Lina’s POV
The drive back to the estate was completely silent. Carlino sat beside me, still and unreadable. Cold. Numb. His eyes were fixed on nothing, like the world outside the window no longer existed.
I’d had my chance to leave. To escape this hellhole. To walk away from his crumbling, rotting world. But I didn’t take it. I couldn’t. Something pulled me back to him. To this life. I didn’t have a name for it, but whatever it was, it was strong enough to keep me bound.
I turned my head, studying his face. Dark circles shadowed his eyes. His hair was disheveled, completely out of place. His jaw was tight, his expression carved from stone.
Why was I looking at him this closely?
I had no answer for that either.
I didn’t know how he was still sitting this straight after everything th
