I can’t breathe.
The guard’s words keep replaying in my head as though he carved them into my skull with a blade.
“He said no. To Castellano. He risked everything to protect you.”
The same Angelo I had just screamed at. The same man I had accused of selling me like cattle.
My throat tightens, my chest folding in on itself as I stumble down the hall. My tears blur the golden sconces on the wall into smeared halos of light. I clutch at the railing, afraid my legs won’t carry me much further.
How could I have been so stupid?
I called him a monster. I told him he used me, that I was just another pawn in his games. And all the while, he had been standing in front of a wolf like Castellano, baring his teeth, saying no. For me.
It doesn’t make sense. Angelo isn’t merciful. He isn’t kind. H
