Chapter Fifty-Nine
Ryker
Her words reverberated in my head, yet I couldn’t bring myself to believe them.
She forgave me?
My lips parted, but I didn’t know what to say. My thoughts spun, wild and uncertain.
I killed her mother. Shattered her life. Forced her into a bond she’d never wanted.
Despite all the pain I’d caused her, she just… forgave me.
My jaw worked as I searched her face, looking for any hint of a lie. But her gaze held steady.
“Is it really that easy, Cadence? Can you look past everything I have done? The threats. The chains. My many misdeeds.” My thumb slid across her cheek, tracing the wetness there.
Gods, I wanted her to say yes.
“Tell me the truth, Temptress,” I said, my grip tightening. “Do you forgive me for all of it?”
She stared down at me, letting the silence stretch between us as she considered my words.
“Forgiveness is never easy,” she said, her gaze darting to the side as she collected herself.
My breath faltered, and my heart thudded, hopeful and stupid.
“But now that I see you…” she trailed off, her voice rough with tears. “You’d go to war for the people you love. You fight dirty, and sometimes you fight wrong, but I understand why you do it.”
Her eyes met mine, and I saw the anguish hidden there. Not for herself. For the small boy trying to keep his promise.
I swallowed thickly; the vulnerability made me choke. I’d grown up in a world where any weakness could be the death of you, the hardest lessons taught by the one man I should have been able to trust.
The way I’d caged her, the desperate need to bind her so tightly she could never escape, it was born out of fear. Because history had shown me that losing control over those I loved was the first step toward shattering my soul.
And I would rather be the monster who kept her chained than the broken man left behind in her absence.
Yet, every wall I had built, every mask I’d worn — it all cracked beneath her gaze. She was staring straight into the wreckage I’d spent a lifetime hiding, and I didn’t have the strength to look away.
She saw me. All of me. I had nowhere left to hide.
I hated how exposed I felt, but I pushed through the discomfort. For her, I could stand unguarded.
“But that doesn’t mean I accept everything you’ve done. Or that I ever will.” Her gaze never wavered from mine. “There’s a lot to fix between us, Ryker.”
“I can work with that, Temptress. So long as you stay.”
“I’ll stay, and I will even help you protect me.” A devious smirk pulled up her lips, making my cock think all kinds of dirty thoughts. “Just promise you won’t ruin me in the process.” Her voice was soft, carrying the same vulnerability I’d laid bare for her.
I pressed my brow to hers, our gazes locked. “I promise, Cadence.”
“Then it’s time I told you everything.”
My muscles tightened, a knot forming deep in my gut as I waited for her to speak, knowing this was the moment my world shifted.
“My father is still alive.”
Her words struck me like a physical blow; my whole body jerked in response. When I didn’t find his corpse among the fallen after the assault, I knew it was a possibility, but hearing Cadence say the words… It felt as if a cold weight had settled in my chest.
“How do you know this?”
Cadence hesitated, her eyes burning into mine, wild but unreadable.
“I met him. In the forest, the first time I tried to run from you. Eleanor betrayed me, taking me straight into the stronghold of the Crimson Enclave.”
My jaw worked as my pulse pounded at the base of my throat.
“He’s the leader of the Crimson Enclave, Ryker.”
My hand tightened on her waist, as though she might disappear if I let her go.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.
This whole time, he’d been plotting his revenge, and now he had the perfect weapon at his disposal.
His daughter.
My mate.
“He didn’t spare me out of mercy, Ryker,” she said, as if sensing my thoughts. “He sent me back. To you. Told me to stay close, to undermine your rule from within.”
“And did you?”
I couldn’t help the growl that coated my words.
“No. I was never working for him. I was only trying to survive, to find a way out.”
Her voice didn’t tremble, but I could feel the apprehension rolling off her in waves. She braced for the worst, waiting for me to lash out.
The urge to shake her, to let her see how much it fucking hurt that she hadn’t trusted me, almost overpowered the rational part of my brain.
Because I deserved her mistrust.
It had been my actions that had driven her need to escape. If anyone was to blame here, it was me.
I skimmed my palm over her cheek, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Is that all?” My tone was quiet, but it still held an edge that made her pause.
“No. There’s more.”
I waited, and she shifted on my lap, uneasy under the weight of my stare. I dug my fingers into her sides. Not to hurt her, but to offer comfort.
Before Cadence could stop herself, the words spilled from her lips. She told me about the assault on the palace, how her father had orchestrated it to draw attention away from his actual goal: reaching her.
She spoke of the refugees, of how she’d helped them sabotage the food convoys, creating chaos with the hope she could slip out of my grasp undetected.
But when she named Fallon Thorne as the traitor and revealed how he’d propositioned her... fury unlike anything I had ever known surged through me, hot and violent, spreading like wildfire in my veins.
“He’s fucking dead.” I jumped to my feet, dressing quickly as Cadence did the same.
“Ryker, wait,” she called, her hand gripping my arm to stop me in my tracks.
I hadn’t even realized I’d moved.
“The second you go after Fallon, you’ll be sending a message straight to my father. We can’t let him know you see through his plans.”
I stared at Cadence, my chest rising and falling like I was holding back a godsdamn tempest. My jaw throbbed as I ground my teeth, considering her words.
Play the long game.
It made sense, but every instinct in my body screamed to rip Fallon’s throat out with my teeth, letting her father know exactly what happened to traitors. But if I acted now, the Crimson Enclave would smell blood. And I’d lose my one chance to end this war on my terms.
I forced myself to take a breath as I stared down at her.
“I don’t like it, but you’re right.”
Cadence craned a brow, that damn smirk gracing her lips once more.
“Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” I said as I stalked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To plan.”
My hand gripped the doorknob, and I peered over my shoulder to where Cadence stood, her brows furrowed.
“You coming?”
The corner of her mouth lifted, and the temptation in her gaze almost made me abandon my plans altogether.
Fuck strategy. I wanted her.
“Thought you’d never ask.”
I stepped aside, giving her ass a hard smack as she passed by. “Later.”
“You should be so lucky.”
Gods, this woman.
Adjusting myself in my trousers, I quickened my pace and followed her.