Page 93 of The Colour of Revenge
I called him as soon as I’d calmed down enough to think straight. He hopped on the next flight. No questions. No hesitation.
Because no matter how tough I am now, I can’t do this alone.
Daddy Death:How are you feeling now, Princess?
Queen Carina:Like shit.
Daddy Death:You sure you don’t want company?
Queen Carina:No… I want to be alone.
Queen Carina:Sorry.
I haven’t seen Nate in three days. Three long, torturous days.
I miss him. I hate that I miss him.
Damn him for breaking through my walls. Walls I spent years building, piece by painstaking piece.
Damn him for making me need him.
Damn him for weaving himself into every corner of my life, for making me crave his presence like an addiction I can’t shake.
He looks nothing like his father. That’s what I keep telling myself. And his personality? It never rang any alarm bells. Not once. But now I wonder if all of it was a mask. A carefully constructed façade tailored to make me fall for him.
Did they build him in Edward’s image? A charming monster, his true nature hidden behind kindness and empathy until the moment the knife was poised at my back?
I don’t know what’s real anymore. Every memory we made, every quiet moment in the dark, every whispered promise—it all feels tainted. A lie. And yet, there’s a small part of me, buried beneath the bitterness and doubt, that wants to believe the Nate I knew wasn’t a creation. That he wasn’t my enemy all along.
I feel so lost.
And I hate myself for it.
“Bella.” Enzo’s voice cuts through the storm in my head.
“You ready for this?” Enzo’s tone is calm, but there’s a sharpness beneath it, a quiet warning that what we’re about to do won’t be easy.
My eyes lift to the ceiling, fixing on the small crack in the paint above me. I stare at it for a long moment, forcing a slow, steady breath from my lungs.
“Ready.”
Enzo steps closer, his presence pressing in. “Liar.”
I flinch.
Because he’s right.
I’m not ready. I’m barely holding myself together, teetering on the edge of a breakdown I can’t afford to have right now.
His hand brushes my arm, the touch surprisingly gentle. “I’m here to help. You know that, right?”
“I don’t need help.” The words snap out sharper than I intend. “I just need to make them pay.”
Enzo sighs, amusement and frustration flickering across his face. His dark green eyes crinkle in the corner as his expression softens. Enzo is quite honestly terrifying to look at, if you don’t know him. He’s got a hulking frame, a hard edge to him that tells you he’s seen some shit, and his skills with both a knife and a gun are unparalleled. But… he has this softer side, one that not many people see, that’s the reason I felt comfortable with him from early on. It’s like he has a neon sign above his head flashing:Will absolutely shoot you without hesitation… but also brings snacks for his friends.
I turn away from his scrutiny, crossing my arms over my chest. “I don’t need your pity.”
“It’s not pity,” he insists firmly. “It’s loyalty. Maybe you should try trusting someone for once.”
