nswer him

house afterward, staring at the door he had disappeared through. My hand still tingled where he had

he had whispered.

turned patience into an art form, and

ing into his study, muttering about incompetent investors and a deal that had fallen through. I brought h

, Elena.

lf standing before my jewelry box. The key

t. Not that nig

s phone constantly, the way he flinched when the doorbell rang unexpectedly, the way he never spoke about his

ecy was s

nded a board meeting, I did something I had

through drawers with trembling hands, searching for anything that might explain the man I had married. Financia

I fo

ed the key ring Adrian kept in his nightstand. He never went anywhere witho

awer lay a sin

ugh they had been forced to pose against their will. I recognized Adrian immediately-the sharp jaw, the cold eyes, the rigid posture. But

ul

, in faded ink, someone had written: Adria

ast go

turned two boys into bitter rivals, into enemie

ehind me m

tood in t

are you

een us. Adrian's eyes followed it, and something terrible crossed his face

d that?" His voice

en," I lied. "I was

graph from the floor. For a moment, he simply stared at it,

e looke

this room again. D

dri

u under

ith eyes that held no warmth, no humanity-just cold ca

il dawn, listening to him pace in his study, the so

orning, I c

-

ng, his voice thick with con

n where the roses couldn't hear me. "You and Adrian. You were children. Some

tretched b

uli

ave to know," he said finall

me an

was supposed to be a family holiday-the last one we ever took. On the final night, Adrian an

uli

boat capsized. I couldn't swim. Adrian coul

ilted. "He l

rrent pulled us apart. But I remember his face, El

Wh

s the gentle one. The one who reminded him of our mother. Adrian couldn't s

th, nausea rising in my thr

overboard and he had tried to save me." Julian paused. "Our father believed him. Or he pretend

ch, my legs unable to hold

Not just because I love you-though I do, God knows I do. But because you're married to a ma

ing hur

above, where Adrian sat in his st

I do?" I

key still works. I'll come to you, a

ng the weight of the dec

er," I r

n years, I felt something