Page 61 of The Rancher's Vengeful Heart

"I love you, Tassina."

And the possibility had Lucius crashing down on his knees.

Tassy's world started to spin out of control. Lucius...was on his knees. How could a man so proud be on his knees? And the bleakness in his eyes, oh God...

"Please just tell me what to do, I'm begging you."

Tears rushed down her cheeks. "L-Lucius, please—-"

"Nothing happened between Fontana and me," Lucius went on doggedly. "I have footage of the time we spent in the restaurant on my phone. I just...I just wanted to hurt you—-"

"You d-don't have to explain—"

Lucius looked up, and she could no longer speak, the devastation in his copper eyes tearing her apart. "What else can I do but explain?"

"There's n-nothing for you to explain—"

"Then can I bribe you?"

She almost laughed despite everything...until she realized he was dead serious.

"I'll give you everything I own—"

"I d-don't want your money—"

"Then what else can I give?" Lucius asked hollowly.

Tassy could no longer bear hearing another word, and especially not in a tone that seemed almost devoid of life. But when she tried covering her ears, Lucius immediately captured her hands in an inescapable grip as he demanded, "Do you want my heart on a platter?"

"No!"

He stared at her like a man on death row, and she was his only hope.

No, God. No.

"Ask anything of me, Tassina. Any—"

"I don't want anything," she cried out, "so p-please stop!" Why wouldn't he stop? Why, oh God? Why? "Please just let me go—"

"Have you stopped loving me?" The bleakness in his gaze had bled into his voice, and the sound threatened to break her heart into pieces.

All she could do was stare at him as she cried, unable to believe that the powerful man she had married was still looking and talking to her like she was his reason for living.

Lucius swallowed hard as he forced himself to say the words. "Have you...have you realized you still love Tatum?"

Oh God.

Tassy couldn't believe someone as proud as Lucius could even ask this. His usual arrogance had been stripped away completely, leaving him raw and exposed before her.

"Is that it?"

His wife's silence was like someone twisting a knife inside of his heart. Every second that passed was visible in the tightening of his features, the whitening of his knuckles.

Lucius squeezed his eyes shut, long dark lashes fanning against his cheeks. "I can't share you, Tassina. But I'm willing to wait. Also...Marius bought this company, and then I bought it from him. Technically, I'm your boss now, and you should know that I'll have Xylan transferred as far away from you as possible."

Tassy started crying in earnest. All this time, he had been right in front of her, but her pain had made him invisible. But now, oh God...

"But you...you don't have to worry." It killed him to even think of his wife worrying over any other man, much more an asshole like her ex, but Lucius knew he only had himself to blame for all of this. "I'll give him a raise. Promote him even though he doesn't deserve it."

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