Page 59 of The Verdict

I gulped down several healthy mouthfuls of the cool water. “Thank you.”

His jaw ticked furiously. “Do you have pain?”

My eyes slid to the nightstand, the bright orange pill bottle standing like a soldier, ready to fire another round of relief into my system.

“No.” Not enough to sacrifice the first moments of clarity I’d had in… “How long?”

He set the bottle back down. “Four days.”

Four days.Four days since I’d left him in the early hours of the morning. Four days since I’d found the flash drive and learned Jupiter’s real name. Since I’d fought with Mercury. Been stabbed.Been saved.Twice.

“Rhys—”

His head snapped toward me. He was murderously angry, yet he contained it under a veneer of calm. Like a sheet of black ice—deadly but invisible.

“Who are you?”

I had no right to be hurt by his tone or his words. I’d done this to myself, and now I was paying the price for my failure—for my weakness. I’d been the one to go to his cabin that night.I’d risked everything and jeopardized my future for one more night with him. And I’d lost.

I went to push myself up and immediately backed off with a hiss of pain.

“Careful,” he growled, his hand landing on my shoulder to push me back and pin me to the headrest.“Who are you?”

“Merritt,” I repeated.

“Not your name.Who,”he clarified, standing at the foot of the bed and looming over me with his arms folded. “I saw you. I saw the way you fought Morte. You’re not a schoolteacher.”

“Morte?” My brow creased, the dots connecting a little slower because of the meds.

“Sergio Morte.” Exasperation roughened his tone. “The man who stabbed you.”

“Sergio…” I breathed out, lifting my eyes to his. “That’s his name?”

“What planet did you know him as?”

My stomach tightened, the pain curling inside it having nothing to do with the wound that had almost claimed my life. There was no escaping this.Rhys didn’t know the whole truth, and I couldn’t tell him. All I could give him was enough of the story to make the lies hurt worse, but he’d left me no other choice.

“I can explain.”

His eyes glittered. “You better.”

Chapter Thirteen

Rhys

Hell is the truth, seen too late. And God help me, I was too fucking late.

Too late to see who she was. Too late to see what she wanted. Too late to see what she was willing to risk to get it.And almost too damn late to save her life.

She’d lied, and I’d almost lost her.

She’d lied,and I’d almost fucking lost her.

As much as I hated her for the lies, I hated myself more.For falling so easily. For trusting without question. But mostly for the way she’d been on the brink of death for four fucking days, all because of me.

“Lie back,” I ordered, even though my hold didn’t give her much of a choice. “I need to change your bandage.”

Rorik hadoffered to come back tonight and do it, but I’d told him no; I needed to do this.And I didn’t like anyone else touching her.

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