“Belle, calm down and listen to me,” he murmured. “That kidnapping was staged. I only did it so you would not get jealous and make trouble for Roxanne. You know how you are... And Westley is my friend. His people know the rules. No one would actually hurt you. I protected you the whole time.”
He sounded proud.
Like he had done me a favor.
If he had just looked, really looked, he would have seen the scars on my arms. The bruises that never fully faded. The way my body flinched when he touched me.
I swallowed everything down and turned my back to him, putting space between us.
“So what you are saying is that I should stay kidnapped. Let everyone think I ran off with another man. Let people call me the other woman. And let my own sister replace me as Ryle’s mother. Wow."
David stiffened.
His patience cracked, even though he tried to hide it. I kept my voice steady, but my mind betrayed me.
Because the dark remembered before I did.