It seems Fiona and Brendan were quite close if he essentially gave up his life to avenge hers.
Cian rests his forehead against the iron bars and sighs. “I fucked up—again. I should have trusted you, but that sceneDevlin created in his office was exactly how I found out about my brother and Fiona. Brendan gave him detailed information, everything from how Devlin restrained you to what he said to me. He even called youmo stór. Shawn called Fiona that. I should have seen it for what it was, but… I didn’t. I was too blinded by my memories, by my fears. That’s no excuse. I should have seen through the lies. I should have known you were telling me the truth. Even Devlin, though a snake, wasn’t the true villain. Brendan used and manipulated him.”
So that’s why Devlin apologized in the end. He really was sorry for his part in all of this.
I reach for Cian through the bars. “Shh. Now you know that I was never unfaithful to you, that’s all that matters.”
“That’s not all that matters. Don’t fucking forgive me.” Angrily, he pulls away, pacing his cell. “I didn’t trust you. Worse, I thought terrible things about you. I was so fucking close to killing you, Ravenna, don’t you understand?”
“I do understand.” I rise to my feet. “Brendan gaslit the hell out of you. He used your PTSD, yourtrauma, and twisted it to his advantage. You can’t blame yourself for what he did to you. You were caught in his trap, that doesn’t make you an awful person or make your actions and decisions unforgivable. Quite the opposite.” I point toward the door. “Brendan’s evil. He deserves a slow, painful death for what he put you through. I blame him, and I’ll never forgive what he did.”
Cian stops pacing and stares back at me. “He’s also the man who kidnapped your sister the day of our wedding.”
Shock ripples through me. I hated Brendan before this moment, now Iloathehim with my entire soul. He’s responsible for not only Cian’s ongoing trauma, but Elena’s too.
Brendan’s the reason my sister fled this country and went into hiding, the reason she won’t come home. He’s why myhusband had a mental break. He tried to ruin our marriage and nearly succeeded.
He says he wants to avenge his sister’s death, but that’s not what he’s been doing. He’s sick,twisted. Taking too much delight in ruining other people’s lives. A master manipulator playing his game until someone puts a stop to him.
“I want him dead,” I state in a cold, hard voice.
“You and me both, but in case you haven’t noticed we don’t have the upper hand at the moment.” He glances around his cell. “We need to get out of here. Brendan’s set on taking you for himself, and I won’t let that happen.”
I shudder at the thought of Brendan’s hands on me. “I can get us out of these cells, but that lock on the door will be challenging. Plus, he’s watching us. I don’t think we can escape from here.”
As soon as Brendan sees what we’re up to on the camera, he’ll put a stop to it.
Reluctantly, Cian nods, agreeing with my assessment of our situation. “We’ll have to wait for an opportunity. Until then…” He clutches the bars separating out cells and sinks to his knees. “I have wronged you in so many ways. I’ve taken our beautiful, sacred marriage, and twisted it into something unrecognizable. I’m as much to blame for ruining our marriage as Brendan.”
“Cian—”
“Don’t. I know you want to soothe me, to say you forgive me, like you always do. But I need you to know how desperately sorry I am for everything I’ve put you through. From abandoning you at your father’s house, to threatening your life. For accusing you of cheating, for punishing you with sex, and for making you lose your job. I’ve pushed you away again and again, fucked up over and over, but you keep coming back. I know I don’t deserve you.”
“That’s not?—”
“It is true,” he practically snarls. “You’re a saint for putting up with my shit, and you should have given up a long time ago, but I’m glad you didn’t.”
His voice drops so low I have to lean in to hear him. “As much as I don’t deserve your forgiveness, I must ask for it, because I can’t imagine my life without you. You’re the love of my life, my anchor, you’re the person who makes me whole. You’re the beauty to my beast.”
I reach through the bars and caress his cheek, gently tracing his scars with my thumb.
“If you give me another chance, I swear on my soul that I’ll make everything up to you. I’ll never doubt or question you again. I’ll treat you with the love and respect you deserve every single day.” He gazes at me with longing and hint of hope in his pale blue eyes. “You hold my heart in your hands, broc meala. Do with it what you will.”
My chest flutters, warmth spreads through my veins. Yes, he’s been terrible at times, but I’ve never stopped loving him. He doesn’t seem to understand all thegoodhe’s done to me, he only sees the bad. Someday, he’ll see our relationship from my perspective. In time.
I promised us both that I’d never lie, so I tell him the truth. “I love you.”
He searches my eyes for several long seconds. His palms cup my face. “I love you more.”
“I’ll love you forever,amore mio. I want us, together, until death.”
“If that’s what you really want, then you have me, body, heart, and soul. From now until forever.”
I nod, and his shoulders loosen with relief. He blows out a shaky breath that tells me how afraid he was that I’d finally had enough, that I didn’t want him anymore.
I lean slightly forward, and it’s the sign he needs. His lips crash against mine with heart-wrenching desperation. I kiss him back, pouring all of my longing and hope into it. More than anything in the world, I just wantus.
Putting minimal distance between us, he grunts. “These damn bars are in the way. I’ve missed you so much. I thought I’d never see you again.”
