Page 70 of Her Tempting Traitor
“And you?” Gabby whispered, her stomach clenched in fear.
“Rudinsky and Avers went after the—afterhim. I saw Rudinsky take a bullet in the chest. Avers got to the man, got him covered, but…” His breathing was shuddering. “The dynamite went off, and Simonsen was just—justgone.Along with my leg…and the money, I guess. I think I passed out.”
Unable to remain unmoved by his pain, Gabby pushed herself up to her elbow. Cassian’s eyes were closed, his muscles tight. “It was not your fault, Cassian.”
“When I woke up in the hospital, I didnae ken where I was. The doctor told me there’d been an accident, and the others were dead.”
“It was not your fault, Cassian,” she repeated, more firmly.
He took another shuddering breath. “Logically, I ken that.”
She pressed her hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating frantically beneath her palm. “But you do not believe it, nothere.”
Cassian didn’t respond to her statement, but continued his story. “The day after I woke, the—the meddlingarseholewho caused so much pain was there at my bedside. He said I was the one to yell him out the door, but I dinnae remember any of it. He said Avers died in the blast, protecting him, and then the brothel went up in flames, and none of the Fenians made it out.”
Gabby’s gaze skimmed his face. She was beginning to have an idea of who this man could be, the one who’d inadvertently caused so much harm. Or at least, his position in relation to the country… “And what did he say next, this mystery man?”
Cassian was quiet long enough that she thought he wouldn’t answer her.
Then his eyes opened, and they burned in the darkness. “He told me I was ajolly good chapfor saving his life, but I wasnae allowed to mention to anyone that he’d been there. It…if it became public knowledge he was there, it could have severe negative repercussions for…” He took a deep breath. “The royal family.”
Oh no.
“He is a member of the royal family?”
Cassian didn’t answer her. “He told me it would be difficult, but I could not include his involvement in my official report.”
“His involvement—his very presence which led to the failure of your mission and the deaths of your men.”
“Aye,” Cassian rasped, his eyes closing on the pain once more.
She reached out to cup his cheek. “It was not your fault.” She would repeat the words, tattoo them on her forehead, until he believed her. “You have not forgiven this man, have you?”
He gave the tiniest of head shakes.
“And you have not forgiven yourself either,” she sighed. Well, she had the rest of their lives to see how to make him forgive himself.
Because she was realizing, here and now, that not only did she want a future with Cassian Grey, shecould make it happen.
Or rather, Bull could.
“Before we get to the forgiveness, Cassian, there is something else that must be done.” He pressed his cheek against her palm, and Gabby smiled sadly. “They were not just your men, were they?” she murmured. “They were yourfriends. Rudinsky, Avers, Simonsen. Their deaths are not your fault, but have you mourned them?”
His brows furrowed, but he didn’t open his eyes. She leaned forward to kiss that little spot at the top of his nose.Oh this man.
“You spent a long time in the hospital, and I know you were not able to give your superiors at the Secret Service sufficient answers—that is why I am here. You came to Inverlochy Castle with this weight hanging over you, allwhile trying to build a future for your son, a future to protect him…just in case yours was taken from you.”
She thought the little twitch of his jaw might have been an agreement. But his whole body was so stiff, so tight, she doubted he even realized it.
“But Cassian,” she whispered. “Have youmourned? Mourned your friends’ deaths?”
He didn’t respond, not for a million heartbeats.
Then…a deep breath that turned into a sob.
Then another.
His eyes didn’t open, but Gabby’s thumb caught the tears which leaked from the corner of his eyes before they could drip into his hair.
