"It is wrong, brother." She pushed away from him, "We were wrong."

"Lucrezia, do not do this." Cesare followed after her afraid that the more distance she put between their bodies, followed suit in her heart.

"We have killed my husband." She dared not to look at him; for she knew only her tears would beg him to comfort her, "I am a widow now. I must mourn."

"You are mine." He grasped her firmly with certain finality in his tone. This forced her to face him. Their eyes met and the assault of all consuming lust left her aroused and full of loathing. How could she yearn for another while her beloved lay cold beside her? How she envied her late husband. Only he would be lucky enough to have the soothing clutches of death release him from this eternal pit of unhappiness she called her life. She was a Borgia. She was born a Borgia and it seems she would die one. Had she the courage to take control of her fate she might have left some of the deadly libation for her own intake. But her greed and selfishness wouldn't allow her. Not without him.

"He loved me." She wept.

"I love you!" Cesare confessed. Just as she had once bravely declared, Cesare now needed to do the same. He had never said the words directly to her before now but surely she knew of his affections for her. He wished he could have been as brave as his younger half; she was honest to the core, pure. But he had done the very thing he was afraid of doing, tainting her. He didn't know what had changed in him. After the display of her and Alfonso's consummation, he had sworn to end the indiscretions between them; but like a fire reignited by her capture he knew no one would take her away from him again. Not even her betrothed. An obsession consumed him that consisted of Lucrezia and her entirety. Just as no doubt it had consumed her. She stood still as she let his words sink in until her expression became cross,

"You could never love me, the way he did!" She pushed away from him once more, crossing the room, so that table separated her from him and her desires.

Cesare couldn't believe his ears. How could she doubt his love for her? Had he not proved it to her over and over again? Lucrezia felt the cold atmosphere press itself upon them. She had cut him deep. A part of her knew it was necessary yet the other part couldn't bear to do that to him. That was their curse.

"There was no ambition, no army, no politics, just me, he loved only me." She spoke as if she was confessing to the wood. She made no attempt to seek out his eyes as she lamented her missed opportunity with what could have been a pure love. Cesare felt a heat rush to his face as he felt his heart rip from his body. His love for her or his ambitions; Cesare would never have both. The stark realization left a potent anger in his chest, forever being denied what he desires, "for the good of the family".

"I've endured marrying you off to a brute as if you were a prized mare." He walked over to her slowly. Each step he made cementing her further in her place, "I made arrangements for you to spend a night with the father of your child." His voice started to tremble as his anger increased; he was now standing on the opposite of Lucrezia, hands splintering the wood. "I was forced to watch you lay with that inferior weakling at your request!" The table flipped violently leaving Lucrezia to seek sanctuary within her drapes, clutching the fabrics in her hands as her back was turned against them. "I killed Juan for you!" Cesare now stood in front of her, clutching her face with a vice grip. Lucrezia knew not who this man was; his rage frightened her to no end. All that he had kept inside could no longer be contained. However as soon he became aware of the fearful expression on his love's face, his rage ended leaving a broken sadness, his hand trailing behind. "There is no other I hold in my heart more dearly than you."

Lucrezia let her tears fall freely as she was faced with all the pain and suffering Cesare had endured for her. A curse she placed on any man who dared to hold affections for her. She let go of the drapery and placed her trembling hand over his lips, tentatively trailing it up to cup his face with a gentle authority.

"Then leave with me."

He looked confused at her request.

"Where, my love?

"Anywhere. Just like Abelard and Eloise. If you love me like you say… as much as I love you, then run away with me. Start a life with me away from this poison, away from father…away from Rome.

"Leave Rome?"

"I asked you once to marry me. You spoke of a village."

"A fishing village." Cesare remembered his face softened as it became lost in thought. This was the man Lucrezia knew, the man she trusted…. The man she loved. She brought her face to his and softly kissed his top lip. She fell into bliss every time she felt his lips against hers. A sin against nature it may have been but it was one she would gladly commit again and again, without asking for forgiveness. Cesare was brought back by the touch of her lips. Despite the contradictions her actions held, he would continue to be at her mercy so long as it meant she belong to him. He had spent a lifetime waging a war in his mind over the wrong doing of their love, trying to rationalize himself into denial. He no longer needed to fool himself anymore. He was in love with his sister. It was in every way wrong and deplorable and yet, natural and good.

"Marry me." She whispered against his lips.

"As you wish." He conceded, deepening their kiss.