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"Stonehaven."
I bite my lip, anxious and nervous. Not ready to face the world yet. "C-can we go to the cabin instead?"
"You want to go back there? Are you sure?"
"I want to be alone with you." I stare up at him, pleading silently. "I need to be alone with you." One bad memory can't undo the hundreds of good memories we've built inside that cabin. When we step through the doors, those are the things I'll remember. Not the man who tried to shoot me. Not running for my life. But Troy. His hands on my body—his commands ringing in my ears. Him.
"Yeah, angel," he breathes, need glittering in the depths of his eyes. "We can go to the cabin."
I nearly sob in relief.
"Troy?" I ask once he climbs into the SUV beside me.
"Yeah, angel?"
"Who was he?"
He's silent for a long moment. "My best friend, Samson. We grew up together." He sighs. "He was like a brother to me."
My heart clenches for him.
"Why did he do it?"
"Before I realized who you were, I told him I was going to abdicate my position to marry you."
I gasp quietly.
"He thought you were a danger to the kingdom, but it doesn't excuse what he did, Thalia." He brushes his lips across my knuckles again. "He paid for it."
My heart sinks into my stomach. "Did you—?"
"No. I wanted to, but I promised you I wouldn't become that man. I intend to keep that promise, angel. I broke his nose and fucked up his pretty face. He's in the tower. My father can decide what to do with him."
I exhale a tiny breath, relieved. Maybe his friend deserves death, but no one should have to be the one to hand down that sentence to someone they considered a brother.
"I may toss your fucking father in with him," he growls.
"My father?"
"What he did to you is unforgivable, Thalia. He would have sentenced you to a lifetime of living with that fucking curse just to forge his alliance. And when you didn't obey, he threatened to lock you in the tower." A predatory growl vibrates in his throat. "He'll be lucky if I don't do the same goddamn thing to him."
I stare at him in awe, tears welling in my eyes. He gets it. Without me having to explain or argue my case, he understands exactly how I feel and why what my father did was so awful.
"I don't want to forgive him," I admit on a whisper.
"Then don't, princess. You don't owe him that. You don't owe him a damn thing. As soon as we get to Stonehaven, I'm throwing him out on his ass. He won't be welcome back in our kingdom. And you won't have to step foot in Rosewood until he dies if that's what you choose." He strokes my cheek. "I promised that you were safe now. I meant it, angel. You're safe now. No one will threaten you. No one will hurt you. Not unless they want to answer to me."
"I love you," I blurt, tears welling in my eyes.
He smiles, his obsidian eyes soft and full of warmth. "Not nearly as much as I love you."
The drive takes nearly an hour. He holds my hand the whole way, bringing it to his lips again and again to kiss my ring. He touches my face. Tells me over and over that he loves me.
By the time we take the turn-off for the narrow dirt road that ends half a mile from the cabin, I'm burning with need.
Troy pulls me from the SUV, clutching me to him—and I know we aren't going to make it. We crash together like meteors colliding, dragging one another to the grass at our feet.
"Fuck, angel," he growls, twisting so I land on top of him. "Fuck."
