Page 50 of Tempting Devil

“Got into a fight with a mirror,” he replied with a hint of humor. “If you think this is bad, you should see the other guy.”

Samuel would have said something like this. He always had an amazing ability to make light of stressful situations. It was one of the things I loved about him.

But I wasn’t sure how to reconcile that Samuel with the man standing in front of me.

“How did you know I’d be here? Are you having me followed?” I crossed my arms in front of my stomach.

“I don’t need to have you followed to know you’d want to come here. I know you, Imogene. That’s enough.”

“That makes one of us,” I scoffed. “I have no idea who the hell you are. How you could have lied to me like this.”

“Which is why I’m here.”

“I don’t know how you expected—” I stopped short when his words finally registered, my mouth snapping closed. “It is?” I furrowed my brows.

“Yes.” He stepped toward me.

Unlike this morning, I didn’t back up. Instead, I allowed myself to get lost in his eyes.

Samuel’s eyes.

They seemed familiar the first time I saw them in the morning light. There was something about the atmosphere that day as I ran along the beach. Almost like I could feel his presence.

Truthfully, I’d felt as if Samuel were watching over me for a while now.

I guess he was.

“Was any of it real?” I choked out, my question leaving me before I could stop it.

“What do you mean?”

“Us.” I gestured between our two bodies. “This.” I swallowed hard, emotion tightening my throat. My chest. My soul. “Was any of it real?”

He averted his gaze. “I didn’t want it to be.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart aching from his frigid tone.

“But hindsight’s always twenty-twenty.”

I snapped my gaze back to him as he took another timid step toward me.

“I may have had my reasons for doing the things I have, but I meant what I told you the other night. I’m falling for you. And not as Sam, but as Gideon. After the things I was forced to endure…”

The muscles in his face tightened, his expression anguished. He closed his eyes, taking several moments to collect himself. When he returned them to mine, they were filled with so much pain.

“I didn’t think I’d ever feel anything but anger. Hate. Rage. For years, my anger was the only thing that helped me survive. But with you…” Tentatively, he reached for my hand.

This time, I didn’t recoil from him. Instead, I relished in the feel of his skin on mine, despite the confusion still plaguing me.

“You make it not hurt as much, Imogene. I’m begging you to give me a chance to explain. After that, if you never want to see me again, I’ll understand. But don’t push me away before you know the truth. I want you to know the truth, despite what my actions may have led you to believe.”

Since learning who he was, I’d wanted answers. Wanted to know how he could have been alive when the world thought he was dead. Wanted to know how he could lie to me.

Wanted to know who was responsible for turning the man I once loved into someone I barely recognized.

I couldn’t shake the feeling I wasn’t going to like those answers.

But I needed closure. I’d never truly be able to move on from this with hundreds of questions left unresolved.

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