(Tristan's point of view...)The empire I'd bled to build. The alliances held together by fragile threads and mutual fear. Even my own life. Selena Rossi wasn't just a complication—she was a storm I'd willingly walked into, knowing it could tear me apart.
And still, I didn't let her go.
The night after the attack, I sat in the darkened hallway outside her room, back against the wall, gun resting in my lap. I hadn't told her I was there. She thought she was alone, but the truth was, I hadn't been able to leave. Not with the scent of blood still lingering in the air, not with the memory of her eyes wide with fear as I fired that shot.
She didn't see what I saw in that moment. She saw violence. Chaos. Me becoming exactly what she feared I was.
What she didn't see—what no one ever did—was the cost of mercy in a world like mine. Matteo had once been my brother in arms. I could have killed him. Should have. But I didn't. And mercy, in our world, was the first sign of weakness.
I leaned my head back against the wall, exhaling slowly. My chest still burned with adrenaline and something else I didn't want to name. Something that surfaced only when I was near her.
She made me feel like the man I used to be—before bloodlines, before bullets. Before I learned that love was just a weapon disguised as salvation.
The door creaked softly.
I didn't move.
She stepped out, barefoot, wrapped in one of my shirts, the hem brushing her thighs. Her hair was a dark cascade down her back, and even in the shadows, she looked like something from another life. One I'd lost.
"You're still awake," she said quietly.
I nodded once.
She sat down beside me, close but not touching. Her presence was magnetic. Dangerous.
"Why didn't you tell me who he was?" she asked.
I hesitated. "Because telling you means dragging you deeper. And I already pulled you in farther than I ever should have."
"You keep trying to protect me," she whispered. "But you never ask if I want to be protected."
I turned to her then, really looked at her. The fire in her eyes. The weight in her voice. She wasn't afraid of me—not anymore.
"Do you?" I asked.
She met my gaze, unflinching. "I want the truth. No more masks."
I swallowed hard, the edges of my armor cracking.
"The truth is…" I paused. "I don't know how to be a man with nothing to hide. Every part of me is layered in blood and secrets. The only version of me that survives in this world is the one behind the mask."
She reached out and touched my hand. Just a brush. But it undid something in me I'd spent years trying to keep sealed.
"Then show me what's beneath it," she said.
And for the first time in years, I wanted to.
WOAHHHHH...A LOT IS HAPPENING, OMG....Anyways, guys, I'M BACKKKKKKK…..because of school, my schedule was soooo damn tight to the extent that I had to stop writing for a while…..now I'm here and I'll try my best to update you guys every day...thank you guys for the views, it means A LOT to me…☺️
And as always, don't forget to like, comment and all that…..Love you…..💋