Page 52 of Honeythorn
Katerina looked serious now, frowning. “No. Not really. Maybe in passing, but…”
“So I guess you don’t know what the effects of a neglected bond are, then?”
Katerina shook her head slowly.
Milan took a deep breath and started from the beginning.
He told Katerina about the antipathy between him and Raphael, about the appearance of the gloves. About the physical and mental effects of the neglected bond—about why he hadn’t told anybody. About why he couldn’t tell Katerina or even see her.
“I could have done something,” she protested vehemently. Milan shook his head.
“You couldn’t, Katerina. Honestly—I knew you would try anything, but that, to put you in that position, would be even worse.”
Katerina glared, obviously not agreeing, but let him continue. She growled when he described Dr. Fitch’s attitude and words. Her eyes grew wide and scared at how close to death he had come.
“And you are still living with that man? Milan! He tried to kill you,” she said, clutching at his hands. He shook his head.
“Not quite.”
Raphael, understanding how important Katerina’s friendship was to Milan, and how Milan needed to explain his own absence from her life, had agreed for him to share the bare minimum with her.
“He did not know that was happening, just like you didn’t.”
“Oh,please, he was watching you waste away before his eyes and did nothing!”
“Well, not nothing—he kept trying to call doctors, tried to get me to eat…at the time, I thought he was mocking me, and I turned all his help away.”
“He must have known that avoiding your heat would only worsen you.”
“I asked him about that—he thought my illness originated in the mind. That I was so disgusted by him that the marriage was what was making me sick.”
“Itwas.”
“Yes, but not in the way he thought. He thought it was hispresencethat was making me ill.”
Katerina scoffed. “Then why the gloves?”
Milan smiled. It was strange to have all his questions voiced and yet be Raphael’s defender. In a way it felt almost cathartic, to lay it all out there.
“I can’t tell you everything—no, Katerina, it’s just not my story to tell. But what I can tell you is that Raphael and Jack were not in love. Or, at least—Jack wasn’t. He was…he was abusive, Katerina.”
Katerina blinked quickly in shock. “Abusive?”
“Yes,” Milan said quietly. “I don’t know all the details, but…I think Jack was abusive in every way that it is possible to abuse your partner.”
Katerina pressed the tips of her fingers to her lips, looking stunned. Eventually, she stirred enough to say, “I don’t want to sound cruel, but…do you have proof?”
“In a way, yes—I’ve looked into it, and JackchoseRaphael. For his title and money. But, believe me, Katerina, if you had seen Raphael when he told me…you would not need proof either.”
Katerina nodded slowly. They sat there for a long time, trying to process everything.
“Milan…I feel very sorry for him. I do. What you are telling me—it’s horrific. They were married foryears.”
“I know,” Milan said quietly.
“But. He harmed you. He may not have known the effects, but hedidneglect you, knowing he had more power in the situation.”
“But did he? That’s the thing I’ve been thinking about, Katerina—I don’t think he knew he had the power. Jack used the bond as only Omegas can to sway Raphael. In his mind, he could not see that an Alpha Lord would have far more power in society than me. All he could see was that, in terms of the bond,Ihad the power, and every time the bond got stronger, the more power he was giving me.”
