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“Then why did you show up to that crumbling mansion in the swamp? Why did you let a sniveling coward like Retsos determine what you, a fucking queen, was going to do?”
“… I didn’t have a choice…” This time, when Sophia drops her head, I’m close enough to make sure it doesn’t fall far.
Reaching out, I cup her soft chin in my hand and lift her heavy gaze back up to mine.
“We always have a choice,” I say, wanting to kiss her so badly that it almost hurts worse than her rejection.
Neither of us want that.
I might not want to marry her either, but for some fucking reason, I yearn to hear her beg for me.
“You’re right. We do. And I made mine,” Sophia says, her deep brown eyes searching my soul for an answer she can’t seem to find in herself.
“Why did you choose to meet with me? Why did you offer to marry me? Why did you agree to go along with that fucker’s plan when you were the one with the power?”
Sophia’s eyes are practically shaking in the warm patio lights. The strain in her gaze looks so heavy. I just want to steal it away.
But I resist. Nothing can happen until she tells me the truth.
“Because he kidnapped my friend…” she finally says, the heavy confession coming out like a deep sigh.
The warmth of her breath washes against my face, and I close my eyes to savor it.
“You were being threatened…” I say, opening them again.
Fuck. It makes so much sense.
“Retsos outmaneuvered me,” Sophia solemnly admits. “He may be a coward, but he knows how to play the game. While I was building an army, he was gathering his most important pawn.”
“And who is that pawn?”
“My friend…”
My grip tightens around Sophia’s jaw.
“Who is your friend?” I demand to know.
The relief of her confession is slowly being buried by another much more troubling sensation.
Jealousy.
Part of me already knows the gender of her ‘friend’ before she can even say a name.
“Castor Manolas,” Sophia whispers.
The words are like shrapnel through my fucking heart. Still, I foolishly manage to hold onto some pathetic bit of hope.
“A family member?”
Sophia shakes her head. “My protector. The only person who’s ever truly cared about me…”
A savage sneer tears across my face as I step away from Sophia, dropping her face from my supportive grip.
She seems shocked by my sudden change.
“Some protector…” I growl. “Where was he when I took you?”
“He… he was being held hostage by Retsos…” Sophia stutters, her stoic façade crumbling. “That’s why I agreed to meet you in New Orleans.”
