Page 127 of Ruins
My stomach twists.
Is she talking to someone?
My protective instinct flares, and I push the door open gently.
I move past the sitting room threshold, my eyes scanning the dim space, then I see her and my heart cracks, she’s whispering toherself.
Curled up on the bed, hugging a pillow tightly, her eyes shut like she’s trying to keep something out.
Something claws at my chest.
This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.
I was supposed to tell her.
But looking at her now—small, fragile, hurting, the words die in my throat.
I clear my throat slightly before speaking up, “Vasilisa?”
Her teary eyes snap open, wide with surprise, startled by my sudden presence.
She blinks, trying to process me being here.
Whatever words I had prepared—whatever I thought I was going to say—stick in my throat.
Because she looks sobeautiful. Even like this.
Even with tear-stained cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, even with her breaths uneven, she is achingly beautiful.
She wipes at her tears quickly, trying to pull herself together.
“Santo...” Her voice cracks, choking on my name.
She’s trying so damn hard to compose herself, to not break, but her efforts are in vain— Because another soft, wounded sob escapes her lips.
“Are you alright?” I ask gently, stepping toward her.
She lifts her eyes, blinking at me in confusion, like she doesn’t understand why I’m here.
I don’t even understand why I am.
She sighs, dropping her gaze. “I’m just overtired,” she lies.
The words cut through me.
I did this.
I upset her so much she’s crying so hard she can’t breathe properly. I have reduced her to this.
I am indeed a monster.
I inhale sharply, the weight of my own guilt settling deep in my chest.
“I just came to tell you—” my voice is strained, “that Luca is on assignment elsewhere for a couple of weeks.”
She nods quietly, accepting my words without question—without fight. She doesn’t ask why. She doesn’t even seem to care.
I brush a loose strand of hair from her face, aching to tell her everything—
