Page 108 of Iron Roses

I swallow the dryness in my throat.

“Hey?” I whisper, not knowing what else to say.

She smiles.

“Hey,” she replies.

I close my eyes for a second, but when I open them, she’s still there.

“Are you real?” I ask, my voice quieter, but I can’t stop the tremor in it.

She doesn’t answer right away. She steps closer, though.

“I am real to you, aren’t I?” Giovanna says gently, her voice low, threaded with warmth.

“I forgive you,” I say, each word heavier than the last. “For taking him. I didn’t deserve him.”

Giovanna’s eyes flicker. She moves a step closer, her hand almost brushing my shoulder.

“Yes, you did,” she says softly. “I—I just never had anything that belonged to me. That’s why I took him.”

I feel her words pressing on my chest, but I let them sink in.

“He loves you so much,” I say. “I wish—”

“You wished he loved you the same way,” she finishes, her voice quiet.

I nod slightly.

“Is it such a bad thing?” she asks.

I hesitate.

“No,” I say softly. “It’s not.”

Giovanna smiles, and it’s not a smile for me—it’s the kind of smile someone gives when they’re glad to see the truth finally be spoken.

“You brought something back to his life,” she says. “Something I watched him lose. Elaria, you’re the sun. He—”

“He doesn’t love me.”

Giovanna smiles again, but it’s tinged with sadness.

“Do you love him?” she asks again, her voice still light, but it holds an edge.

My chest tightens. I feel her words like a spark in my throat, igniting something I’ve buried.

“It’s wrong,” I say. The words don’t sound right when they leave my mouth.

“No, it’s not.”

“Do you love him?” she repeats, her voice gentle but relentless.

I close my eyes.

“Do you love him?” she asks again.

I swallow, my throat dry.

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