Chapter 52 DOUBT

Chapter 52 DOUBT


Adeline's POV

I didn't sleep that night.

Kayden's words played on repeat, each iteration cutting deeper than the last

What if we're wrong?

I'd never considered it. From the moment Grey appeared in Belle's life, I'd known something was off. My instincts screamed danger.

But instincts weren't always right.
I'd killed people based on contracts, based on information someone else gave me.

What if one of those targets had been innocent? What if someone's paranoia, someone like me, had led to an execution that wasn't justified?

The thought made me nauseous.

By dawn, I felt exhausted and hollow.

My certainty, the one thing that had kept me moving forward, was crumbling.

Belle wanted me at her apartment by noon to look at venues. I dragged myself through a shower, pulled on jeans and a sweater, and tried to look like someone who wasn't falling apart.

Kayden was in his study when I passed. Our eyes met briefly.
He looked tired too, but neither of us spoke.

Belle's apartment was exactly as I remembered, bright, cheerful, covered in photos and fairy lights. So different from the cold elegance of the Gravano mansion.

"Addy!" She threw her arms around me.

"Thank god you're here. I've been drowning in wedding magazines and I can't make a single decision."

"That's what I'm here for."

She pulled me inside. The coffee table was buried under bridal magazines, fabric swatches, and venue brochures.

"Okay, so." Belle flopped onto the couch.

"Grey wants something intimate. Like fifty people max. But Russio…well, your father in-law keeps calling, saying we need at least two hundred guests for proper family representation."

"What do you want?"

"I want..." She paused. "I want something that feels like us. Not a spectacle. Just people we love, celebrating with us."

"Then that's what you should have."

"You think? Because I don't want to disappoint—"

"Belle, It's your wedding not theirs. If you want fifty people, have fifty people."

She smiled relieved. "Grey said the same thing. That's... that's good, right? That you two agree on something?"

"Yeah. It is."

We spent the next hour looking through venues. Belle had good taste..nothing too flashy, nothing pretentious. Just beautiful, intimate spaces.

"What about this one?" She showed me a photo of a garden venue. String lights, old trees, a small chapel.

"It's perfect."

"You think? It's not too simple?"

"Simple is good. Simple lets the important stuff shine through."

"That's what Grey says." She was smiling….really smiling. "He's so good about this stuff and never pressures me. He just wants me to be happy."

I watched her….really looked at her.
She was glowing, happy, more confident than I'd ever seen her.
Was I really going to take that away?

"Tell me about him," I said quietly. "About Grey, what you love about him."

Belle blinked, surprised. "Really?"

"Really. I want to understand what you see in him."

She tucked her legs under her. "He's... he's patient with me. I know I can be a lot, too excitable, too naive about stuff but he never makes me feel stupid. He just... listens….really listens."

"What else?"

"He's protective. Not in a controlling way. More like... he makes me feel safe. Like nothing bad can happen when he's around."

She paused.
.
"I know you think that's naive. But after everything, losing Mom and Dad, you always being gone for work, I've spent so much time feeling scared and alone. Grey makes me feel less alone."

My chest tightened.

"He talks about the future," Belle continued. "About building a life together, having kids someday and growing old together. And when he talks about it, I can see it. I can see us, fifty years from now, still holding hands."

"That sounds nice."

"It is." She looked at me. "I know you're worried. I know his past with the Gravanos bothers you. But Addy, people aren't their pasts. They're who they choose to be now. And Grey chooses to be good, to be better."

"How do you know?"

"Because I see it every day. The way he treats people, the way he treats me. He's not perfect, nobody is but he's trying. Really trying to be the kind of man I deserve."

I wanted to argue. To point out all the red flags, the sealed records, the secret meetings, the lies.

But looking at Belle, at how happy she was, I couldn't.

"I'm glad," I said instead. "That you're happy. That's all I want, for you to be happy."

"I am. Happier than I've ever been." She squeezed my hand.

"And I know it's hard for you, letting go and trusting someone else to take care of me. But you can trust Grey. I promise."

Could I?

That evening, Grey arrived to pick Belle up for dinner.
"Adeline." He nodded, polite and careful.

"Grey."

"Thanks for helping with the wedding stuff. Belle's been stressed about it."

"She's my sister. Of course I'll help."

There was an awkward pause.

"Look," Grey said. "I know we got off on the wrong foot, and I know you're protective of Belle. That's... that's good. She deserves that."

"She does."

"I'm not trying to take her away from you, kr replace you. I just... I love her. And I want to make her happy. That's all."

He sounded and looked sincere. But so did every predator I'd ever hunted.

"Just make sure you do," I said quietly. "Make her happy. Because if you don't—"

"I will. I promise."

Belle emerged from her bedroom, beaming. "Ready!"

They left together. Grey's hand on her lower back, Belle leaning into him, and d I stood there, watching them go.

Wondering if I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life.

Kayden's POV

Adeline came home late.
She came in quietly while I was still in my study, pretending to work, when I was really just waiting for her.

"How'd it go?" I asked when she appeared in the doorway.

"Good. Belle's happy….really happy."

"And?"

"And... maybe you're right. Maybe I've been so focused on seeing danger, I can't see what's actually there."

I set down my pen.

"You think Grey is safe?"

"I think Belle believes he is and she's not stupid. Naive sometimes, maybe, but not stupid. If Grey was really dangerous, wouldn't she sense it?"

"Not if he's good at hiding it."

"But that's the thing. He's not hiding, he's open with her, patient and supportive. Everything she says about him sounds... healthy….normal."

"Which could all be an act."

"Or it could be real." She sat down. "I don't know anymore. I was so sure but now..."

"Now you're doubting."

"Yeah."

I moved to sit beside her.

"Doubt isn't weakness. It's wisdom. It means you're considering all possibilities instead of just the ones that confirm what you already believe."

"But what if my doubt gets Belle hurt? What if I back off and Grey turns out to be exactly what I feared?"

"Then we deal with it together. But Adeline... we can't protect people from every possible danger. At some point, we have to let them make their own choices. Even if those choices might hurt them."

"That's a terrible philosophy."

"It's the only one that respects their happiness."
She was quiet for a long moment.

"The wedding is in six weeks," she finally said. "What if we use that time differently?"

"How?"

"Instead of investigating Grey's past, what if we investigate his present? Watch how he treats Belle, look for current red flags instead of old ones. Give him a chance to prove he's changed."

"And if he hasn't?"

"Then we'll see it and Belle will see it too, and we intervene. But if he has changed... if he really is good for her... then we let it happen."

It was a risk. A huge one, but it was also fair.

"Okay," I said. "We watch and wait. We look for current evidence, not past crimes."

"Six weeks."

"Six weeks."

She leaned against me. "What if I'm making a mistake? What if something happens to Belle because I wasn't vigilant enough?"

"Then we handle it. But you can't live your whole life assuming the worst of everyone. Sometimes people really do change. Sometimes they really are who they appear to be."

"Do you believe that? Really?"

I thought about my own past. The things I'd done, the person I'd been.

"I have to," I said quietly. "Because if people can't change, then I'm still a monster. And you fell in love with someone who can't be saved."

She turned to look at me. "You're not a monster."

"Neither might Grey be."

"Yeah." She exhaled. "Maybe not."