Page 8 of Passion & Betrayal

“I feel we have to wait for Sypher…”

“Don’t fucking say his name,” Cian growls. “I don’t ever want to hear his name come out of your mouth.”

I sigh. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to get used to it. He’s not going anywhere.”

Cian stiffens. “You’ll choose him over me?”

I shake my head. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Good. Now we can move on.”

I shake my head again. “But I also have to choose him.”

I think Cian will lose it for a moment, but I watch as he gets himself back under control. When he is steady, he starts talking. “Why do you need to have both of us?”

“Because that’s what the universe tells me. I won’t be whole without both of you. This is not something I’m comfortable with either. It has been destined by fate. Who are we to argue?”

Cian turns away. He keeps his back to me for a long time.

“How do you think this will happen? We’re rivals, Isabel. We’ve been feuding for years.”

“But Aryanna’s father was at war with yours, and they figured it out.”

“Because one of them is dead,” Cian reminds me.

Shit. I forgot that Dom killed his father when he threatened his sister and her baby. I won’t be able to deal with one of them dying. It will break something inside of me, and I’ll never be the same.

“Cian.” I wait until he turns to face me.

“What?”

“I don’t know why, but I do know the three of us will be together. I don’t know how it will work, but I’m asking you—no, I’m begging you—to try. I won’t be whole without both of you.”

Cian studies me for a moment before cursing. “I’ll try.”

I clap with a smile. My anxiety lessened for the first time since I met Sypher. “Oh, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. He and I haven’t been face to face together in over a decade.”

That scares me, but I don’t let it show. “I would like to be there for your first meeting.”

Cian shakes his head. “No. I don’t want you around if we end up fighting.”

“That’s just it. If I am there, I think you both would stay calmer.”

“Goddamn. Why did this have to become so complicated? Why couldn’t we have a normal relationship?”

I shrug. “I’ve asked myself the same thing.”

Cian pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fuck.”

He looks at me, and it feels like his gaze penetrates all the way into the depths of my soul. I have an immense urge to run to him and fall into his arms, but I know it will get out of hand quickly, and I don’t want to take the chance.

“Will you try to contact him, or do you want me to?” I ask.

“I’ll do it.”

I nod.

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