Page 62 of Heart of a Villain

She gently elbowed his stomach and found herself welcoming yet another smile.

“I will say this,” she began. “I’m glad. You went from feeling nothing to embracing what you do feel. Being empty isn’t fun. It almost feels anti-human.”

“But you do feel,” he pointed out. “You feel pain. I felt pain. You’re not incapable of feeling; that pain is simply blanketing everything else. Right now, it’s protecting you. I used to hate myself for going through what I went through, but turning pain inward makes no sense. You’re doing the work of the people who hurt you. How can you hate them but continue to do their jobs?”

“But I’m safe,” she argued. “Why isn’t everything fixing itself? Why don’t I feel like I used to feel when I was with you?”

“Because it will take a while. Don’t push yourself so hard. I’ll be here waiting when you declare your undying love for me.”

She shoved him.

The man didn’t even take a step back.

“I really am happy for you,” she said. “I’m proud of you. And, for what it’s worth,” she took his hands in hers, “I didn’t know you thought I was dead. I’m sorry. That would have destroyed me, so it couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“Sayeda, I never gave you up. I lost you. Someone took you from me. I’ve never stopped wanting you, wanting to be with you. I just never thought those feelings would mean anything ever again.”

“What if I’m broken?”

“Broken can be put back together.”

“Never as I was before.”

“I’m thinking about our future, not the past.”

She stared at him.

“What?” he asked. “Do you see something you like?”

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Teach me how to kill someone?”

The pot hissed on the stovetop.

He didn’t turn.

“Sayeda,” he said, his voice darker. “Tell me what they did to you.”

“I’m not ready to talk about it.”

After holding her gaze for what felt like years, he turned away to tend to the pot, and it took her a moment to realize he was using only one hand. The other was still holding hers.

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

The four of them had dinner.

Wren, and Thanasis, volunteered to tidy up the kitchen. Not ready to head to bed, Sayeda asked Adrían to take a walk around the property. As they walked, he pointed out the different types of foliage. Those easy enough to identify.

Some, he took pictures of and handed her the phone, asking her to zoom in and tell him what she saw. After a while, it felt like she was being quizzed, but when she asked if that was the case, he avoided the question, and she didn’t feel like pushing him.

The quizzing eventually stopped.

They walked together in silence.

---