"Satori."
I met his gaze.
"Man to man." His voice was rough. "Is this real? Or are you just—"
He couldn't finish the sentence. Using her. Playing with her. Running some kind of con on my daughter.
I thought about lying. Spinning some story about being overwhelmed by emotions and circumstances. Letting him believe this was just teenage hormones gone wild.
But Luka deserved better than that. The man had welcomed me into his home, called me son, stood up for me when the world saw nothing but a worthless Zero.
"It's real, Luka. I love her."
I was playing a game. The System's game. The entertainment of gods who watched our suffering like a soap opera. But within that game, within those twisted rules, what I felt for Natalia was absolutely real.
Complicated. Possessive. Probably unhealthy by any normal standard.
But real.
Luka stared at me for a long moment. Searching for something in my eyes.
Finally, he exhaled. Long and slow.
