Chapter 49

I’m entirely unnerved as I board the plane with Valeria and Xavier, a dozen bodyguards accompanying us. “Surely this is unnecessary,” I murmur, having gotten used to my own family’s security measures that aren’t quite this visible.

“She’s right,” Valeria tells her brother, even as her trembling hand slips into mine. “You’re overdoing it, Xave.”

He glances at us, his expression tormented, and I sigh as I squeeze V’s hand, silently urging her to let it go. He looks that way he does sometimes, like he’s battling demons he refuses to admit exist.

“The world just found out that you’re my wife,” he eventually says as he kneels in front of my seat and helps me buckle in. “That puts an even bigger target on your back than before. The Windsors are frequently targeted by paparazzi and business competitors aiming for an advantage, but it’s different for us. We’re targeted by people that want us dead. Things will never be the same again, Sierra. I’m sorry. I know it seems excessive, but I promise you, it is necessary.”

I nod and reach for him, my hand wrapping around the back of his neck as I lean in and brush my lips against his softly. “I understand,” I tell him, grateful he told me the full truth himself. I was able to infer most of it from bits and pieces Valeria told me each time she came over to hang out with me, but that wasn’t the same as my husband sitting me down and telling me everything I needed to know, every reason behind the increased security, the concern currently etched into his face.s

Xavier pulls away from me when V takes her seat next to me, and she sighs when her brother turns to face her. “I still don’t think you should come,” he says. “If you insist on it, you need to understand that we’ll no longer be able to keep your identity under wraps. There’s a chance you’ll be photographed, and the media will find out who you are. Anyone who may have been looking for you will be alerted to your survival, and the tactile peace you found, the events I’ve taken you to? That all ends. I’ll no longer be able to keep you safe in crowds, no matter how well curated the guest list is.”

“I’m aware,” she says, her tone resolute. “I’ve spent years hiding, working with Elijah behind the scenes to tie up the loose ends I left, but I’m done moving in the shadows, Xavier. I want my life back. I didn’t fight so hard to survive only to not really live the life I nearly lost.”

His expression shutters closed, but something akin to guilt flickers through his eyes, and I just about keep from reaching for him when every single cell in my body longs to wrap my arms around him and remind him that it wasn’t his fault.

Xavier takes the seat opposite me, and V reaches for my hand as we get ready for takeoff. I entwine our fingers, and she drops her head on my shoulder. We’ve gotten close over the last few months, and at least once every two weeks or so, she comes over to borrow books or beg for a new batch of cookies, promising to help bake them only to just eat half my cookie dough before it even makes it into the oven.

I doubt she’d ever admit it, but I know she’s been doing all she can to make sure things work out between Xavier and me, offering me stories about their childhood that I didn’t think he’d ever tell me and generally making me feel welcome and included. It wasn’t until she started doing it that I realized how badly I’d missed the kind of sisterhood I’d gotten used to with my own sisters-in-law.“Does flying make you nervous?” I ask, tightening my grip on her hand.

She shakes her head and sighs. “It’s not that. It’s just…” She looks at her brother, who seems engrossed in his work, his noise canceling headphones covering his ears. “What did Xavier tell you about Enzo?”

I study her, surprised to find so much torment in her eyes. “I know that Enzo comes from a long line of oil magnates, and that your family always helped them maintain their wealth and position, through whatever means necessary. Xave told me that it was always a symbiotic relationship, but things changed with Enzo and Xavier. From what I understand, they became real friends, and Enzo wanted more for all of you than the future that laid ahead of you.”

“Did he tell you anything else?”

I raise a brow and think back to every mention of Enzo. “He told me that even before you disappeared, Enzo was the one who pushed for you guys to go legit, and he helped your Dad start and manage his corporation, setting down the roots for everything the business grew into. After you were gone, he seemed to have really taken the reins and pulled your family out of the shadows they previously operated in.”

V looks down. “So he doesn’t know then. That’s good, I guess.”

“Doesn’t know what?”

She looks into my eyes and draws a shaky breath. “If I tell you, will you promise to never tell Xavier?”

I nod and gently squeeze her hand. “Of course. I have five sisters-in-law — six, now that I have you. I’m used to keeping secrets, V.”

“Enzo and I had secretly been dating for a little over two years when I was taken.” She glances at her brother, her expression tormented. “He’d asked me to elope with him a few weeks prior, on our two-year anniversary, and I’d told him no because I didn’t think my family would ever forgive me. It’s the one decision I’ve always regretted, even more than storming out of the house after my argument with Xavier. I should’ve said yes, and if I could ever go back in time, that’s the one thing I’d change.”

I stare at her in shock, not quite comprehending her words. “What? Then why didn’t you tell him when you came back? You clearly still care about him, V. If you had, then maybe —”

She shakes her head. “I was going to, but by then, he’d already been dating Tiffany for over a year, and I’d just been so mad. I just… why did it have to be her?” V clenches her jaws much in the same way Xavier does when he’s mad, and I bite down on my lip to keep from reacting, giving her space to finish her story and get this off her chest. “Tiff was my best friend, growing up. She was the sister I always wished I had, but she was also the only person who knew about Enzo and me, the only one who knew just how much I loved him. The betrayal stung and destroyed all the hope I’d held onto so desperately. It wrecked me even more than everything I’d endured.”

She takes a shaky breath, her expression pensive. “I thought about confronting them, played out the scenario in my head every night for a year straight, but they seemed happy together in all the photos I’d seen of them, and I knew they were better off without me. I was broken, damaged, and she’d clearly become a shining light in his life. I know Enzo, and I know that he’d feel obligated to be there for me, but that isn’t what I wanted. Besides, how could I walk back into their lives and put them at risk? Especially after how hard Enzo worked to help my family step out of the shadows. I couldn’t do that to him.”

Valeria looks out the window, her gaze forlorn. “Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing right now, but I just… I just wanted to see them together for myself and wish them well, so I can finally let go and move on. I don’t want to keep wondering what would happen if he found out I’m still alive, or lie awake at night and wonder if he still thinks of me.”

I sigh as I wrap my arm around her. Just like I’ve always held onto my idea of a happily ever after, she has too, and hers has Enzo’s name written all over it.