Page 53 of Brutal Knight

But with Willow, I’m not sure our bonds are strong enough to make this work.

“You and I both know that’s different,” Aiden says.

Finn glances between us, biting at his lip. “Maybe not. I mean, Connor was able to get her clean, right?”

“She’s a fucking addict. She’s an addict, and someone could use her the same fucking way Dmitri did. Drug her up and turn her against us, or even get her to spill information.”

“She doesn’t need to know information,” I argue. “I wouldn’t let her. And so long as I keep an eye on her, there’s no reason for her to be taken.”

Lachlan looks at me, something calculating in his gaze. I don’t know what he’s thinking.

Maybe he’s thinking that I’ve become a liability too. I won’t give in, though. I know Willow just needs time—and help—and I’m not about to leave her alone just because of this. I don’t want to prove her right, prove that every man she knows is worthless and weak.

I won’t harm her the way her father and Dmitri harmed her. I can protect her from whatever is coming, and I’m not going to let this stop me.

Finally, Lachlan shakes his head. “We aren’t going to be able to do anything now. You’re already married, and we don’t want her to disappear now. The Assembly is already tense.”

“I’ll handle her,” I say quickly. “I’ll be responsible for her, just like I said. I won’t let her be a liability.”

Aiden pulls his phone out and glances at the screen, then looks back at us. “Rose and Violet are on their way.”

I hope they can reach Willow. Because if they can’t, all that’s left is me—and I don’t know if Willow will ever really trust me.

CHAPTER21

Willow

It sounds like I’m underwater.

Voices float around me. I catch brief moments of people talking, sounds overlapping and warping. I can’t tell what’s going on. I wonder if maybe I’m dead at Connor’s house, people investigating my body. Maybe this is what it’s like to die.

But I start to wake in pieces, and then I’m suddenly just there, staring up at a ceiling that’s too bright.

I know I’m in a hospital room. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in one. Dmitri never allowed me to get near a place like this, since he didn’t want anyone seeing what he did to me. Not even his private doctor looked at me.

When I blink and look around, I find Connor near the back of the room, leaning against the wall by the door. My heart thuds in my chest a little faster, and I try to slow it, but it doesn’t look like I’m connected to a heart monitor. Maybe it isn’t that bad.

Rose and Violet are by my bedside. I can’t help being a little surprised at their presence. I wonder who called them. I can’t believe they’re allowed to be here, to see me.

“You overdosed,” Rose says quietly.

I can’t really look her in the eye. I try to nod a little, but my head feels like a lead weight. Violet glances at Rose, and I wonder what she’s thinking, what they spoke about before I woke up.

They look like the sun and the moon to me, Rose blonde and shorter, Violet brunette and lithe. They’re two perfect examples of happiness, of what could have been. Maybe in another world I’m like them, like two women in the mafia who aren’t miserable.

Rose has Aiden, and they love each other. Violet is free and powerful, a ballerina with more grace than I’ve ever known. No one thinks she’s less beautiful because of her athleticism, and no one thinks she’s weak.

Not like me.

“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Violet finally says. “I know you must feel awful right now.”

“Is there anything I can get you?” Rose asks. “Water?”

“I’m…fine.” I blink, trying not to cry. I’m not sure I even have the water in my body to cry.

Connor doesn’t move from his place by the door. He’s cold, his expression shuttered. There’s a stony look on his face. It makes a lump rise in my throat, restricting my air. He doesn’t look angry, but he doesn’t look happy. He’s just rigid. Unyielding.

Is this the moment he snaps? I try to figure it out, try to look closely, but I can’t tell.

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