t. Your mother. Noah stared at Viktor

the funeral. Not since the fire that had taken her and his father in

d on the balcony railing. "I did." A long silence stretched between them, charged and heavy. "You said you've watched me for years. Are you stalking me, Viktor?" "No." A pause. "I was protecting you." Noa

random people, Noah. They were involved in something. Something they tried to escape." Noah's heart pounded. "What the hell are you talking about?" Viktor hesitated. "They knew things about my world. Things that could've got

ife he'd thought his parents were just normal. Loving. Working. Struggling. And then one night, gone. "You were the reason she ran?" he repeated, numb. Viktor leaned against the doorframe, e

that's it? You destroy my family, and now what? You feel guilty so you stalk me like some broken savior?" Viktor stepped into the room, h

use somewhere along the way, watching you becam

ou anymore." He reached out and touched Noah's face again, and this time Noah didn't pull

h lay in bed in one of the guest rooms, staring at the ceiling, wide awake. He could still feel Viktor's touch on his che

he past was catching up. And he had just lied to Noah. Because the truth wasn't that he watched Noah's parents die. The truth was worse. He killed them. Viktor stared at th

er. He exhaled slowly, letting the guilt settle over him like an old coat. One he wore well by now. He'd done it. He'd followed orders. They had tried to run with secrets Noah's father had stolen information, tried to blackmail the Bratva, an

ngs got too dangerous. A fake scholarship here. A job offer for a landlord who was about to evict him. Anonymous deposit

nter. His mother and Viktor. His past. The man standing in the shadows

de all that fear and confusion, something in him wanted to belong to Viktor. To be chosen. Held. Possessed. He hated himself for it. He opened t

know them. You were involved." "I was," Viktor admitted. "You killed them." It wasn't a question. Viktor didn't speak. Noah's hands curled into fists. "Tell me the truth." Viktor stood up slowly, rounding the desk until they were inches apart. The silence between them stretched taut, like a wire on

't you just let me die in tha

he ground before I let anything happen to you." Noah swallowed, his body trembling from rage and something dange

gripped the back of Noah's head and kissed him back with enough force to break t

of something they