Third POV
Julian’s jaw clenched, his eyes fierce. “I couldn’t watch you die today. Do you hear me, Reina? I couldn’t.” His voice cracked, and the sound of it split something inside her chest.
She shook her head, her eyes burning. She wanted to fight him, to push him away. She wanted to remind him of the pain he had left her in, the nights she had cried because of his rejection. She wanted to shout that he had chosen another, and she was nothing to him.
But her body betrayed her.
Her body remembered the feel of his arms wrapped around her when the fire raged, the heat of his chest pressed against her back, the strength in his voice as he commanded her to breathe.
“Why now?” she whispered, her voice breaking as the tears spilled again. “Why come when it’s too late?”
The room fell quiet
