Chapter 119

• "But," she finally heard him articulate the word that had been lingering between them, "I am no longer the man you once knew. I've said it before: I am now the leader of the Xavier Mafia. The world is much more perilous now, and as much as I long for you to be by my side, I cannot allow you to be near me. If something terrible were to happen to you, I would never forgive myself."
• "So..." The disappointment in her voice was palpable. His words didn't conclude in the way she had desperately hoped. "We can't be together?"
• "We can, yet we cannot," he replied painfully.