Page 124 of A Sinful Gravity

"Cassian! Open up!" Chloe's voice came from outside. "I know you're in there!"

I stood up, steps unsteady, and walked to the door. Pulled it open. Chloe stood there, face grim. She pushed past me, bringing in a gust of cold air, and slammed the door behind her.

Seeing her made me feel sick all over again. I turned and sat back down, picked up the bottle, and took a drink.

"Cassian, besides breaking things and getting wasted, can you do anything else?"

She didn't turn on the lights either, letting the outside glow carve the room into patches of light and shadow. She looked at the glass shards covering the floor and the ridiculous pink hair clip in my hand. Not an ounce of sympathy in her eyes.

"Get out," I said, voice low and rough, like a hangover personified.

"Why should I?" Chloe laughed coldly, kicking aside bottle remnants at her feet. "You think you're the victim here? Think the whole world betrayed you? That we're all heartless liars?"

Her words reignited the rage I'd just barely suppressed.

I snapped my head up, bloodshot eyes locked on her. "Didn't you hide it from me? That's my daughter! Chloe, I'm your brother!"

Seeing me nearly unhinged, Chloe did something rare—she mocked me with sharp precision.

She bent down, eye level with me, and said each word slowly. "What right do you have to be angry, Cassian?"

"Luna was pregnant and wandering the rainy streets of London. She slept on cold rehearsal room floors to save money for formula. Who caused that?"

"But I didn't know!" I shot up, my body swaying violently from the alcohol and emotion. I was practically roaring. "You saw how good I've been to them! If I'd known back then—"

"If you'd known, you would've brought them back? Protected and taken care of them?" Chloe's eyes held a hint of mockery. "You think that's what Luna wanted?"

I choked. A flash of guilt hit me where it hurt. But I still fought back. "What about now? I've changed, and I'm willing to support her career!"

"You think a few months can erase six years of damage?"

Chloe's simple question blocked every word in my throat.

"Cassian, you know why Luna was afraid to tell you the truth?"

I said nothing. I held my breath.

"Because she was scared." Chloe's voice dropped. "She was afraid you'd fight her for custody of Laila. She was afraid you'd use the child to control her, just like you used marriage to trap her back then."

I froze.

That sentence was a knife that cut cleanly through the tangled mess of emotions in my head. Combined with Laila's words earlier, my thoughts suddenly cleared.

I thought back to today in the rehearsal studio, the look in Luna's eyes when she saw me—not just anger, but suppressed fear.

The kind of fear that comes from worrying your most important person will be taken away, worrying you'll be controlled again.

"You think she didn't want to tell you?" Chloe's voice continued. "You know how many times she almost said it? Whenyou braided Laila's hair, when you cooked dinner yourself... She wanted to tell you. But she didn't dare gamble. Because what you did before destroyed her trust. Getting a woman who's already died once to trust you again is nearly impossible."

She sat down beside me, her voice softening slightly.

"It's not that Luna doesn't love you. If she really didn't, she wouldn't have moved in, wouldn't have let you near Laila, and definitely wouldn't have—let you touch her."

Those words surprisingly calmed me down. I turned to look at Chloe, self-mockery in my tone. "You actually sound like my big sister right now."

Chloe shrugged. "Just can't stand watching you spiral."

"Yeah." My head started clearing. "It's my fault. I thought if I just showed Luna I loved her, that would be enough. I didn't see that she was scared."