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Chapter 1
Lennox
My shoulders are screaming in agony—stretched to their limits above my head, holding the weight of my body as my toes barely touch the ground. There’s an intense pounding in my head, and I feel like I could sleep for a month straight.
But I’m alive.
Most people’s reaction in this situation would be to jolt awake and start thinking of an escape plan. But I know better than to alert anyone watching me that I’m awake until I have a plan. So I stay calm, keeping my heartbeat and breath steady.
My shirt is gone, but at least they left my pants on this time. The scratchy fabric digging into my wrists tells me they used rope to bind me. The question, is who are they?
I try to remember what happened the last time I was conscious, but my memories are foggy. Any one of my numerous enemies could have done this—Vincent, any of the Corsi men, the Retribution Kings, or the still unknown man who wants Rialta dead.
Rialta—I remember Rialta. Suddenly her memory knocks the breath out of me.
I hurt her.
I killed Kit.
At least, I think I did. That’s what she accused me of, and it seems like something I’d do. My memories aren’t giving me any clues at the moment—they’re completely consumed by Rialta. The pain etched on her face, the tears freely flowing, the way Andrea kissed her cheek, and she didn’t flinch away.
Rialta drugged me—that’s how much she hates me.
I love her.
Fucking dammit, I love her.
Falling in love was the one thing that could have saved us, and it was too late. And yet, me loving her will also destroy her.
I won’t live—not long enough to give her a happily ever after. If I somehow got her to love me, too, my death would destroy her. I should know—loving someone in my past destroyed me.
Who am I kidding? Rialta could never love me, especially after what I did to Kit. I’m her enemy, the villain in her story. And yet somehow, against all odds, I fell in love with her.
So why would I sabotage that by killing Kit?
To ensure she could never love me?
To protect her since Vincent is bound to kill me for failing to live up to his challenge?
I don’t know.
I don’t remember.
I need to find a way to escape. But not until I see Rialta, not until I know the truth. It can’t be true. She can’t be with Andrea. She can’t hate me that much.
Except she always hated me, at least until I thought she loved me.
“We know you’re awake,” I hear Andrea say as footsteps near.
I raise my head, no longer pretending, and stare straight into his bloodthirsty eyes. A dozen men surround him in the dark basement they’ve tied me up in. But none of them is what strikes fear through my soul.
Rialta Corsi—my wife. The woman whose last name I took. The woman who I vowed to protect, to fall in love with, and to end her attacker’s life. The woman who I hated but somehow fell madly in love with is standing next to him, leaning on him for support.
My eyes lock in on hers, looking for any sign she’s on my side. This is all a mistake. She’s been coerced. She still likes me, wants me, maybe—somehow, she fell in love with me the same way I fell in love with her.
All I see is hate.
It’s a hatred I’ve never felt from her before, even when Vincent and I forced her to marry me. Even when we were playing our silly games together, she’s never hated me like this.
