Page 23 of Say You're Mine

I laugh, a harsh, humorless sound that scrapes against my throat. "Don't play games with me, Amethyst. We have pictures. The pillows, the tests, the IVF papers. We know it's all a lie. And you're going to help us expose it."

For a long moment, she says nothing. The silence stretches between us, thick and charged, broken only by the ragged sound of her breathing.

And then, just as I'm about to snap, just as my hands twitch with the urge to wrap around her slender throat and squeeze...

She smiles. A slow, sly thing that sends a chill racing down my spine.

"You're like a bad smell, you just won't go away. But," she purrs, her voice suddenly steady and far too calm. "…it seems I've underestimated you, Caramel. You're not as ditzy as you look."

She straightens, smoothing the tight fabric of her dress over her fake bump. "But if you think I'm going down without a fight, you're even dumber than I thought."

I open my mouth to retort, but the words die on my tongue as the door behind us crashes open. I whirl around, my heart in my throat, to see three hulking men in black suits striding into the room.

Elaine's goons. The same ones who dragged June away from me that fateful day.

The same ones who haunt my nightmares, their cruel laughter echoing in my head as I reach for my love, my heart, my very reason for breathing...

And grasp nothing but empty air.

"You really should have listened when I warned you to stay away," Amethyst says, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Now you'll see what happens to those who try to cross the Deveauxes."

The goons advance, their eyes cold and empty as shark's eyes. I feel Song tense beside me, ready to fight, ready to defend me with his last breath.

But even as terror floods my veins, even as hopelessness threatens to drag me under...

I feel something else spark to life inside me. Something fierce and bright and unbreakable.

Love. The love I have for June, for our child, for the family we've built against all odds.

And with that love comes a clarity, a certainty that sears through me like wildfire.

I will not let them win. I will not let them break me.

I will fight. For June. For our baby. For every moment of joy and passion and bone-deep connection they've tried to steal from us.

I am Cara Briers.

And I will not be broken.

The goons lunge.

Song braces for impact.

And I...

I smile.

Ready to face whatever comes.

Ready to burn the world down to bring my love home.

Chapter seven

June

The restraints bite into my wrists, leather and steel and the sour stink of fear. Cold metal kisses my bare skin, a perversion of intimacy that sets my teeth on edge. I stare up at the ceiling, a roiling sea of shadows cut through with harsh fluorescent light. Exposed. Vulnerable. A bug pinned to a fucking specimen board.

"Patient 3679, prepped for electroconvulsive therapy," one of them drones, his voice as lifeless as his eyes. "Fifteenth session to date. No significant improvement noted."

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