Page 5 of His to Destroy

"Why are you here?" I ask, my voice like frost.

Gaspare meets my gaze. "To talk."

I fold my arms. "About what? The weather? Or maybe how you humiliated me and then left me to be…"

I stop myself. I don’t want to say it. Don’t want him to have that.

But his face shifts.

"I know," he says quietly. "I know something happened that night. I didn’t know then. I didn’t find out until later."

"Then why are you here now?"

He hesitates. "Because I never stopped looking. And because someone else found you first."

The words drop like lead.

"What do you mean?"

"Someone followed me here. I didn’t know until yesterday. And they recognized you."

The bottom drops out of my stomach, spreading a sickening feeling all over my body.

Gaspare steps closer, lowers his voice. "Your brother has enemies. I have enemies. And now they know about your son, Almeria.”

Panic claws at me. "I’m not Almeria. My name is Mira. And you, you need to leave. You need to forget you saw us."

He shakes his head. "It’s too late for that."

I back away. "You can’t be here. You don’t get to come back and play savior."

"I’m not here to save you. Maybe you shouldn’t think of it that way. I’m here because I owe you the truth."

I stare at him. "The truth won’t undo what happened."

"No. But maybe it can help protect you now."

He pulls a piece of paper from his coat pocket. Hands it to me.

It’s a photograph. Blurry. Zoomed in from across the street. Me and Luca.

"They know. And they’re watching."

I crush the photo in my fist.

"If anything happens to him, I will never forgive you."

Gaspare nods. "Then let me help."

I look at him, and for a moment, I don’t see the boy who abandoned me.

I see a man who looks like he hasn't slept in days since the last time he was in my shop. A man whose demons sit just behind his eyes.

But I also see danger. And I know better than to trust that face again.

"Go," I whisper.

He leaves.

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