Page 36 of Stealing Cinder

"They traffic young women like you. And worse. You would be surprised by who is part of that organization. Some of the nicest people have their names on that list."

My stomach heaves. Acid climbs the back of my throat and I clamp my teeth shut against it. The baby kicks, a sharp jab against the wall of my belly, as if the little life inside me is reacting to the poison flooding my bloodstream.

"This is news to me. And if you're right, that's sick as fuck on so many levels."

"I'm right, princess."

I search his face for any sign he's exaggerating. Any crack in the calm. There is none. Samuel has sat across tables from monsters his entire life. I don’t need to hear his life story to know that simple fact. It’s part of his world. He knows monsters. And right now, his eyes hold nothing but that steady, unshakable certainty of darker truths buried so deep they'll never shake loose.

"Now you're getting the idea about who Edgar Silvani really is. Now that I've taken you, he will want you back. It’s only a matter of time before he tests my strength and tries to come for you."

My fingers find my lips. I press against them, tracing the lower one without realizing I'm doing it until Samuel gathers my hand away from my mouth. He holds it between both of his, his callused fingers rough against my skin.

A laugh pushes out of me, thin and fractured. Nervous. All this time I've been so focused on proving Edgar murdered my father that I did not stop to think about the criminal empires operating behind the men. My father included. I know Dad was dirty in the sense of building wealth in questionable ways, but I know for a fact he would never have done anything on Edgar's level. He fed families. He built shelters. He hired ex-cons and gave them second chances.

And then the realization hits, quiet as a closing door.

"Maybe that is why they needed him out of the way."

The words leave my mouth and settle between us. Samuel's expression shifts a fraction. The barest tightening around his eyes that confirms what my gut says is highly possible.

My father discovered what Edgar was doing. Or came close. And they killed him for it.

I step away from Samuel. My bare feet slap against the warm concrete and I cross to the wall of windows. Beyond the glass, the sleeping garden stretches into nothing. My reflection stares back at me, small and pale. I press my fingertips against the glass and the cold bites into my skin. That small sensation does nothing to ease the pain in my heart.

“I miss him so much, Samuel. My heart aches to see my father one more time. To help him the way he always helped me. I feel so helpless.”

There’s nothing I can do to ease the flow of tears as they hit hard and fast. My shoulders shake with the power of my grief.

Strong arms wrap around me from behind, pulling my back flush against his chest. Heat bleeds through the thin fabric of his shirt on my shoulders, and his chin settles against the top of my head. I lean into him and he takes my weight without shifting an inch.

When my tears quiet, he asks softly, "Tell me what happened, Cinder." Samuel's voice is calm. "Share your burden with me. Let me help you carry it."

So I tell him.

Everything. My mother. My father. Francesca and Edgar and every ugly thing that happened after the people I loved were put in the ground. The words pour out of me in no particular order, tangled with grief and snot and the kind of anger that only comes from holding it in too long.

"They never caught who killed my mother. Now that I'm older and see things more clearly, I think my stepmother did it. She always wanted the financial stability my mother had. She said as much. But you never think the worst of people."

I tell him how Francesca served herself on a platter of manufactured necessity and my father ate it up because he needed to be needed. How everyone loved him. How he took care of people who had less and never turned anyone away. And how none of it saved him from a bullet and a will rewritten to cut me out of my own family.

"I left you that night because I needed to find a way to prove they killed him. Being with you made my anger fade and I couldn't have that."

Samuel's silence is a held breath. I watch his reflection in the glass. His jaw is tight, his dark eyes fixed on me.

"You took on a burden that put your life in danger." His voice goes rougher like gravel scraping against itself. "Why didn't you tell me? Ask for help. You understood the power behind my name that night. All you would have had to do is tell me and I would have ended anyone you pointed a finger at."

I turn, my eyes burning. "Why didn't I tell my one-night stand about all my problems?" My brow lifts.

His chin drops half an inch. "You know it was more than that. You felt our connection that night and it scared you. Admit it."

"It did." The admission frees a part of my heart. "I was afraid if I stayed, I would have taken my focus off my father."

"Oh, princess." He kisses the tip of my nose, then my forehead. His lips linger and his breath fans warm over my skin, and I close my eyes against the sting building behind my lashes.

Shadows roam over his expression. "You think she changed his will?"

"I know it for a fact." I open my eyes and hold his gaze. "But I don't care about the money or the family empire. I care about the man who loved me more than his own life. And justice."