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“Can’t say the same for you.”
I wasn’t going to be pulling any punches. Not with this monster.
Sparks of anger flickered in his steely eyes, but they quickly diminished as if they hadn’t existed in the first place. He’d always been quick to anger when we were younger. Constantly getting in fist fights and striking out. We’d been engaged once, but I had been in love with Liam.
That was when everything changed.
“How cruel the years have been to both of us.” He inclined his head.
“If you’re trying to bond with me over shared trauma,” I sniffed haughtily, “it isn’t going to work.”
He chuckled.
“Oh, little Kat.” His words slithered around me like a snake, and I could feel my skin crawling. “We have so much to bond over. But first.” He stood from the chair and sauntered toward me. I shuffled back, trying to keep distance between us, but was stopped when I hit the immovable force of the island. Noah smirked, his large body crowding mine against the cold marble. He leaned down until his lips were at my ear. “You are going to do something for me.”
I shook my head, unable to speak with how close he was. Lightning fast, his gloved hand gripped my chin in a bruising hold, his fingers digging into my cheeks as he forced me to look at him.
“This isn’t a negotiation, Kitty-kat,” he snarled menacingly, venom dripping from his words. I flinched at the use of my old nickname. “You are going to do exactly as I say, or I’ll put a bullet through your ex-lover’s head.” He tilted his head to the side, eyes lighting with fire. “Or maybe I will put one through your daughter’s and watch her burn.”
“Go to hell,” I hissed through clenched teeth.
Noah simply laughed and released his grip on my chin, but he didn’t step back. He continued to crowd me, his dark essence washing over me like a wave crashing upon a sandcastle on the beach. With one pull of the trigger, he could wash me away.
“I’ve been there, Kat,” he shrugged. “They didn’t have what I wanted.”
“And what is that?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“You.”
EPILOGUE 3
SEVERAL MONTHS LATER
The smell of hospitals made me sick to my stomach. Poorly concealed death. That was what it smelled like. I paced the length of the empty birthing room after they had taken Kendra into the OR. Her placenta had ruptured, and now they were going to have to do an emergency C-section.
Fear gripped my heart as they wheeled her away. All that mattered was that the baby was safe. Kendra could rot in hell for all I cared, but I still couldn’t follow them. Not after what had happened to my first wife, Lia. I had watched her die giving birth to my daughter, Sestra. It was why I never came to the hospital. Why I had my own private team of doctors, but even they didn’t have the skills needed to perform this procedure.
Cazzo.
Nine months.
Nine fucking months was how long I had kept Kendra safe from those who sought vengeance against her. That list wasn’t short, either. Much like Elias, Kendra had lied and manipulated her way through society, and now her bridges were burned, and all she had was me.
Lucky fucking me.
Jesus. Being with her had been a mistake. Even if that mistake had given me two beautiful daughters, I should have ended the affair long before they were born. But old habits are hard to turn away from.
I had been drowning in grief at the loss of my wife, Lia, when it started, and Kendra capitalized on that.Lia. I still missed her, even after all these years. I could say that Kendra seduced me, using her wiles against me, but I knew I could have ended it an any time, and I should have.
Hindsight was a bitch.
The scent of the hospital was getting to me, my vision blurring slightly as panic settled into my bones. I could handle losing Kendra but losing the baby might just kill me. It was a loss I didn’t think I could deal with. Armando and Sestra, my children with Lia, were waiting for me downstairs in the lobby. The hospital had a policy about visitors during emergency surgeries.
They had both suspected the affair growing up, but neither one had mentioned it. When I told them she was pregnant, they hadn’t been the least bit surprised or angry. I had been afraid they would see it as a betrayal to their mother’s memory.
My phone rang, the shrill sound causing me to start slightly in my agitated state. Fucking hospitals.
Pressing the green button, I brought the phone up to my ear. “Yeah?”
