Page 173 of Unholy Obsession

Tick, tick, tick.

The clock is running down.

And the wolves arecornered.

Beneath the table, Moira squeezes my hand. It sends a wave of electricity that tangles with the adrenaline of the moment and at finally facing off with my toxic family.

SIXTY-ONE

MOIRA

The moment Banetakes my hand to take me upstairs, my heart cracks wide open.

Not from fear. Not from panic.

Fromhim.

From the sheer overwhelming weight of what just happened downstairs. The absolutepowerhe wielded in that room—like a king granting mercy to his enemies, deciding whether to devour or dismiss.

And I watched it all.

Watched him shut them down with a single look and make them break with nothing but his silence. I watched him let them destroy themselves while he sat back, untouchable, unbothered, and completely in control.

God, that was sexy.

And now the warmth of his fingers curls around mine, so steady and grounding, the total opposite of the chaos inside my head.

Upstairs, the halls stretch long and dim, shadows spilling from sconces mounted on the walls. The air smells like old books, stale air, but alsohim—whiskey and heat and danger. He makes colors start to seep back into the edges of my world, and I’m afraid, but not in a sad blue kind of way.

I’m afraid with excitement. With orange and yellows, fire flickering at the edge of my vision again. Which makes me even more afraid.

I should let go. I should say something sharp to break the spell and remind both of us that I don’tneedhim to take my hand.

But I can’t. I just…can’t.

Because this is it. This is the moment. Ifeelit.

My chest aches with the force of what I want to say. It presses against my ribs.

I stop walking.

Bane does, too, turning to face me in the luminous glow of the sconces.

His gaze rakes over me, dark and unreadable, but there’s something different in his expression now. Something softer. Somethingdevastating.

Something likerealization.

“I know my father did something to make you leave.”

The words slam into me. I jerk back slightly, my pulse roaring in my ears. “You… you do?”

He nods, gripping both of my hands now, his voice low and certain. “I always knew it wasn’t you.”

My throat closes. I can’t breathe.

I’ve spent weeks believing he hated me. That he thought Ichoseto leave him. That he looked at me and saw a woman who walked away without looking back.

My fingers tremble as they tighten against his. “I—I wanted to tell you. But he—he threatened my brother, Bane. Hekidnappedme and Mads.”

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