Chapter 134
Chapter 134
He didn’t come back.
I couldn’t eat, and I hated it.
Hated that after everything after his coldness, after his accusations I still found myself listening for his footsteps in the hall, glancing at the door every time it creaked. I told myself I shouldn’t care. That Dominic had done worse to me. That he had controlled, broken, isolated me. That I owed him nothing.
So why the hell did it still hurt like this?
Why did his absence feel louder than his presence ever had?
I tried to distract myself. Slept when I could. Ignored my phone. Faked smiles for nurses I didn’t care about. I tried
everything, everything but letting go.
Julian was the one who showed up.
Like he always did.
For the past week, he’d come by every day. Bringing food I never touched, updates I barely listened to. He didn’t push me to talk. Just sat there, sometimes talking nonsense, sometimes staring out the window beside me like we were both waiting on something that wasn’t going to return.
This time, I couldn’t hold it in.
He had just dropped a small paper bag on the side table–coffee, something sweet–smelling inside. He sat, a little quieter than usual.
“You’ve been quiet,” I said.
He gave a nonchalant shrug, slouching in the chair. “Dominic left.”
I turned to him sharply. “What?”
Julian sighed. “Got drunk off his ass two nights after he dropped that bomb on you. Started a fight with some guy in the wine cellar. Told Luca not to follow him, told me to shut up, and then took the jet. Gone.”
“Gone where?”
He shook his head. “God knows. No one’s heard from him since. Took his burner, left his primary phone behind. Said he needed to clear his head.”
My stomach twisted. “And you let him go like that?”
“I tried,” Julian said, exasperated. “You know what he’s like when he’s spiraling. He won’t listen to anyone when he gets that look in his eye.”
I looked away, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from breaking.
Julian glanced at me. “He’s not okay, Aria. He’s… not himself. We’re just hoping he doesn’t kill anyone while he’s off dealing with whatever mess is in his head.”
I swallowed hard, trying to hide the way my hands clenched in the blanket. “It’s not my fault.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“I didn’t do what he thinks I did,” I whispered. “I never gave Nico anything. Never planned to. I was scared. And confused. But I didn’t betray him.”
Julian nodded, slow and quiet. “I believe you.”
I finally looked at him, and for a second–just one–there was silence between us that didn’t feel heavy. Just tired.
And then I asked what had been itching in the back of my mind since everything fell apart.
“Aren’t you surprised by Nico’s behavior?”
Julian leaned back in the chair, arms folded loosely across his chest. He didn’t answer right away. Just stared at the floor like the question pulled him somewhere far away–somewhere heavy.
“I was,” he said finally, voice low. “Not because I thought Nico was a saint. God knows he wasn’t. But because I thought he‘ d at least stay loyal to him.”
“Dominic,” I said.
He nodded.
“They grew up together, you know? Practically shared a crib before they could walk. They bled together, built the empire together. Dominic trusted Nico in ways he’s never trusted anyone. Not even me.”
There was no bitterness in his voice, just resignation. Like the truth had always been there, even if it hurt.
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Chapter 134
“I always thought Nico had that twisted, ride–or–die loyalty. The kind you don’t have to question. Even when he made dumb jokes or got reckless, I thought he’d die for Dominic before he’d turn on him.”
Julian rubbed his jaw, tired. “But something changed in the last year. I saw it. He got… resentful. Bitter. Like every time Dominic gave an order, Nico took it personally. Like he hated being second–in–command.”
“He said his father always compared them,” I murmured. “Said he was tired of being the shadow.”
Julian snorted, no humor in it. “Nico’s father was a bastard. Drank too much, beat the hell out of him growing up. But instead of dealing with that, he turned it inward. Then he turned it on Dominic.”
He looked over at me, and for once, there was no sarcasm in his eyes.
“The betrayal didn’t come out of nowhere, Aria. He’s been slipping for a while. But no one wanted to believe it. Especially not Dom.”
I exhaled slowly, pressing my fingers to my temples. “I didn’t know. I swear. I thought–he acted like he wanted to help me.”
Julian nodded. “That’s what Nico does. He makes you feel seen. Like he gets it. But it’s all leverage. Information. That’s how he survives–by knowing what people are afraid to say out loud.”
I stared at the window, watching the way the late afternoon light curled over the blinds.
“He kissed me,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. It wasn’t real.”
Julian didn’t flinch. “I know.”
“You believe me?”
“Yeah,” he said simply. “I believe you, Aria. But believing you doesn’t erase what Dom feels. You might’ve just grazed the wound. But that man’s been bleeding long before you ever showed up.”
I swallowed, hard.
