love him,” Konstantin says simply and I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest.

A memory flickers in my mind—the words I almost said, the ones I was too much of a coward to admit out loud.

Mihai hums, tilting his head to the side. “Do you see now just how badly you fucked up?”

“I fuckin’ know, alright? I just didn’t realize how badly I fucked up until I walked into his empty room and saw that fuckin’ ring sittin’ there like a goddamn grave marker.”

I twist said ring as it sits on my pinky finger. That Claddagh ring he left behind like it meant nothing. LikeImeant nothing.

“He didn’t leave it behind because he didn’tcare,” Konstantin says, watching me carefully. “He left it because he cares more than he should.”

I freeze at that and Giovanni nods. “That ring was a message, man. It wasn’t him letting you go. It was him waiting for you to fucking do something about it.”

Fuck.

I shake my head, scrubbing a hand down my face. “Then why did he leave?”

“Because he was a fucking prisoner,” Nikolai deadpans. “Because you gave him a ring, told him he was yours, then left him locked up while you fucked off to war for five months.”

I flinch and watch Konstantin leaning forward, placing his elbow on the armrest and his chin on his fingers. The silver rings on his fingers catch the light. I know now he doesn’t wear them for fashion. Every piece of metal on him has a purpose—knuckle dusters disguised as accessories. “Did you ever ask him what he wanted?”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out and Mihai clicks his tongue. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Look, you’re my best friend, but you have a habit of thinking you know what’s best for people without actually letting them fucking decide.”

I glare at him. “That’s rich, comin’ from you.”

He smirks. “And yet, I learned my lesson.” He taps the side of his head. “Maybe you should too.”

I stare down at my hands, at the faint cuts and bruises, the calloused skin. My entire body is sore, my mind still wired from everything we did, everything we survived. But nothing—nothing—has left me as wrecked as losing Malachi.

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