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She bit her lip and shook her head “You’re a good man, Dante I don’t knohy you don’t know it Why you don’t believe it Look what you’ve done for me For Ana You keep alht and you make me work to reach it, but when I do, that’s when I know”

“When you knohat?” he asked, his lungs frozen, incapable of drawing breath

“When I know that I love you And not just that, but why Because you are so strong And so broken And yet, in spite of everything you’ve been through, you’ve grown up to be a good man A man who puts the needs of others before hireat love, if only he would let himself feel it”

He shook his head “That’s not e I’m sorry you’re confused about that”

“You love me,” she said

So up a flood of e he wasn’t sure he could withstand the onslaught But he stood still, co what he had to do

“No”

She shook her head “I don’t believe that”

“Then you have fooled yourself”

A tear spilled down her cheek, then another, each track of moisture a stab in his chest, a drop of his own blood shed inside, bleeding hi will you punish yourself for sins your father committed?”

“Love only rief so deep it consu in its path It puts you on your knees, steals your breath with the pain that it causes”

“That isn’t love, Dante That’s evil It was evil that tore love from you, that made your father do what he did There was no love in it”

“Then it’s the potential for evil I see init clear”