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Book 3 of The Journey Series
Isadiel Zayas‑Smith grew up in a kitchen full of noise and heat, watching his father run Per Ardua with steady hands and a clear purpose. He always knew he wanted that life for himself.
What he didn't expect was losing the person who mattered most before he ever had the chance to grow into it.
Lizander Watkins had been part of his world since they were kids, first as a friend, then as something deeper, and then as the one who broke the trust they built in secret.
Graduation scattered everything. Isa threw himself into cooking, into long nights and early mornings, into the routine that kept him from thinking too much.
Ten years later, he has the restaurant in his hands and a life built on order, the noise never touching what he keeps inside.
Then Lizander walks back into it.
One look is enough to bring back the weight of everything they never said, and Isa feels the ground shift under him in a way he hasn't felt in years.
Nothing between them is simple. Nothing is forgotten.
And the man standing in front of Isa is not the boy he walked away from.
Book 3 of: The Journey Series