Page 102 of Hook

Ma’s voice.

I quickly shrugged off my jacket and placed it over Kira’s body, turning around to block Ma’s view.

“Ma, stay back. The men have Kira’s body and…” I shake my head. “You don’t want to see.”

Tears flood down her face. “I have to see my baby.”

“Ma. Are you sure?”

“Certain.” Her eyes fill with determination and I know nothing will stop her. So I step aside, allowing her to see her daughter.

A shrill scream pierces the night air.

“Cillian?” she presses.

I shake my head, trying to erase the dark images from my mind. “I’d rather not talk about that in detail, but it’s as bad as you can imagine.”

Her throat bobs as she swallows. “And I was going to marry him,” she mutters.

“Don’t let my stories change your mind about your beloved Piero,” I say, shaking my head. “I wanted you to see it for yourself.”

“See what?”

“Who the better man is out of the two of us?”

Gwen’s jaw works. “How do I know that you didn’t start it? I’m only hearing one side of the story.”

My rage bubbles up because I hate that she’s not accepting my story. She doubts me. “His dad died of old age and his siblings and mother are still alive. He remains in his childhood home, whereas mine is a pile or rubble after Piero tore it down.” I narrow my eyes. “He’s still in Los Angeles and I was run out of the city and forced to start again. What else could there be to the story?”

“Sorry,” she murmurs, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

The fact that she doesn’t trust me does offend me, even if I don’t have the right to expect her trust after what I’ve done.

I cup her cheeks in my hands. “I promise you, what I’m telling you is the truth.”

She searches my eyes for a couple of infinitely long seconds before nodding. “I believe you.”

Those three words I needed to hear. “Thank you.”

“But it doesn’t change anything. I wasn’t trying to escape to be with Piero. I was trying to escape because I’ll never be free here.” She narrows her eyes. “Don’t you understand that?”

I do understand, but I don’t want to dwell on it because it means she can never be mine in the way I want. “Gwendolyne, please,” I say, hating how desperate I sound.

She tilts her head. “Please, what?”

“Try to find it in your heart to look past what I’ve done.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t.”

I move toward her and grab her hand. “I love you,” I gasp, finding it hard to breathe in that moment. The moment I bare my heart and soul to her. Something I’ve never done for anyone.

“Love me?” she says, an odd look in her eyes. “This isn’t love, Cillian. It’s toxic and broken.”

Rage overwhelms me as she’s rejecting my love, something I’ve not given to anyone before—not in the romantic sense. I love Ma, of course, and I loved Kira.

“Toxic?” I question, rushing toward her and grabbing her throat, squeezing. “That’s what you think of my love for you?”

She arches a brow. “You have me in a chokehold and you’re questioning whether I think this is toxic. That’s rather ironic, don’t you think?”

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