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"I loved her too much."
"Loved?" I laughed out loud, the sound bitter and sad. "You're not capable of love, Dad. You didn't even love my mother."
He chuckled and I raised my boot, ready to crush it against his skull.
"Wait," he begged. "Just let me explain."
I lowered my foot to the ground, crossing my arms and waiting for him to go on. "My patience is running out, old man. You better give me some answers, and fucking fast."
"You're right, Devlin." He cleared his throat, sputtering blood on the floor when he coughed. I felt sorry for him, a pang of guilt shooting through my chest. But I knew I couldn't let myself feel that way. Not until I had Violet back.
"It's true. I never loved your mother. It was all a pretense - an arranged marriage. It was a planned event to bring together the Sloane family and the Windsors. Your mother, she had money, and I had promise. I needed to do it - for my business, to get an heir. Brynne didn't want me anyway. She married Cabot..." At this, he spat on the floor, his spit mixing with blood. "Brynne Davenport was the only woman I've ever loved. And I hated that bastard Cabot for taking her away from me. But not as much as I hated myself."
"You?" I laughed out loud. "I'm having trouble believing the great Dominic Windsor feels such self-loathing."
"You should believe it," my father said through gritted teeth. "I hurt her. I'll never stop regretting that. It's what's been haunting me my entire life. Knowing what I did to her. Knowing I broke her, ruined her life. I sent her right into Cabot's arms, and for that, I'll never forgive myself."
I contemplated his words, allowing him to pick himself up and slump against the wall, loosening his tie.
"We're a lot alike, son."
"We're nothing alike."
"We are. We both have these... these dark desires running through our veins." I felt a chill go down my spine, and I knew my father had noticed, but he was wise enough not to say anything about it. "It's in our blood, Devlin. And it's hard for us to control these desires. To admit to ourselves we have to reign them in with our partners, with our women. Don't tell me you don't feel it too, my son. I know you felt it with Violet, just like I did with her mother."
Stubbornly, I kept my mouth shut despite his expectant gaze. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of an answer. I wanted him to suffer for what he'd done to Violet's family.
And yet... if he hadn't done that to Brynne, Violet wouldn't be here today. And neither would I.
I shook my head to get the thought out. I couldn't get distracted, not then, when I was so close to uncovering the last few clues that would lead me to my princess.
"Is this the real reason Hugo Cabot hates us?" I asked my father. "Is this why he is so against me being with his daughter?"
Brokenly, my father nodded. "I planned to take him down, for many, many years. Got so close, so many times. I had so many opportunities to destroy the man, just like he'd done to me, and my future with Brynne. But I always held back. I never went through with it. I knew if I did it, I'd be hurting Brynne's children in the process. And I couldn't bring myself to do that to her, to her family. Even though they were Cabot's children, I... I couldn't hurt them. For Brynne's sake."
I found myself nodding along. "What happened then?"
"Cabot found a letter," my father hissed, clutching his side. With shaky fingers, he brought a cigarette out from the pocket in his blazer. He offered it to me and I shook my head. It had been years since my father had stopped smoking. I watched him light the thing with shaky fingers, taking a long, relieved breath of its poison. He inhaled gratefully, filling his lungs with smoke. Old habits die fucking hard.
"What kind of letter?"
"A letter Brynne wrote to him, but never sent."
I had a feeling where this was going, and I waited for my father to go on.
"What was in the letter?"
"Her confession," my father muttered. "She told him about me. And since then, he's hated me. As if it wasn't enough that Brynne did. Now Cabot was out to get me, and I fucking deserved it, too."
"But why would you stop me from being with Violet?" I demanded. "Why didn't you want us to be together? Why work so tirelessly to keep us apart?"
My father took another long drag of the cigarette. Despite his messy state, with blood trickling from his nose and his suit torn, the bastard was still as handsome as ever. No wonder women found him so irresistible.
