“She must bereallyprecious to you, if you tattooed her that close to your heart,” I pushed, needing to hear it.
I heard him take a slow breath. His hand drifted over mine. His touch stirring up a deep shiver inside me. I loved the way he touched me, so deliberate I almost wished he’d reach for me like this every day. When his fingers brushed over my wedding ring, a wave of shame and sadness hit me. He knew I was married. He had to know how pitiful it was, a married woman, searching for comfort in a stranger’s arms. The shame burned in my chest.
“She is dear to my heart,” he finally said.
The words broke me just a little more. This was all so wrong. A man who loved someone else, inside a woman desperate for the attention of a husband who’d never give it. Two broken people, pressed together, each aching for someone who would never look back. Pathetic, all the way around.
“She’s lucky.” I drew in a shaky breath. “But I’m wondering why you do this. Why spend your nights fucking someone else instead of being with her?”
He didn’t answer at first, silence stretching between us. Then his hand slid up to my chin, tipping my face up so he could look at me.
“Why are you fucking another man instead of your husband, Venus?”
My throat closed up. Frustration flared so fast it burned. “I don’t owe you my story,” I snapped, trying to pull away because I needed space.
But before I could get far, he caught my wrist and pulled meright back into him. Then his hands cupped my cheeks, holding me there. His eyes drilled into mine, demanding the truth I never wanted to say out loud. The force of that gaze sat in my throat like a stone. I could feel tears prickling at the corners of my eyes, shame, anger, and heartbreak rising all at once.
“Because he doesn’t want me,” I managed to say, my voice trembling. “Because he hates me so much he wants me dead. He swore I would pay for my father’s sins, even though I despise everything my father stood for.” I swallowed hard, fighting tears. “My husband makes me pay for things I never would have allowed if I had any power, but he never cared enough to see who I really was.”
Knox searched my face in silence, still holding me captive.
“You hate your father?” The question came out hard.
“With all my heart,” I said honestly. “That monster put me in this hell. He chased a war that meant nothing and killed someone I loved very much. He had my mother killed when I was ten, just because she wanted to leave him for someone else, then he killed the woman who risked everything to care for me. My husband’s mother was more of a mother to me than anyone ever was. She broke every rule to guide me, to meet me in secret, even though we were supposed to be enemies. She never deserved to die.”
I broke down then, sobbing into his chest and letting the grief I’d buried for months finally tear free. I’d never told anyone about Kate Korven. No one knew the truth of how deeply I loved her, how much she meant to me, how I blamed myself for her death. I carried that guilt so long it became part of me.
“You’re saying you knew your husband’s mother before she died?” Knox’s voice was rough, his jaw tight, his stare darker than I’d ever seen. “You were close to her?”
I wiped my face, forcing myself to meet his eyes. “I’m saying if my husband hates me, it’s because of me and my father. If hewants me dead, I’ll take it. I deserve it. My father took the person he loved most from him. And honestly, if he doesn’t kill me when all this is over, I might do it myself. Living with the guilt is already killing me more every single day.”
He stared at me, eyes stormy with so many emotions flickering through his gaze I couldn’t read them all. But I needed him to know the truth. I needed to let it out, at least to this stranger, before it ate me alive.
I broke the intensity of our exchange by looking away from him. Staring at the ceiling in silence, I replayed the miserable movie of my life. I’d never really had the chance to know true happiness. I wished things could have been different.
The silence stretched between us. Only our breathing could be heard. Then, a jolt of electricity ran down my spine as Knox’s hand gently stroked my skin. He trailed his fingers lightly over my arm, barely touching, then slowly drifted down to my chest, my stomach, and lower.
“Have you ever thought about what you’d like to have? Something that would make you happy?”
My gaze returned to his. His pupils pierced into me, waiting for my answer, as if it truly mattered to him.
His question made me think, because honestly, I’d never really considered it before. I closed my eyes for a split second, then opened them as my lips parted, letting words from the deepest part of my heart escape.
“I don’t pretend to dream of more than I know I could ever have. I don’t want to wish for something extravagant or unrealistic, because I know I don’t have enough time to get everything I might truly want. But before the end, I’d like to get a tattoo, right here,” I said, running my hand over my right shoulder. “A crown of flowers.”
He gave me a curious look. “Why?”
“Because a tattoo is immortal. Even if I leave this world, it’llstay etched on my skin. I’ll take it with me. And the thing I want to carry with me, even beyond death, is flowers.”
He looked even more intrigued.
“I was born to serve my family’s interests, and even after it was destroyed, others still decided my fate by marrying me off to a man who didn’t love me. Flowers are the only thing I truly have for myself. Since I was a child, I’ve loved growing them. Watching them bloom fills me with pride. I have control over something. I want them close to me, on me, whether in my hair or on my skin. I’d like to keep at least that,” I said, my voice slightly trembling.
He ran his fingers over the patch of skin where I wanted my tattoo, caressing it gently.
“A crown of flowers with a K in the middle,” he said, kissing my shoulder. “K for my name.” He pressed another kiss to my skin. “Or… maybe for the man you call when I’m buried deep inside you.”
I froze. His words caused a lump in my throat because the idea of marking myself with Konflict’s initial hurt more than I could bear. Uncontrollable tears slid down my cheeks, and Knox quickly reached up to wipe them away.
