“Is it really that easy, Cadence? Can you look past everything I have done? The threats. The chains. My many misdeeds.” My thumb slid across her cheek, tracing the wetness there.
Gods, I wanted her to say yes.
“Tell me the truth, Temptress,” I said, my grip tightening. “Do you forgive me for all of it?”
She stared down at me, letting the silence stretch between us as she considered my words.
“Forgiveness is never easy,” she said, her gaze darting to the side as she collected herself.
My breath faltered, and my heart thudded, hopeful and stupid.
“But now that I see you…” she trailed off, her voice rough with tears. “You’d go to war for the people you love. You fight dirty, and sometimes you fight wrong, but I understand why you do it.”
Her eyes met mine, and I saw the anguish hidden there. Not for herself. For the small boy trying to keep his promise.
I swallowed thickly; the vulnerability made me choke. I’d grown up in a world where any weakness could be the death of you, the hardest lessons taught by the one man I should have been able to trust.
The way I’d caged her, the desperate need to bind her so tightly she could never escape, it was born out of fear. Because history had shown me that losing control over those I loved was the first step toward shattering my soul.
And I would rather be the monster who kept her chained than the broken man left behind in her absence.
Yet, every wall I had built, every mask I’d worn — it all cracked beneath her gaze. She was staring straight into the wreckage I’d spent a lifetime hiding, and I didn’t have the strength to look away.
She saw me. All of me. I had nowhere left to hide.
I hated how exposed I felt, but I pushed through the discomfort. For her, I could stand unguarded.
“But that doesn’t mean I accept everything you’ve done. Or that I ever will.” Her gaze never wavered from mine. “There’s a lot to fix between us, Ryker.”
“I can work with that, Temptress. So long as you stay.”
“I’ll stay, and I will even help you protect me.” A devious smirk pulled up her lips, making my cock think all kinds of dirty thoughts. “Just promise you won’t ruin me in the process.” Her voice was soft, carrying the same vulnerability I’d laid bare for her.
I pressed my brow to hers, our gazes locked. “I promise, Cadence.”
“Then it’s time I told you everything.”
My muscles tightened, a knot forming deep in my gut as I waited for her to speak, knowing this was the moment my world shifted.
“My father is still alive.”
Her words struck me like a physical blow; my whole body jerked in response. When I didn’t find his corpse among the fallen after the assault, I knew it was a possibility, but hearing Cadence say the words… It felt as if a cold weight had settled in my chest.
“How do you know this?”
Cadence hesitated, her eyes burning into mine, wild but unreadable.
“I met him. In the forest, the first time I tried to run from you. Eleanor betrayed me, taking me straight into the stronghold of the Crimson Enclave.”
My jaw worked as my pulse pounded at the base of my throat.
“He’s the leader of the Crimson Enclave, Ryker.”
My hand tightened on her waist, as though she might disappear if I let her go.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.
This whole time, he’d been plotting his revenge, and now he had the perfect weapon at his disposal.
