Chapter 83 I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't fucking be here. But here I am anyway, leaning against Waylen's apartment door. Because Vesper hasn't been at her apartment all week. Not at St. Raphael's, either. And her mother's house has been dark every time I've driven past. Which leaves only here. I've been camped outside his door for an hour when his footsteps finally echo up the stairwell. He looks like hell. Dark circles shadow his eyes. His beard is overgrown, his hair unkempt. He moves like a man carrying tons and tons of invisible weight. "You look like shit," I tell him. His face stiffens the second he sees me. "I asked for temporary leave of absence, in case you forgot. I thought the part where I didn't want to see your fucking face was implied." "It's been two weeks." "You told me to take as long as I needed. Right before you hung up on me." I did hang up on him. The morning after I destroyed everything with Vesper, when he called asking for time off to deal with a family emergency. I'd granted it without question, too consumed with my own wreckage to ask for details. Another regret for the pile. "I figured you needed to be with Vesper." His lip curls. "Don't you fucking talk to me about my sister. Don't you so much as ask about her." "I'm not here about her." He freezes, key halfway to the lock. His eyes rake over me with open skepticism. "Right." "You're an employee⁠-" "And you visit all your employees at their homes?" He shoves the key into the lock like he's stabbing something. "You lurk outside their apartments waiting for them?" "Luka's been asking for you." "I talk to Luka every day," he replies coolly. "Interesting that he didn't mention that." My jaw clenches. "Does he talk to Vesper, too?" "What did I say about mentioning my sister?" "Don't be a fucking child, Waylen." He kicks the door open and whirls on me. "How dare you call me the child? You break up with my sister, forbid her contact with Luka, and I'm the one being childish?" So she hasn't told him everything. Just enough to paint me as the villain. Which is exactly what I am. "I'm Luka's uncle⁠-" "And right now, you're being a fucking shitty one. That kid loves Vesper. She loves him. I get it-you don't want to be tied down. You want to be the free-wheeling, arrogant bastard I always knew you were. But why punish them for it?" Fuck, that stings. But he's right. Because I've hurt the two people who matter most. And even though it was a noble reason, even though it was to protect them from worse pain down the road-they don't know that. They see only what I've done. The pain I've caused. "When will you be back at work?" I ask. It's the closest I can come to asking how she is. "I don't know." "You said family emergency⁠-" "You care about that?" "I need facts." His eyes blaze. "You know what? I was starting to think there might be a decent man under all that arrogance. Turns out I was wrong." He steps into his doorway. "You want to know where Vesper is? Why don't you just ask?" For a second, I almost do. The question burns on my tongue, desperate to escape. But just before I let it loose, I change my mind. Vesper isn't my concern anymore. She never should have been. She's a liability. A distraction. Most importantly, she's too extraordinary to waste on someone like me. "I think it's better if you don't come back at all," I say instead. "Luka needs a change. We all do." He doesn't look surprised in the least. "Fine. Send my last paycheck whenever. Or don't. I don't give a shit anymore." I turn to leave, then stop halfway. "She's better off without me, Waylen." He just shakes his head. "You poor, stupid bastard," he says quietly. "Our mother has cancer. That's where Vesper is." The door slams in my face. The deadbolt slides home a moment later. "Where is Vesper?" Luka stands across from me at the dinner table, small fists clenched at his sides, refusing to sit. Osip and Pavel study their plates like they can't hear or see anything that's happening right in front of them. "Listen, buddy⁠-" "No!" he screams. "You've been lying to me for weeks. I know she's not busy at work. I want to talk to Vesper. I want to know where she is." "Luka-" "I want Waylen and I want Vesper. Why don't they come around anymore? Tell me the truth!" "Kovan..." Pavel glances at me with those wounded eyes. "I think the kid deserves to know." Osip throws his napkin down. "Agreed." Traitors. Both of them. "Luka, I'm sorry, but you won't be seeing Vesper or Waylen anymore. We broke up⁠-" "I want Vesper!" His face turns red and blotchy. "I want to talk to her right now!" "That's not possible." "Stop saying you're sorry when you're not sorry!" His voice shatters with fury and heartbreak. "If you were really sorry, you'd let me talk to Vesper. You wouldn't have broken up with her. You⁠-" "Luka." I stand and reach for his shoulders. "I need you to calm⁠-" "No!" He shakes me off, backing toward the door. "I love Vesper and you drove her away. You drive everyone away⁠-" "Please, kid⁠-" "I hate you!" He turns and runs from the room, leaving his untouched dinner behind. I sink back into my chair. Osip and Pavel stare at me with identical expressions of disappointment. "He'll get over it," I say to the empty air. "In time, he'll get over it." Pavel exhales slowly. "You've always known what's best for Luka. You've never been wrong about him before." He pauses. "But this time, brother... I think you've fucked up."