Page 139 of About Love and Revenge

“Make up your mind. What's worth more? Fulfilling a promise to a man who lied to you, who tricked you into thinking your mother was a traitor, or going back to your family?"

“He has to pay for all the harm he's done.”

“Look around you. He will get the punishment he deserves. Just not by your hands. "

“If you leave, you will forever carry the guilt for my death,” Leandros says.

Finally, I feel myself waking up from my trance and looking back at Satan incarnate as a human being. “That's where you're wrong. Nothing that happens to you will make me lose a night's sleep. If you died a thousand deaths, it would still be insufficient to pay for all the crimes that you’ve committed."I start walking towards the exit.

“What will you tell her? What will you say to my daughter when she asks why you left her father behind?"

“Is she your daughter now? You didn't think of that when you abandoned her to a woman-beater, to a rapist. As for what I will say, the answer couldn't be simpler: the truth. She'll know that the evil you've done has finally come back on your own head."

Odin

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

I open the apartment door,and an unusual silence greets me.

In the beginning of our relationship, Elina was careful with her movements, almost as if she was apologizing for being here. Sometimes, I only noticed her approaching when she was already in front of me, which is unusual because I'm naturally alert and suspicious.

Gradually, however, she began to relax, which made me realize that she was feeling more confident around me.

These days, my Elina is so full of life that I know exactly when she is home or not, which makes me sure that at the moment there is no one here but me. I pick up the phone to call Grigori, but I see a message from him on the display.

She's gone.

The initial panic lasts a few seconds.

There is no more Naim, and at this point, no Leandros, which makes me conclude that Elina has escaped the security guards of her own volition.

I try her phone, but as expected, it goes straight to voicemail. I open the app to track her, but her phone has been turned off.

Concerned as I am, I reach for my laptop to find out where her phone last pinged a tower, but before I can even turn it on, my cell phone rings.

When her picture comes up, my heart rate soars. “Where are you?”

“I needed to think a little. Are you back? Grigori said you would arrive today.”

Guilt makes me silent for a while. I didn't even call while I was in Greece, and I did so knowingly.

The truth is, I feared that hearing her voice would weaken me.

Caught up in all the hate I held inside, I isolated myself from her, even after all we've been through.

“Yes, I'm back. Tell me where you are. I will find you.”

Now that she's called me, I could track her down in minutes, but I'd like her to spontaneously give me her location.

“Close to home, but no need to come to me. I'm almost there.”She hangs up without saying goodbye, and I lean my head against the tabletop, unsure of what awaits us from here on out.

She is pregnant and alone on the street.

She was alone when she found out about the baby, alone while I put a promise above our love.

I walk to the closet to get clothes. I need a quick shower. I feel filthy, and it's not just externally. I am not worthy of what she has given me.

I’m reaching for a T-shirt and boxer briefs when I see, on top of one of the shelves, a box that shouldn't be there.

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