He placed his hand over mine and leaned forward. “Sofia, how could I not? You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. It was just unfortunate for me I didn’t get to you first.” His crooked smile broke my heart straight down the middle, the tattered organ resembling a chewed-up dog toy rather than my heart.

Tears slipped from my eyes. I was the worst kind of fool. How had I not known?

“Hey,” he called, drawing me back from my inner turmoil. “I’m responsible for myself. If being around you had been more than I could handle, I would have pulled away, okay? You didn’t hurt me. Any disappointment I might have felt was my own damn fault. I’ve known from the beginning that I never stood a chance.”

He was trying to make me feel better, but his words just made me want to rage at myself for being such an idiot. If I’d known, maybe I would have been able to let Michael fill the emptiness Nico had left inside me. Maybe everything would have been different. All the what-ifs surfacing in my life were dizzying. I felt horrible for Michael—for what I’d put him through—by not being able to give him that part of me. But since I’d already reconnected with Nico, there was no question what my heart wanted.

I had loved Nico since I was five years old.

He and I were two pieces of the same whole—no matter what had come between us.

I loved Michael, but my feelings for him simply didn’t compare. I refused to give up his friendship, assuming he still wanted me around, but he would never be Nico. “I’m so sorry,” was all I could muster past my tear-clogged throat.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m not. You’re my best friend and hopefully will be for a long time.”

He squeezed my hand, drawing a small smile from me as the bell over the door to the restaurant jingled loudly. Two seconds later, our moment was interrupted by an enraged Nico towering over our booth.

“You need to take your fucking hand off her right now,” he growled, glaring at Michael. His fists curled at his sides, making me recall his story about killing a man with his bare hands. The look in his eyes was murderous. There was no question he was still capable of such an act.

I leaped to my feet, inserting myself between the two men. “Nico, you need to calm down,” I hissed, feeling the tension skyrocket in the small café.

“I’m not going to sit by and watch him hurt you. I don’t know what kind of fucked-up thing is between you, but I could see whatever he said tore you apart, and I’m not okay with that. Get your stuff. We’re leaving.”

Michael eased from the booth, not remotely intimidated by Nico. “You’re upset because you think I hurt her? Do you have any fucking idea how you destroyed her?” he bit out, his words a verbal lashing.