Her blue eyes are stained red, and wet with tears she’s trying to hold back. She looks up at me, broken, fragile, and—fuck, shemight as well have stabbed the knife through my chest. I seeeverything—fear, guilt, shame—but worst of all is the tiny flicker ofhopeI find deep within her eyes.Misplaced trust that, despite my anger, and her actions,I won’t hurt her.
“You were playing me this whole time?”
Tears finally fall as she loses her battle to hold them in.
My grip on her jaw tightens until her eyes open again, but I hold her there, refusing to let her look away from me again.
“Why, Briar?”
She searches my eyes. Something breaks in her from whatever she finds there, and the tears flow harder and she releases a muffled sob.
“And don’t you fucking lie to me now.One truth.You owe me that much. I want you to tell mewhy.”
I slide the knife through the cloth that’s keeping her quiet, letting it fall to the floor between us.
She swallows. “You don’t understand…” Her voice cracks, coming out rough and scratchy, and I loosen the grip I have on her jaw. “It’s complicated.”
“Either an explanation comes out of that mouth, or a bullet is going in your skull,” I warn her. Rage is boiling inside of me, and I’m on the verge of tipping over the edge. But I think I’m more pissed about how much control she still has over me, how aftereverythingshe’s done, I still feel an overwhelming urge to protect her, to keep her safe, even whenI’mthe one threatening her.
“I never meant for any of this to happen. I?—”
“Never meant for this to happen?” I cut her off. “Briar, youplannedthis. You were working with Giovanni from the beginning. And the Volkov, thewhole fucking time.You knewexactlywhat you were doing when you betrayed me, and crying now won’t save you.” Disgusted, I release her, leaving her trembling.
“I wasn’t—I didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” I snarl, coming at her again fast. She shies away from me, recoiling as far as the chains allow her to. My chest tightens, feeling as though it might burst, as if my ribs can’t contain the catastrophic damage being done inside. I point the tip of my blade at her. “Youchosewrong.”
Her eyes drop to the knife, the cold steel glinting in the dim lighting as I pace the space in front of her.
“You won’t hurt me. You won’t,” she says, shaking her head.
“You sound pretty confident about that.” I step forward, placing the sharp end of the blade against her skin, a few inches above the little Celtic knot at her neck. The silver charm glints in the low light,taunting me, and I’m tempted to rip it from her throat.
“You won’t hurt me,” she repeats. Her voice shakes with the words, and there’s uncertainty in them, and in her eyes when she looks up at me. Especially when I press down harder, aware that she can feel the bite of the blade against her skin. The small prick of blood that appears unleashes a wave of nausea through me. “Youpromised,” she whispers, almost as if the words are a prayer.
I lower the knife, pacing the room once again, my chest tight, trying to walk off the anger burning through me before I do something I regret. Coming for her again, I pull her toward me by the back of her head until our foreheads meet, and I press mine to hers. Her sweet scent fills my lungs, giving me air to breathe.
“Tell me why, Briar Rose,please.”
“I had to. I didn’t have a choice!” she says again.
“Stop saying that!” I shout, stepping away from her. “Youhad a choice, youchose, and you didn’t chooseme!”
Briar’s eyes flash, giving me a small glimpse of those thorns I love. “No, because I choseher!” she screams back at me, looking like she wants to throttle me, and fall apart, all at the same time.
There’s a pounding on the door that I ignore, staring at Briar as I try to work out what she just said.
“Koen.”
The pounding at my back intensifies. “Go the fuck away, Liam!” I shout through the metal.
Two seconds later, the door slides open anyway.
“What the fuck?” I whirl on him. “I’m a little fucking busy right now.”
“I know, I’m sorry, but…” his eyes trail over my shoulder to look at Briar. “It’s an emergency.”
“It can wait,” I growl, turning away from him.
