CHAPTER 47 SHATTERED
R I N A
The ride back from the airport was silent.
Not the comfortable kind of silence that lets you think, no.
This was the kind that pressed down on your chest until it hurt to breathe.
The driver glanced at me once in the rearview mirror, his eyes careful, but I couldn't even muster a polite nod. My throat felt raw, my hands still cold from where Lucian had pried the girls from my arms.
The twins.
God.
Their little cries were still ringing in my ears.
I'd told them it was just a trip. A short trip. Mommy would explain later.
But Lucian had been there.
Waiting.
Watching.
And when he'd stepped out of the SUV, all hard lines and dark authority, my heart had stuttered.
I had fought. I had begged.
It hadn't mattered.
He'd barely raised his voice just told me, in that quiet, lethal way of his, that I wasn't taking "his daughters" anywhere.
And then he'd taken them.
By the time we reached the apartment, dawn had spilled across the city pale, cold light that made everything look washed out.
I let myself inside on unsteady legs.
Liora was still awake, seated at the piano in the corner, her back straight, her fingers tracing idle notes over the keys. She turned when she heard the door, and her face shifted from relief to confusion… then to fury.
She stood slowly.
Where are my girls? With a smile on her face.
"You didn't."
Her voice was so low it made my chest tighten.
"Liora"
"You tried to run?"
I froze.
She didn't wait for my answer. "Tell me I'm wrong. Please, Rina. Tell me you didn't actually do the one thing I begged you not to do."
Tears stung my eyes before I could stop them.
"I had to try," I whispered. "I couldn't just sit here and wait for him to decide what to do with us. He's too powerful, Liora. He could he could take them from me and there's nothing I could do"
Her laugh was sharp and humorless.
"And what do you think you just did? You handed him the perfect excuse to do exactly that!"
I flinched as if she'd struck me.
Liora pushed away from the piano, pacing the room now, her anger spilling into every sharp movement.
"I told you running wasn't an option," she said, her voice rising. "I told you that if you tried to disappear, he'd find you. This isn't some deadbeat ex, Rina, this is Lucian Dreven!!!He has resources you can't even imagine. He probably knew the second you started packing."
My stomach twisted at the truth of that.
Her gaze pinned me. "So what happened?"
I sank onto the couch, feeling small, feeling exposed.
"He was waiting," I said quietly. "At the airport. Like he knew all along. He..he didn't yell. He didn't even touch me except to take the girls. He just looked at me like I was…" I swallowed hard. "Like I was the one who broke something."
Liora went completely still.
And then she turned, grabbed the sheet music from the piano, and began stacking it with trembling hands.
"What are you doing?" My voice cracked.
"Packing," she said without looking at me.
Ice flooded my veins. "Packing? Liora, no"
She stopped, whirled on me, eyes blazing.
"I stayed here for them, Rina. For my goddaughters. I put my career, my gigs, my entire life on hold because you needed me. And now you're telling me you tried to run away? Without telling me?"
"I didn't want you to stop me," I said miserably.
"Exactly!" she snapped. "Because you knew I would. You knew I'd talk you down. You knew I'd remind you what was at stake. But you didn't care you just risked everything because you were scared."
"I am scared!" I shouted, the words tearing out of me. "I saw him, Liora! At the gala the way everyone looked at him, like he was some kind of god. He's not just a man. He owns Arden, and now he knows about the girls. What was I supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for him to decide whether I get to keep them?"
Liora's face softened for a fraction of a second, and for a moment I thought she'd come to me, that she'd say something kind, something comforting.
But she only shook her head.
"You should've trusted me," she said quietly. "If not me, then at least yourself. Running only made you look guilty. And now…"
She trailed off, her expression crumpling for just a heartbeat before she straightened again, shoving the sheet music into her bag.
"I can't stay," she said.
It was a death blow.
I stood too fast, dizzy, my breath catching. "What?"
She didn't look at me. "I told you running was not an option. I told you it would end like this. And you still went ahead and did it anyway. If you can't trust me to keep you grounded, then I have no reason to be here."
"I told you this wasn't the way. You didn't just risk yourself today you risked them. Do you have any idea what could have happened if Lucian hadn't been the one to intercept you? What if someone else had followed you? Someone who doesn't care whether they live or die?"
My knees buckled, and I sank into the nearest chair, my head in my hands.
"No, no, Liora, please" My voice broke as I grabbed her arm. "You can't leave. I can't do this alone. I can't..."
She pulled free gently, painfully gentle.
"You won't be alone," she said softly. "You have him now. Whether you like it or not, he's in this. He's not going anywhere. And maybe that's exactly what you need someone you can't run from."
I shook my head, sobbing now.
But she was already walking toward the bedroom.
"When you're ready to stop running," she said from the doorway, "you know where to find me."
The door closed behind her, and the sound felt final, like a chapter slamming shut.
I sank to the floor, my arms wrapped around myself, and for the first time in years, I let myself break.
The apartment was too quiet without her music, too empty without the girls' laughter.
I had lost everything.
And I had no one to blame but myself.
And for the first time since the night everything fell apart five years ago, I felt truly, completely alone.