Page 65 of Black Heart

Turning back to face me, he takes a deep breath. “You’ve become…”

Kaden rakes a hand through his black, disheveled hair, releasing a frustrated growl. He walks over to the sink, dumping out the burned coffee, then filling the pot with water and washing it out. The sound of running water fills the uncomfortable silence.

The meager sunlight hits his profile, lingering on the scar that bisects his face, a constant reminder of his past, just like my inherited lighthouse is to me.

He says, “For what it’s worth, I stopped seeing you as bait last night, when they...”

Kaden sets the clean pot on the drying rack, then turnsaround to lean against the sink and crosses his arms over his chest, his muscles tightening beneath his shirt.

“The way you handled that man in your bedroom like a goddamned warrior even though you had every reason to be terrified. You’re not just a pawn, Layla. You never have been.”

His confession hits me as hard as the waves hitting Greycliff’s jagged rocks. I’m frozen in my spot, my heart thundering in my ears.

I want to respond, to tell him that I’m only a warrior because I have him at my side, because of him. But before I can form the words, he pushes away from the sink and strides across the room toward me.

“But you are still my responsibility,” he grinds out.

“I don’t need a knight!” The words burst from me, raw and angry. My throat burns with their release, but it feels good.

The look of surprise on Kaden’s face is almost worth it. Almost.

“Maybe I don’t want to be saved,” I go on when he doesn’t respond. “Maybe I want to fight by your side instead of being the damsel locked in the tower.”

“Is that what you think this is?” Kaden asks, his tone brimming with restraint.

“That’s exactly what this is,” I retort, matching his icy tone with my own. “You’ve been treating me like some clueless civilian who can’t handle the truth, who can’t fight her own battles. But I’m not a little girl, Kaden. I’m not your daughter.”

I flinch as my words strike him, as he absorbs their impact, his piercing eyes blinking rapidly as if in pain.

“I didn’t mean—” I backpedal, realizing too late that I’ve crossed a line.

“I’m well aware you’re not my daughter,” he says after a moment, his voice far too calm.

Kaden’s jaw tightens, the muscle twitching beneath thejagged line of his scar. His gaze breaks away from mine as he takes a step back, pinching the bridge of his nose with fingers that tremble ever so slightly.

“I didn’t bring you into this mess,” he says quietly, almost in defeat. “I found you in it.”

His unspoken accusation of carelessness is like cold steel sliding between my ribs, severing the tenuous thread of hope I’d been clinging to.

“Why?” I demand. “Why can’t you let me in? Why can’t?—”

“Why can’t we be partners?” He finishes my question with a painted smirk that doesn’t brush his eyes. “Because this isn’t some sort of romantic adventure. I’m a killer, same as the men who broke in last night to kill you. I was originally hired tomurderyou. It’s only because you’re more valuable to my plans alive that you’re even arguing with me right now.”

“I know what you are,” I say defiantly, “But I also know who you are.”

Kaden’s face is a mask of stone as he rakes his gaze over me.

“For God’s sake, Kaden,” I breathe out, frustration and hurt surging. “I’d do anything to help you. Can’t you see that?”

“I see it, Layla,” he says quietly, his brows smoothing just a fraction. “I see it more clearly than I want to.”

“Then why?—”

“Because I don’t want you in the same room as him!” he roars suddenly, slamming his hand on the table, making the mugs and dishes rattle. “Because I can’t bear the thought of something happening to you! Because…” He takes a deep breath. His expression is pained, tortured. And as much as I hate to see him hurting, I can’t deny the shiver of relief that courses through me at his outburst. “Because I can’t lose you, too.”

I resist the urge to close my eyes and crumple to theground. The room spins in tandem to the relentless churning of the ocean outside.

“But…” My voice is barely a whisper, struggling to find form in the thick fog of emotion choking me. “But what if I lose you?”

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