“He loved Nico like a brother,” Julian continued. “And Nico didn’t just betray him–he used you to do it. That’s what broke him.”
I said nothing, but my throat burned.
Julian leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “He’ll come back. Maybe not whole. Maybe not right away. But he always does.”
I closed my eyes and whispered, “What if he doesn’t forgive me?”
Julian was quiet for a beat too long.
Then he said, “What if he can’t forgive himself?”
The words settled between us like ash. Heavy. Still warm from the fire they came from.
I opened my eyes, heart thudding. “You think that’s what this is?”
Julian leaned back again, his gaze drifting toward the ceiling, like the truth was written somewhere above us and he just needed the right angle to see it.
“He’s lost a lot,” he said. “Our dather. Our sister. People he couldn’t save. People he hurt. But none of it hit him the way Nico‘ s betrayal did.”
I didn’t speak. I just listened.
Julian’s voice was quieter now. “They were brothers before any of this. Before the suits, the guns, the empire. They shared secrets before they had anything else. When Nico’s dad beat the hell out of him, he used to sneak into our house at night and sleep on Dominic’s floor. Sometimes he didn’t say a word–just laid there and stared at the ceiling. Dominic never asked questions. Never made him talk. He just stayed awake with him.”
He looked down at his hands, as if remembering that boyhood bond was almost too fragile to speak out loud.
“I used to get jealous,” he admitted with a crooked smile. “Thought I was being left out of some brotherhood I couldn’t break into. But the truth is, they needed each other. More than they ever admitted.”
I felt my throat tighten.
“He loved him,” I said quietly.
Julian nodded. “More than anyone. He would’ve killed for Nico. Died for him too. So when Nico turned around and chose Mikael used you as a knife to do it it wasn’t just betrayal. It was abandonment. Proof that even the person he loved the most thought he wasn’t worth staying for.”
I pressed my palm against my chest, as if that would settle the aching twist behind my ribs.
“I thought…” I hesitated. “I thought I was the one who broke him.”
“You didn’t,” Julian said gently. “You were just the one still standing when everything else came crashing down. He lashed out at you because he was already bleeding.”
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Chapter 134
I let out a shaky breath, one I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Why didn’t he tell me any of this?”
“Because he doesn’t know how,” Julian replied. “Dominic feels too much, but he doesn’t know what to do with any of it. So he turns it into control. Into silence. Into the kind of power no one can question.”
I looked at Julian. “And Nico let him carry all of that alone?”
Julian’s jaw tightened. “Nico used to be the one person who didn’t. That’s what hurts the most.”
He paused, then said, “You know, once, when we were younger, there was this night Dominic got into a fight with one of the guys at a safe house. He got roughed up pretty bad, nose broken, ribs cracked. Nico found him outside bleeding, still trying to light a cigarette with shaking hands.”
“What did he do?”
Julian smiled faintly. “He took the lighter, lit it for him, and said, ‘You don’t have to pretend you’re fine around me, dumbass Then he sat there, beside him in the dirt, and said nothing else the whole night. Just stayed.”
The silence stretched again.
“They weren’t perfect,” Julian continued. “They fought like hell sometimes. Screamed at each other. Threw punches. But they always came back.”
He looked over at me now, something soft and tired in his expression. “But this time? Nico didn’t come back. He didn’t want to. And that… that broke something in Dominic that I don’t think he knows how to fix.”
I swallowed hard. “Do you think Nico ever felt guilty?”
Julian looked away, jaw working. “Maybe. But guilt doesn’t always stop people. Sometimes it fuels them. Sometimes it makes them crueler.”
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t.
Because all I could think about was the pain in Dominic’s eyes that night. The coldness. The distance. The way his voice had turned to ice when he said he didn’t trust me. Not because he hated me–but because he couldn’t risk believing in
anyone anymore.
Julian’s voice pulled me back. “You loved him, didn’t you?”
I nodded. “Still do.”
He was quiet for a long moment before saying, “Then don’t give up on him. Even if he already gave up on himself.”
My eyes burned. I blinked fast and looked away.
“I just…” My voice cracked. “I wish things were different.”
“Yeah,” Julian murmured, standing slowly. “We all do.”
He grabbed his coat, glancing back at me once before he opened the door.
“He’ll come back,” he said. “The question is… what version of him will it be?”
And then he left, leaving me with my thoughts, and the weight of every word still clinging to the air.
Would Dominic ever come back whole? Would he ever look at me and see something other than betrayal?
And the one question I couldn’t stop turning over in my mind-
Was Nico ever really the friend he pretended to be…
or had this been his plan all along?
