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I did And none of it sat ith me

Alessio was not a stupid man So, when he said, “I don’t knohat his circumstances are, but if he says he needs the money, I’m inclined to believe him,” it broke me Because I didn’t know

The tiht And my insides burned with the realization

Vik wasn’t cheating onhis ass

I felt ill My breath left me in a whoosh

I closed my eyes, breathed deep, and whispered, “Oh no”

What have I done?

Instead of asking hi All of that and he still looked after th when I had none

A sudden thought hit me

Am I the villain in our story?

My eyes opened, and I blinked away the sting behind ether, just needing to e mistake, Les”

When I looked up at him, the expression he as one of concern “Can I help?”

“No” I huffed out an acidic laugh before runningtheh me in red, hot waves “No one can”

My inner tur after Alessio had taken us back to his house and I drove myself home, I sat alone in the dark and tried in vain to put the pieces of this puzzle together But I couldn’t I just couldn’t

None of it made sense

Feeling a little lost and rather alone, I needed clarity so, I went to Sasha’s, let myself in, and waltzed down to his office He sat there, looking down at a docuhtly, and his brow furrowed as he lifted his head

He looked tired And, yes, I realized that whatever shitty way he was feeling was entirely his own fault, but he was still my brother

I lifted ht wave

“Nastasia” The small s you”

“Are you ever?” I very nearly scoffed