Page 97 of Goldflame

Her posture stiffens. “Explain.”

“You and Julian were close as children. Always together, always… connected.” A memory surfaces—Aurelia and Julian as teenagers, laughing together on the patio while I watched from the window, that familiar ache spreading through my chest. “He was drawn to you from the beginning. And my father noticed.”

“Lucian wanted me even back then?”

“Yes.” The confirmation feels like releasing a weight I’ve carried for too many years. “He had a pattern with young women he found… appealing. By the time you were fourteen, you’d caught his attention. The way he looked at you during family functions made me sick. It was clear you wanted Julian, but he was volatile, already rebelling against our father’s control. If you had begun dating him?—”

“Lucian would have taken me,” she finishes, “just to hurt Julian.”

“Precisely. So I devised an alternative approach. As the favored son, I had certain immunities. My possessions were generally respected.”

Her eyes widen. “So you dated me to mark me as yours. To keep me off-limits to your father.”

“It seemed the most practical solution. Julian hated it, but?—”

“Julian knew about this?” Her voice rises sharply.

“Yes. We agreed that he would distance himself, and appear disinterested. I would publicly claim you as mine. The combination would remove you from my father’s immediate consideration.”

She slides off the table, moving closer. “So our entire relationship, a decade of my life, was just… a tactical maneuver?”

The question demands absolute honesty, however uncomfortable. “That was how it began,” I say. “Until it became more. At least for me.”

“More how?”

I clench my jaw. This is harder than I anticipated, but it’s best to get it all out in the open.

“I developed genuine feelings.” The truth scrapes against my throat. “I had always admired you, even before our arrangement. Your resilience. Your intelligence.Your refusal to be diminished by the darkness surrounding you.”

Aurelia stares at her feet, clearly processing my revelations. She shakes her head slowly. “All those years I thought you were just using me as arm candy.”

“Lucian had to see it that way, but I found myself… compromised by my feelings for you.”

“Compromised,” she repeats, a bitter edge to her voice. “So clinical.”

I can understand her irritation, but what I don’t understand is how she’s acting so innocent, as if she had no role in our demise. “You broke up with me because you loved Julian,” I say finally.

Her head snaps up. “That’s not true. I broke up with you because I learned about all the shady things you were involved in with the Consortium. Because you kept cheating on me.”

Cheating.

If only she knew what I was really doing those nights I was away from her. But one truth at a time.

She shakes her head, continuing, “I couldn’t stand being part of that world anymore.” She hesitates. “But I cared about you.”

“More than Julian?”

Her gaze drops, and in her silence, I have my answer. The confirmation of what I’ve always known settles like a cold weight in my chest.

Even after everything he’s done, might she still care for him more than she could ever care for me?

That fear is the reason I never spoke up sooner aboutmy feelings. Rejection is easier when it’s not dealt directly.

“It’s alright,” I say, moving toward the door. “I understood the dynamics from the beginning. I just wanted to see you happy and safe. That was always the priority.”

“Adrian.” Her voice stops me before I can exit. “If that was true—if all you wanted was for me to be happy—why did you keep watching me after we broke up? Lorenzo mentioned you had men checking on me.”

I turn back, deciding there’s no point in hiding the truth. “I’ve always had a problem staying away from you.”

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