Page 192 of Never Fall for an Angel

“I know,” I whisper so quietly I can barely hear myself. “I’m sorry you had to see . . . that.”

My skin crawls just thinking of that hell hole.

“Stop.”

Tears sting in the backs of my eyes, but I let him continue, even if I don’t want to hear it.

“You are my wife,” he murmurs. He leans up, hovering over me, his thumb slipping through the tears on my cheek. “I will do what I have to do to protect you.”

I draw my bottom lip between my teeth, chewing on it, and he tugs it free.

“I . . . have something to tell you.’

He goes silent, leaning back in the bed to watch me, patiently waiting. Unable to lay down with the nerves swarming through me like a flock of birds, I sit up, pressing my back against the headboard. He follows suit, sitting up on the edge of the bed. Hishand falls in my lap, and I trace the lines in his fingers so I don’t have to meet his gaze.

“The night . . . I was attacked,” I breathe, and a traitorous tear slips down my cheek. “They sent me a picture of you. You were bound to a chair and bloody, and they told me if I didn’t come, they would kill you,” I rush, knowing I have to get this out. All the while, I feel his gaze trained on my hands twisting together in my lap. “Of course, now I realize it wasn’t you and just your twin . . .” Fuck, why is this so hard?

His gaze hardens, his back straight as a steel rod.

I force a breath through my teeth, a shiver moving through me.

“He told me he would come back, and they would go after my mother next. I wasn’t thinking and thought if I was gone, maybe everyone would be okay. He had been stalking me for months. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.”

He’s silent, processing the information while my chest feels like it’s slowly turning to stone, suffocating me from the inside out.

Abruptly, he stands from the bed, pacing over to the dresser. He leans forward, gripping the edge and staring at himself in the mirror, the tension radiating through him palpable.

“You were being stalked?”

I nod, unable to answer through the lump in my throat.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell me?” His voice is rough and deep. I’ve pissed him off.

“Because I was scared,” I whisper. “I still am. He could go after my family. What if he comes for you or your family—”

“Youare my family, too,” he grits, scrubbing a hand down his face, his hands visibly shaking.

The damn breaks, and tears slip freely down my cheeks. A quiet sob wracks through me, and I angrily wipe the tears away.

“If something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

Letting out a deep breath, he crosses the room, kneeling down beside the bed.

“I should have been there to protect you.”

“You said you were. Why weren’t you there?”

He grits his teeth.

“I was an idiot. After the falling out with your mother, I came back here to tie up whatever loose ends I could so I could come to you with the truth about our marriage. Be better. We’d just found out Dad was dying, and Paulina was in the hospital for surgery. I needed to be here for Bella. I thought everything was clear, and I planned to tie up all my loose ends and come to you with the truth, regardless of what your mother said. Of course, it was never going to be that easy.”

Reaching up, he runs his thumb across my lip, tugging it from my teeth, his eye softening in the moonlight. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I hate myself for it every day.”

“It’s not your job to save me,” I whisper, shaking my head and blinking against the tears in my eyes.

He reaches for the nightstand, sliding the drawer open. He pulls out what I think is his ring; only when it catches in the light it’s different.

“This says otherwise.”

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