Chapter 81 Percy
Percy’s POV
I knew, of course; I knew that this moment was going to come. Adeline was smart, and it was stupid of me to think that I could hide this from her, but I genuinely thought I had more time. I thought I could tell her on my own terms when I was ready.
I had come back really tired from work today hoping I could hold my woman to calm me down, but I was getting the exact opposite, and it was completely my own fault.
Adeline stood up, her robe pooling around her ankles, and I stepped further back as if she were going to harm me physically.
"You have exactly one minute," she said, and in that moment, I knew it wasn't the woman I loved speaking to me; it was the Ghost. Her survival instinct locked her back into place, and her eyes were dead and cold. "To tell me why the man I am supposed to marry just took control of a New York crime syndicate."
I realized that I had nothing to say; I just studied her and hoped for the best-case scenario that I would explain and she would accept, but she was not done talking.
"And why do you have a Russian enforcer on your payroll while I’ve been sitting here jumping at shadows?"
I stared at the stapled dossier that contained everything on the coffee table. My offshore routing numbers are the proof of transfer of power. Alex Volkov’s name was printed in black ink. There was no maneuvering out of this. I was a lawyer who made a living twisting the truth, but in the face of her devastation, the only weapon I had left was honesty, so that was what I did.
"I didn't want the throne, Adeline," I started, my voice tight. I took a step toward her, but her body went still as she held a hand up, silently warning me to keep my distance. "Friday afternoon, my father came to the office to give me an ultimatum. I could either take over or he was going to liquidate the enforcement division by the end of the month."
She didn't blink. "So let him."
I stared at her in horror. She clearly wasn't comprehending the implication of what that meant. "If I let him, we lose our shield!" I snapped. "He was going to pull our private security. He was going to sell the ports and leave us entirely exposed to your father. The NYPD couldn't stop Mason until it was too late, Adeline. They cannot stop Kozlov. Taking the syndicate was the only way to keep a wall between you and the men who want you dead."
"And Volkov?" she countered. "How do you justify Volkov? For weeks, I have been looking over my shoulder, terrified that a Russian hitman was waiting in the dark to put a bullet in my head. You held me and told me I was safe while you were secretly signing paychecks for a Russian enforcer who breaks legs for a living."
"Volkov is a weapon," I pleaded, trying to make her see the sense of my world. "In this life, you fight fire with fire. I need monsters like Volkov on my payroll so I can hunt monsters like Kozlov! "
"You don't get to control the monsters, Percy!" she yelled, her voice finally cracking to reveal just how hurt she was. "You think you can hold the leash, but the darkness eventually eats away at everything it touches. You promised me a safe life in the light."
"I am giving you a safe life!"
"You are turning into my father!" The words hit me like a physical blow to the chest, and I recoiled.
"You don't mean that, Adeline."
"My entire childhood was stolen by a man who dragged the violence of his life into my life." She cried, letting the tears that had welled up spill. "I spent my life hiding, bleeding, and fighting just to escape it. I became a lawyer because the law has rules, Percy. The law is safe, and what do you do? You brought the very thing I was running from right back into my life."
"The law is a fantasy, Adeline!" I fired back, my own anger and desperation flaring. "The law didn't protect you from Mason! The law won't stop Ilya Kozlov from putting a bullet in your head! I am the only thing keeping you breathing!"
The moment the words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back because she froze and stopped crying. It was like she deleted the emotion she had been feeling before. She looked at me not with anger but with absolute pity.
I knew what she was feeling. I had just transformed from her savior to her captor, and it was all because I couldn't keep my big fucking mouth shut.
"I see," she whispered and turned away from me down the hallway toward our bedroom. I sprang into action then, nor wanting to believe what I thought she was doing.
"Adeline. Adeline, wait. Let’s talk about this. Please."
I followed her into the bedroom, except she didn't go to the walk-in closet where most of her suits were, even the ones Zara had helped her buy were hanging.
She completely ignored them and instead pulled out a small, basic overnight bag from the top shelf. She opened her dresser and began packing the clothes she owned before she met me.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice shaking. I reached out, grabbing the handle of the bag. "You can't leave. It isn't safe out there."
"Let go of the bag, Percy," she said, not looking at me.
"I did this for you!" I begged, my grip tightening on the strap. "Everything I did was to protect you. I compromised my own morals to keep you safe! You can't just walk away from me."
She finally looked up at me, but the coldness still remained. "I love you, Percy, but I will not sacrifice my soul and my sanity to be a mafia wife. I won't live in the dark again."
With that, she yanked the bag out of my grip.
I followed her back out into the living room, feeling useless even with all my money and my influence. I couldn't stop the love of my life from walking away.
Adeline stopped by the glass table and set her overnight bag on the floor very slowly, her fingers trembling just the slightest bit as she slid the massive diamond engagement ring off her left hand. That was when all my hope was dashed.
"No," I choked out, stepping forward. "Adeline, please don't."
She set the ring gently on the glass, right next to the dossier of the Akilov Syndicate. It was ironic that she chose that place.
"If you walk out that door," I warned, my voice breaking in a final, desperate attempt to make her stay, "you won't have my protection out there. You will be entirely on your own."
She paused at the threshold of the elevator and pushed the button that slid the door open before looking back at me.
"I survived the dark before I met you, Percy. I will survive it again." She said as she stepped into the elevator and left, taking my heart with her.