Page 57 of Outcast’s Vow

“And someone who thinks of me as just another possession wouldn’t react the way you just did,” my wife explains slowly. “I can see the rage and fury in you. That’s passion, clear as day, and yet you still pretend it’s all nothing. Now you go ahead and admit the depth of your feelings for me.”

“You’re a spoiled brat,” I seethe. “You think everything is about you.”

And now Sylvie’s indignation flips to anger. Her nose flares. Her teeth show. Her elegant poise drops away.

“Don’t you call...”

But I cut her off.

“You know what you are to me, Your Highness? You want the truth?”

“Yes, I deserve that.”

“You’re a connection to your father. You’re simply my ticket to becoming Supreme Elder one day.”

Her face goes still.

“I am a human being with my own wants and needs and desires,” she whispers.

“You are nothing more than a little girl who teases and plays games, and who cries when she gets burned. You love the attention. A wannabe royal princess.”

Even as I spit the words out, I know how hollow they truly are. It’s as if I’m trying to convince myself more than Sylvie. As if I’m trying to find a way to wriggle out of saying the truth. The one thing she wants me to say.

“You don’t mean those words.”

“I do.”

Despite my insistence, the bullshit is leaking out of my voice. It’s too late to hide it.

“You think you are heartless, Baptiste.”

“I am heartless.”

“But the thing is you’re not. Even now you’re trying to put up some fake version of yourself, but I see through it. You’ve spent your life being the outsider, and trying so hard to fit in. You’ve tried so hard that you’ve even hidden your own feelings from yourself. But it won’t work this time. Not on me. You like me, and I know it. And I think you know it too.”

Christ, that’s the heart of it all, and this damn woman has somehow dug and found it.

My wife boldly takes another step, closing the short distance between us. I’m still standing at the door in my ski outfit. She’s in those tight leggings. My pulse hammers in my ears.

I’ve never been this furious before. This controlling. And I’ve never been this confronted.

I’ve never been this fucking scared.

She was only meant to be another chess piece on the board. My next logical step. She was never meant to be this. It’s like this woman can read my mind, and I can’t bear it any longer.

“You disrespect me,” she barks, taking another step closer with every word. “You call me stupid nicknames. You make me feel like I’m a trophy wife. A rich man’s plaything. Well, I’m not. I’ve dealt with men like you my entire life, men who think they are owed my time and my effort because of my father and who disregard me like I’m nothing...”

We are so close now that I hush her rant with a finger to her lips.

“Quiet, Highness.”

She stills.

She doesn’t pull away.

I’ve silenced her with two words, and she willingly lets me.

It’s time to tell the truth.