Page 68 of His to Destroy

His shoulders sag, the fight bleeding out of him inch by inch.

"I’m not trying to lie to you," he says finally, voice raw. "I just... I don't want you carrying this weight too."

For a second, I think he won't answer at all.

Then he sighs and turns, leaning his back against the window frame, arms folded across his chest.

"I'm working on it," he says finally. "The Stark situation."

Something cold slides down my spine at the mention of that name.

If I’d ever heard that name before now, perhaps I wouldn’t feel the way it makes me feel now.

But knowing now that that is the name of the man who stole my innocence, makes my heart beat two times faster whenever I hear or think about the name.

I grip the arm of the chair beside me for balance.

Gaspare’s eyes sharpen, noticing.

"He's harder to lure out than we thought," he says. "He's paranoid. Careful. One wrong move and he might realize we're onto him."

I swallow hard.

"So you don’t want him to know you know?"

He nods grimly. "I don’t even want him to know I’m the one sending for him. It’s best if he thinks I’m someone else who’s noticed his prowess. He left the syndicate – literally disappeared. And I didn’t know where he was for a year. To be fair, I never bothered to check. I figured wherever he was wasn’t going to be of any harm to me since I trusted him so much. But if word gets out now that I’m searching for him, he’ll probably either vanish again or do something crazy. I need him desperate. Sloppy."

I close my eyes for a moment, absorbing that.

The idea that Stark is still out there, breathing the same air as me, sends a shudder through my body.

But I force myself to stay upright. To stay strong.

"What if he finds out anyway?" I whisper.

"He won't," Gaspare says firmly. "I'm making sure of it. I won't let him slip through my fingers."

I open my eyes to find him watching me intently, his jaw clenched.

"I promised you justice," he says. "And I don’t break my promises."

But justice doesn’t erase the memories.

The weight of it crashes down on me, pulling me under.

The alleyway.

The hands that grabbed me.

The sharp pain.

The choking fear.

I wrap my arms around myself instinctively, shivering.

Gaspare notices instantly.

He crosses the room in two long strides, dropping to his knees in front of me.

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