Page 58 of Man of Lies

He resisted for a second. Maybe two. Long enough for his pride to make a fight. Then his hands fisted in the sheet, and with a sharp, shaky breath, he gave in. His elbows stayed braced, keeping his weight off me, but his body curled into mine, forehead pressed against my neck.

“God,” he whispered. Just that, a single, gutted syllable pulled from somewhere deep and broken.

“Mason,” I whispered, turning my face into his hair and breathing him in.

He shuddered at the sound of his name.

“Mason, look at me.”

He ignored me, breathing hot against my skin. “I just found you, goddammit. It felt like you were slipping through my fingers, and there was nothing… n-nothing I could?—”

His jaw tensed where it pressed against my collarbone, but he couldn’t swallow the aborted gasps. He was close to losing it, and no matter how much I wanted to let him, I couldn’t allow it. Not in front of Dominic. We were too exposed.

I stroked his nape, brushing my thumb over the ridge of bone, and turned my lips to his ear so Dominic couldn’t overhear. This was ours. “I know, baby. I know. It’s the loss of control that eats at you. But I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. You’ll have time to fall apart, and when you do, I’ll be the one to catch the pieces. But right now, all you need to do is breathe.”

A door clicked somewhere in the apartment, then the soft chime of the elevator as Dominic left. Probably trying to avoid a messy scene, but it didn’t matter. My world was all Mason.

“You scared the shit out of me,” he gasped, voice ragged with fear and frustration. “You can’t—Silas, you can’t fucking do that to me.”

I kept my palm at the nape of his neck, fingers sliding through his hair, grounding him in the only way I knew. “I know,” I admitted, barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

But his breath hitched again, and I could feel his struggle. He wanted to give in and let himself feel, but he couldn’t. He was too afraid of what would happen if he did.

I wasn’t like that, never had been, and now, with everything between us laid bare, I realized he needed me to unlock it for him. He wanted it—needed it—but he couldn’t force himself to ask for it.

He needed me to give him the key.

I pulled back slightly, just enough to catch his eyes, and held him there. “What do you need, Mason?” I asked, steeling myself to push him. “Tell me.”

He flinched, eyes flickering to mine, and then quickly darting away. “You,” he said, voice cracking. “I tried to fight it, but I can’t anymore. You make me feel alive in a way I haven’t felt in years. Maybe ever.”

I grabbed his chin and held him still, forcing him to meet my eyes. We both needed this. We needed to let go.

“Say it,” I demanded, not giving him a choice.

His lips thinned, and his expression turned mutinous. He hated this, but I wasn’t going to back down. He didn’t get an out, not when I needed to hear it as badly as he needed to say it.

“I need to hear it,” I growled, leaning in to ghost my breath across his lips. “Say it.”

Mason swallowed hard and finally met my eyes. He was close—so close to breaking.

“Please,” I added softly.

His voice was barely above a whisper, thick with emotion. “I love you, Silas McKenna.”

The name hit me with a brutal clarity. The pleasure of hearing it was eclipsed by a knot of guilt I couldn't ease. Mason’s love was a gift, but it was built on a lie, and now I had no idea how to untangle myself from it.

The mess I’d made of us wasn’t something I knew how to fix.

“I love you too,” I said fiercely. “So goddamn much, Mason. You’ve got no idea what you’ve done to me.”

Whatever happened next, this was real. This was us.

And I’d fight to the death for it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

SILAS

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