Bass Monroe had had a lot of heartache in his life, but nothing had fucked with him quite like Miles Matheson. They'd been friends since first grade; over thirty years later, that was all over. Miles had tried to kill him twice and he was a paranoid general of his own republic.
The worst part, though, was that through all of the crap, Bass still loved Miles. He'd been in love with him since their freshman year in college. That was twenty years ago at least, and his love had been fruitless. He'd watched Miles fall for Rachel and Nora. Before the first failed assassination, he had been the one to carry Miles through the romantic plunders and heartaches. He'd carried his unrequited love quietly all these years. Even now, he still loved him.
Before the assassination, he could have never told Miles how he felt. Losing his friendship was out of the question. Now that they were rivals, it was even more taboo. What the hell would Miles think? He was out to kill him. Admitting his feelings would only make the situation worse.
Back in the day, Bass had had far fetched hopes of a relationship with Miles. They'd always been close, maybe taking a step in the romantic direction was the natural thing to do. But it never happened. As the years wore on, his dreams of love waned. He'd never really loved anyone else; not even Emma. For him, there was only Miles. And it couldn't have been worse.