Chapter 65 – You Found Me

Chapter 65 – You Found Me
Romeu.

My heart simply forgot how to work.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t hear anything.
Not Betina.
Not David.
Not the cars outside.
Not even my own breathing.

Only him.

Standing in the doorway.
Staring at me.
As if he were trying to make sure I was real.
As if he were afraid that if he blinked, he would lose me again.

Romeu looked terrible.
And I never thought I’d say that about Romeu Petráglia.

His beard was longer.
His hair was a mess.
The dark circles under his eyes were deep.
His shirt was wrinkled.

But it wasn’t any of that.
It was his eyes.
The eyes of someone who had been living through a nightmare for days.

“Mikaella.”

My name left his mouth like a prayer.

I felt my eyes burn.

“Hi.”

It was all I could manage to say.
Pathetic.
Completely pathetic.

But my brain had stopped working.

Romeu took one step.
Then another.
And another.

Until he stopped right in front of me.
So close I could smell his cologne.
So close I could hear his breathing.

“You’re alive.”

His voice cracked.

My God.
Romeu never cracked.
Romeu never lost control.
Romeu was never vulnerable.

But in that moment…
He was.

And it broke my heart.

“I am.”

He closed his eyes for just a second.
Like someone thanking God.
Like someone who could finally breathe after being underwater for too long.

Then he looked at me again.

And for the first time since I met him…
I saw tears in his eyes.

“Don’t ever do this to me again.”

The words came out low, hoarse, and full of pain.

“Romeu…”

“No. Now you listen to me.”

I swallowed hard.

There was something different about him.
Something I had never seen before.

Fear.
Real fear.

“I looked for you everywhere. Everywhere. Do you have any idea what I thought when I found that empty cell?”

My heart clenched.

“I thought they had taken you. I thought I was too late. I thought…”

His voice failed again.

And that was worse than any scream.
Because Romeu Petráglia didn’t know how to show weakness.
But he was trying.
For me.

“I’m sorry.”

It was the only thing I could say.

“No.”

He answered immediately.
“Don’t apologize to me. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

That completely broke me.

Because after everything —
After the kidnapping,
After the lies,
After the secrets,
After all the chaos…

Romeu was still worried about me.

I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore.
He didn’t even try to stop his own.

He just pulled me into his arms.
And I went.
Without resistance.
Without pride.
Without any strength left to fight.

I buried my face in his chest.
I felt his arms tighten around me.
Strong.
Protective.
Desperate.

As if he needed that confirmation just as much as I did.

“You found me,” I whispered.

Romeu pressed his lips to my hair.

“I will always find you.”

The tears came again.
Because I believed him.
I truly believed him.

And maybe that was the problem.
Because I was starting to believe everything he said.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that, holding each other.
Minutes.
Maybe more.

Until a strong wave of dizziness hit me.
Violent.

The world spun.

Romeu noticed immediately.

“Mikaella?”

I tried to answer, but my legs gave out.

The last thing I saw was his face turning pale and his arms catching me before I hit the floor.

Then everything went dark.