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I run my fingers up and down her wet back. “It was an arranged marriage between two powerful families.”

She lifts her head to look at me. “An arranged marriage?”

I nod. “They met on the day they were married.”

She returns her cheek to my chest. “Like us,” she whispers.

“They fell crazy in love with each other. He was a hard man. A man to be afraid of. But when my mom walked into the room, he went stupid. He would forget what he was saying. I look at all the photos of them together and how crazy in love they look in every photo.”

Sunny’s fingers stop moving. “What happened to her?”

I inhale a rough breath. “My father had enemies, and one of them decided the best way to get to my father was through her.”

I swallow thickly, and Sunny feels it.

“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to,” she says softly.

“I want you to know. I should talk about her more.” I keep my voice flat, trying to control the emotion I feel when I think about that day. How my world broke apart. “They took her from outside the church where she was volunteering. My father paid what they asked. But they sent her back to him without a pulse.”

Sunny doesn’t say anything, but she slides her arms around my ribs and squeezes softly.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmurs against my chest.

“My father never got over it. He withdrew into himself. He was ruthless and savage toward his enemies. He annihilated them until there was no one left. Then six years later, when he was sure John Marco and I could continue his legacy without him, he put a gun in his mouth.”

She shifts her head to look at me, but I can’t look at her. Instead, I look up at the ceiling.

“His grief never left him; instead, it ate him from the inside out. He didn’t want to live in a world without her. And I vowed that I would never end up that way.” I have to stop talking to swallow, and then add, “I figured not loving someone was one less way your enemies could hurt you.”

She’s quiet for a while, and the only sound in the room is the gentle drip of the tap.

“So that’s why,” she says softly.

“Why what?” I ask, finally looking at her.

“Why you don’t form attachments. You watched the strongest man you know get hurt by it.” Her voice is gentle. “So you don’t want to give your enemies anything to aim at.”

“It’s a good rule,” I say.

“It’s a terrible rule.”

She pushes up onto her elbows so she’s looking down at me, her wet hair dripping onto my chest.

“I would rather love someone and lose them than never love at all.”

“Why?”

“Because there is nothing more powerful in the world than love,” she says, looking beautiful in the candlelight.

“Love wasn’t what put the gun in his mouth. That was grief. Love kept it out of his mouth for six years. Loving you and John Marco was the only reason he didn’t give up earlier. He chose you because he loves you. It’s not a cost. It’s what love does.”

I look up into her beautiful eyes and sweet face, and I feel her sunshine warm my entire body.

Most likely to make everyone smile.

“My mom’s been gone three months. The love didn’t go anywhere; she did.”

“I like the way you look at things, Sunny Di Zaro.”