Page 123 of Bonded Chaos

Her wild eyes locked on me as her face drained of color.

“You knew,” she whispered.

“Knew what?”

“When you came in here earlier, you knew why I was sick. You knew I was pregnant.”

Fuck.

I hadn’t planned on revealing the circumstances behind her current state. When I didn’t respond, she closed the distance between us, her chest heaving as she brandished her hand in the air like it was a weapon.

“What did you do, Ryker?” she demanded.

I scrubbed a hand over my face, knowing this conversation was about to turn ugly.

“I swapped out your fertility tonic,” I admitted.

Cadence reeled back as if I had slapped her. Her mouth hung open as she gasped in shock.

“I told you I had a plan to secure our future. I promised you I would look after you. This is me keeping that promise, Cadence.”

“You… you think that justifies any of this?” she asked incredulously.

Cadence threw her arms out wide as she gaped at me. “You had no right to take away my choice, Ryker!”

“I did it for us. For our child,” I said through gritted teeth.

A bitter laugh erupted from Cadence, and tears streaked down her face.

“You only learned I was carrying your child mere hours ago. A childyouforced me to conceive without my knowledge or consent.”

Her eyes narrowed on me, pinning me in place.

“So, don’t you dare say you did this forme,” she said, her voice cracking. “You did thisto mebecause it benefitedyou!”

My patience was wearing thin. I prowled toward her, forcing her to retreat until her back hit the wall. Leaning into her space, I placed my forearms on either side of her head, caging her in.

A dark, mirthless chuckle rumbled up my chest. “I did this because you refused to accept our bond. You refused to stop fighting the inevitable and surrender to your fate. At every opportunity, you reminded me you were going to leave me. That one way or another, you would escape me.”

My fingers traced the intricate links of her collar, and she shivered beneath my touch.

“So yes, I stacked the deck in my favor because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you so soon after finding you.”

The confession slipped free without my permission, and Cadence inhaled a sharp breath. Her chocolate-brown eyes searched mine, but whatever she was looking for, she didn’t find it. Her shoulders slumped as more tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Your words are meaningless, Ryker. Everything that flows from your mouth is nothing but a sweet lie.”

My hand reached toward her face, the pad of my thumb brushing the soft flesh beneath her eye. Her tears soaked my finger, and I lifted it to my lips, tasting her pain.

“Was any of it real?”

“Was any of what real?”

Her tongue darted out, and she wet her bottom lip. “At the cave, when we visited the pool, were any of the things you told me… real?”

“Every. Fucking. Word.”

Cadence closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall. More tears slid down her face, and I leaned in, running my tongue up her cheek as I caught them.

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