Across town, Fabian sat in the darkness of his apartment, a half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table in front of him. His eyes, bloodshot and heavy with exhaustion, stared blankly at the wall, while his thoughts swirled like a storm inside his head.
He took another swig from the bottle, letting the burn of the alcohol dull the pain that gnawed at him constantly. The guilt, the frustration, the unbearable weight of everything he had done or failed to do was eating him alive.
Ella. The woman he had been hired to kill but instead saved. The woman he had fallen for, despite everything. He should have stayed away, but he hadn’t been able to. Now, her children, Leo and Liam, were a constant reminder of her love for Ethan, a love he could never have.
His lips curled into a bitter smile as he
