Chapter 96 —Human and Broken

Narrator:

Roman hadn't slept a damn wink.

He had sat in his office until dawn, his elbows resting on the table and his gaze fixed on the void as if he could stop time just by wishing it. But dawn came anyway. Unbearable, inevitable.

When Dominic walked in, he was already waiting for him.

“I want you to take her,” he said without looking up.

Dominic stopped short.

“Aylin?”

Roman nodded slightly.

"She's leaving today. I want you to personally accompany her to the house where her grandmother and brother will be living. And check everything. Security, access points, exits, cameras. I don't care about the cost. I want permanent guards posted. The best men we have. No one can get close without me knowing about it first.

Dominic watched him silently for a moment.

“Are you sure this is the best thing to do?”

Roman finally looked up.

And in those dark eyes was a shadow that Dominic didn't remember seeing before. It wasn't anger, it wasn't rage, it was emptiness, it