Magnus finally recovered from the surprise. “Thank you…”
“Keep your gratitude. Didn’t do it for you.”
He gave a slight nod in understanding. “You two made up.”
“I asked her to marry me.” I stared into the glass for a moment before I shifted my look to my brother, the only family I had in the world—until Melanie was my wife. Until she gave me children. Until she gave me a life that had been taken from me.
My brother didn’t have an overt reaction, like he didn’t know what to say.
“She said yes. But only if I released Raven.”
Still nothing.
His reaction angered me, because he’d personally asked me to do this for him in the past. “I thought you would be more cheerful.”
He shook his head slightly. “You wouldn’t have to let Raven go if we ran this camp differently—”
“Melanie already tried. If I won’t do it for her, why would I do it for you?” Now I understood his disappointment. He’d hoped that Melanie could leverage me to do more. But not even she could make me do the impossible—despite what she believed.
His eyes dropped for a moment.
“She said she would only marry me if I freed all the girls. I said no. Then she asked for her sister instead.”
He gave a slight nod.
“What?”
“I’m just surprised that she made the request in the first place.”
Annoyed, I looked away. “Don’t be. You don’t know her. And frankly, her sister doesn’t either.” Raven and Magnus had a low opinion of my woman, but in reality, she was the one who didn’t give up. She was the one who kept trying to change me. Over and over.
Magnus remained quiet.
I knew he was hiding something from me. “What?”
He held my gaze without blinking, giving it to me straight like a man. “Melanie only came back to you to save Raven.”
If Melanie hadn’t confessed that to me already, his words would have caused a deep wound. But she came clean because she respected me, because she loved me, because she wanted to marry me and start that marriage off with complete honesty. But my brother’s deception stung. “You kept this from me.” His loyalties had never been so muddled until now—until Raven.
He continued to hold my gaze. “I didn’t think you’d care. Didn’t realize your feelings were so profound until now. Assumed this was just a physical relationship, infatuation, lust—”
“Have you ever seen me this way with a woman?”
He didn’t answer.
“My feelings were profound the day I looked at her for the first time. Don’t pretend you didn’t know that.”
Guilt moved into his eyes.
“But luckily for you, it doesn’t matter. Whether she really wants to be with me or not, she’s all I want.”
Magnus gave a nod. “Then I’m happy for you.”
I crossed the grounds and marched toward my brother’s cabin.
It was sunset, the sky barely lit with a sea of orange and yellow. The heat immediately dimmed once evening had arrived. The torches were lit along the cabins, casting light to replace the fading sun.
I stopped at the door, stared at it for a while as if expecting it to open on its own. When that didn’t happen, I pounded my closed knuckles against the wood before I stepped back.
Magnus opened the door a moment later. Barefoot and in his sweatpants, he looked at me quizzically because I never came to him. He always came to me. His hair was ruffled like he’d recently gotten out of the shower. He stepped out and shut the door behind him, silently asking what I wanted.
I nodded to the door. “I want to speak to her.”
It took him a moment to understand the request. Once he did, his eyebrows furrowed. “Why—”
“That’s my business. Not yours.”
He immediately turned defensive, as if I were his enemy rather than his flesh and blood. He absent-mindedly positioned his body directly in front of the door, like that would be enough to stop me if I wanted her.
“It’ll only take a moment.”
“I can convey whatever message you wish to give—”
“Not the way I can.”
His jaw clenched noticeably, his muscular arms tightening at the provocation.
“Bring her out here. Or I’ll let myself inside.”
He started to fume.
“If I were here to kill her, she would be dead already. Stop this guard-dog bullshit and step aside.”
He clenched his jaw before he returned to the cabin and shut the door.
I waited.
And waited.
And fucking waited.
The door opened again. Magnus stepped out first.
She came next.
She was in a tank top and his sweatpants, her face plain and hideous. She had muscular arms from working in the camp for so long. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. She was so ordinary that I would probably forget what she looked like the second this conversation was over.
She didn’t tremble in fear. She stood tall and proud—and faced me head on.