Page 142 of Ace of All Hearts

“He’s a Wolf through and through, you know? They’re good at slipping through your fingers. He should’ve been more careful today when he left the club, though.” He looks down at his knuckles and up at me. “I’ve always found it incredibly fascinating how much men talk when they’re in pain,” he smiles wickedly.

“Sam,” I panic. “I want to explain—”

He takes two gigantic strides toward me and grabs my jaw with his mighty tattooed hand. “I’m talking, Rose. You know I hate being cut off.”

“I know, but—”

“Your rebellious nature is going to piss me off awfully quickly tonight. So, I suggest you sit down and listen, or I will put you on your knees andmake youlisten.”

Keeping my mouth shut, I nod.

He takes a step back and a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down.

“Aaron told me everything about your life with the Wolves. About you going back to Viktor. You had all the answers, Rose.” The frustration in his strained voice makes me want to shrink. “Everything was at the tip of your fingers. His entire organization depends on you, and you know it. You could have told me. Together, we could have taken him down. Only you decided to hide and lie and tell him you’d go back to him.” He shakes his head. “Two months. You had twofuckingmonths to tell us the truth, and you didn’t. You had two months to help me take him down. To tell me all his secrets and give me the upper hand in this fucked up game Viktor is playing with your life. Two. Whole. Months.” The next words are pushed on a last breath, “And you didn’t.”

My eyes drop to the floor. I have a list of things I want to tell him. How much I regret wanting to go back to the man who hurt me. But I’m scared to get myself in more trouble with more lies. I can’t describe my feelings toward Viktor. They fluctuate between hate and hope, fear and admiration, so many times a day that it makes me dizzy. So I keep quiet, and I know he appreciates it. I can see it in his eyes. He confirms it with his words.

“Is there anything you want to say for yourself?”

I shake my head.

“I’m proud of you.”

“What?” I choke out my confusion.

“Not about hiding everything, of course. But we’ve all evolved since being together. You, me, Rach, and Lik. We’ve changed and tried to make each other better. And I see that you’re learning, Rose. That sometimes, if you can’t tell the truth, at least you don’t tell a lie. It’s little, but it's effort nonetheless for a compulsive liar like yourself, and I’m proud of you.”

Compulsive liar.

Why is it always so hard when the cold truth hits? Even heard from a warm voice.

Then, his voice comes out softer.

“I’m mad at myself for not seeing what was right in front of me. Even after Jake told me. Stockholm Syndrome is real, and despite being the strong woman you are, you can’t fight it. But I promised Rachel I wouldn’t blame the victim. So, I’m not mad at you, Lovebug. Okay? Because you’ve always made me learn a lot about myself, and I can only hope to do the same with you.”

I nod, feeling like I’m experiencing this from my inner child’s point of view—the same girl who always turned to Sam for help.

“I think you’ve been through a lot in your life. You were put in an environment with Bianco where you had to lie to survive and never learned to live any other way. Compulsive lying often develops in childhood when the child has to lie to avoid conflicting situations. That was your way to survive Bianco, and you did. Yousurvived.”

A ball of emotions makes its way up my throat. I couldn’t talk if I tried now.

“I also think,” he continues. “That you had to survive Volkov another way. That after what Aleksei did to you, you saw Viktor as someone who saved you. And maybe he did. You let him use you. It was easier than pain and fear. You…” He has to take a break and look away. “You developed feelings for him.”

I feel my face harden. I hate the truth. God, I hate it. It’s so painful. Pretense and lies are so much easier.

“You learned the locations of his warehouses all day long. You learned his routes and the meeting points for his containers. Where he hides his drugs and his firearms. You learned who was on his payroll and how much they were given. Their families, and their addresses. Everything. So he didn’t have to write it down. So his organization could become completely untraceable. He used you because you have a gift for remembering everything when you’re on edge, scared, and running on adrenaline. If you did as he said, you were rewarded with attention, sex, and pretend love. You were given importance and care. You got to do whatever you wanted within the compound. You weresafe.”

He nods to himself, his voice now tight. “And I get it, Lovebug. Okay? I understand why you feel the way you do toward this man. Even if it kills me. I’ve come to understand it.”

Out of nowhere, a sob explodes from my throat, and Sam squats between my legs to grab my face as it falls forward. My chest is shaking, heaving with a need to forget about everything I’ve been through.

“None of this is your fault,” he tells me softly, even as I struggle to take a breath between my sobs. They’re the kind that are practically silent, stopping you from breathing and choking you with the need to scream. “Stockholm syndrome is real. You’ve done nothing wrong.” His thumbs wipe my tears as he holds my head in his big hands. His fingers are getting tangled with my hair and his warmth is everything I need right now.

“Rose,” he tells me with a shake in his voice and I know this is about to get worse. “You lied to us when you said you didn’t want Viktor anymore. Because you felt real love with us and you thought you were betraying him. He’s been holding you in a chokehold, making you believe your feelings toward him were real because if they weren’t, your life was at risk.”

I try to shake my head, wanting so desperately for him to be wrong.

I don’t want another powerful man to have played with my mind and make me do the tricks he wanted.

---