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It’s a feeling so strong that I do something I haven’t done before with anyone outside of my Harknett brothers.

I open up.

“My mother, Evangeline,” I start. I feel Cillian’s body tense against me, but I continue. “She was stunning. Her skin was as dark as the night, and her eyes were green like mine. The way she spoke, the way she moved so delicately… she looked like a goddess from a fantasy world… Which is why she drew attention everywhere she went.”

“She sounds like you.”

“I don’t draw half the attention she did… And unfortunately, that’s how she caught the eye of a very, very rich man.”

Cillian shifts slightly, but his fingers never leave my skin.

“At first, he was just flirting. But when she kept saying no, the gifts escalated to designer bags, cars, the deed to a house. It became impossible to manage… Then, he got my father fired.”

“Did you report him?”

“Every time. But no matter how many times we went to the police, the case was dismissed, or the judge blamed my mother.”

“He bought them…” Cillian guesses, his face twisting with anger and disgust.

“Yes. He used his money to destroy my family and corner my mother.”

I swallow hard, feeling a bit surprised that I’m willingly reliving this whole story just so I can open up to someone I love.

“When I was nineteen,” I continue, “I enlisted in the military so I could send my salary home to help my father. It kept us afloat for a while, but the man was relentless. He eventually threatened to have me killed if she didn’t give in. Young men die in wars all the time; it would have been easy for him. So, to protect me, my mother left my family and moved in with him.”

Cillian gasps, and I feel his tears dropping against my chest.

“When I finally came home four years later, with the help of Logan, Law, and Davo, I went to that man’s house to take her back. Seeing me standing there, staring at her in a pretty silk robe, all dolled-up like a sex doll, seeing how she’d given herself to that monster… it broke something inside her. She had a panic attack, and her heart just gave out,” I say, and fuck, my voice cracks.

Cillian hugs me and kisses my cheek. “It’s okay, I’m here… I’m here.”

I hug him back and bury my face in the curve of his neck. “She… she died right there in my arms, wrapped in that stupid robe. And the man said we could just take her if we wanted to, as if her purpose was done.”

“Oh, my God…”

“And that was it. No arrest, no justice, no nothing.”

“What the fuck!” Cillian leans back, his body shaking with anger. “That piece of shit deserves to die.”

“I agree,” I say, feeling a strange sense of kinship, knowing my man reacts this intensely to something that happened to my family.

“Why didn’t you shoot him?” he asks, and I laugh.

“There’s a difference between taking a life in combat and in cold blood,” I explain, kissing the tip of his nose. “No matter how much I hate him, I’m not a killer, Cil.”

“I’m so sorry, Knox,” he whispers against my skin, leaning down. “I am so sorry your family had to live through that, and that I opened this wound.”

“My Prince, you didn’t open my wound; you cured it.”

“But… I have money.”

“So? You taught me not everyone with money uses it for evil. You use it to bring joy to others. Hell, you do charity work, help kids, promote art, and a million other things.” I kiss him softly. “You use your money to make this world better.”

Cillian pulls back slightly, looking nervous. “So… your family won’t hate me?”

“My family will love you, just like my mother would have.”

“Thank you for opening up to me… I love you so, so much, my gorgeous, insufferable bodyguard.”