Page 6 of Always

And that’s the problem. I want therealanswer. The deep answer. I don’t want the shallow explanation. I need the full truth, the one buried deep inside, the one that makes her hesitate to speak it. I won’t settle for anything less than the deepest, most real answer she’s got.

Chapter Two

“I want to…find myself?” she finally says, adding inflection at the end.

Nice try.

Except she’s not trying.

She’s lying. She’s fucking lying to me.

“Really?” I say, not even attempting to disguise the doubt lacing my tone.

She inhales a deep breath. “To challenge myself,” she says, her tone even.

She’s still lying, and I’m not buying it. “And you think me choking you will challenge you?”

I keep my tone even, though I know my words are mocking. But I don’t regret them. I deserve an answer. A truthful one. And I’m not getting it.

She sighs. “Honestly? I don’t know. All I know is that I saw it in the scene, and I wanted it.”

I sense no hesitancy in her tone. This is the truth. She wants it. She just doesn’t know why.

“And do you still want it now?” I ask.

“Y-Yes. I still want it now.”

“I see.”

I stand and pace across the deep red Turkish rug. I rake my fingers through my already disheveled hair.

Fear grips me, even though I hate to admit it. I already know this can’t go on, but as I watch her—really look at her, see her—I realize just how far I’ve fallen. She’s stunning, yes. That unassuming beauty, the way she moves, her confidence wrapped in those curves, her eyes burning with passion and fire. She’s a vision, effortlessly magnetic.

But it wasn’t her beauty that captured me.

She’s driven. So incredibly determined.

But it wasn’t her ambition that made me fall in love with her.

I fell in love with the woman who challenges me at every turn, the woman who refuses to back down, who questions everything I thought I knew about myself.

I fell in love with the woman who sees through the image, who doesn’t care about my wealth or my status.

I fell in love with the woman who surprises me with her strength and compassion, the one who demands more from me than anyone ever has.

I fell in love with Skye, the woman who tests me, pushes me, and makes me better.

But I also need to keep her safe. And I can’t do that if she doesn’t know why she wants what I can’t give.

“I love you, Braden.”

I turn, feeling so much more than I want to feel. “I love you too. I wish I didn’t, but I do.”

Her lips tremble. “Then can’t we work this out?”

I shake my head slowly. “No. Not when you can’t be honest with me.”

“But I—”

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