“Bit late for that, isn’t it?” I hiss at him. “I’ve been your uncle’s prisoner for years, Heath. Where were you?”
His lips flatten into a line.
“Believe it or not, Rain, my life doesn’t revolve around you. I was going through my shit.”
“Your own shit?” I spit out. “Well, I’m glad to know your own shit was more important to you than the safety and well-being of your fiancée.”
“You don’t know what happened,” he replies. “And you don’t get to judge me. Now eat.”
Reluctantly, I open my mouth and accept the second spoon of oatmeal he feeds me. I want to bite him, but I hold back. Deep down, I’ve already realized the man I thought Heath was is long gone. He’s no longer the kind, caring young man I met when I was living with Nana. Something sinister lurks beneath his exterior now. He used to feel like sunshine, but now he’s just a quiet, brewing storm. A storm I’m afraid of.
“I didn’t know you were alive.”
My eyes snap back to Heath’s and I cock my head to the side.
“I thought he killed you,” he continues, his eyes zeroing in on my lips as I eat another spoonful of oatmeal. “I was certain he wouldn’t let you live after he thought he killed me. I convinced myself he had no use for you, that he’d just discarded you like he did me.”
“I wish,” I let out in a soft breath. “He came for me a little after my eighteenth birthday. He took everything from me, burned down my only home. And he killed... he killed Nana.”
Tears gather in the corners of my eyes, but I do my best to fight them back.
“I’m sorry, Rain.”
I raise my eyes to meet his and am surprised to find genuine regret in his gaze. I wonder whether he’s telling the truth. Something about his expression tells me he is, and he never knew about Xavier’s intentions for me.
“Where were you?” I finally ask, my voice breaking over the simple question. “I needed you.”
“Xavier got rid of me,” he says. “He had me beaten and left for dead on the docks. Some men picked me up and...”
He shrugs. “You don’t need to hear the rest. It’s gory.”
“Why didn’t you take your revenge on your uncle, though?” I motion to our surroundings. “Seems like you have the means now to serve justice.”
“I can’t,” he gets out in a pained mutter. “I’ve been biding my time. Xavier is the leader of the Scorpion cartel now. I can’t take him down that easily.”
“Okay,” I say. “But why accept a job offer from him, then? And why did he send me to you? Am I just a part of some sick game again?”
“No.” He shakes his head vehemently. “Xavier doesn’t know I’m the one running this. Nobody does, we’ve kept it secret for a reason. He doesn’t even know I’m alive. And I’d like to keep it that way. I need anonymity so I can strike when he least expects it. But you... you changed everything.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “How?”
“Because Xavier still has something I want.” Heath feeds me more before setting the spoon down, his gaze darkened with desire as it meets mine.
“What do you want, Heath?”
“Don’t play dumb,” he grunts. “I want you, Rain. I want to get you back.”
“I’m not an object you and your uncle can pass back and forth,” I growl at him, ignoring that his words just gave me butterflies, a feeling I’d almost forgotten existed. “I refuse to be a pawn in your sick games. But you owe me, Heath. You owe me my freedom.”
“Come on, Sunshine,” he mutters, his old nickname for me making me feel weak. “You never believed that, did you? There’s no way for you to be free. Not with who you are, who your parents were.”
“I deserve to be free. I deserve to be rid of the men trying to control me.”
“I never said you didn’t.” His eyes bore into mine. “But I don’t think it’s in the cards for you to be free, Rain. You’re too valuable of an asset.”
“I’m not an asset.” I challenge him with my gaze, glaring at him. “I’m a person, Heath. And neither you nor your uncle can control me.”
“That’s what you think, but it couldn’t be farther away from the truth.”
I try not to let my gaze follow him like I’m some lost damn puppy.
It’s incredible to be around Heath again after all this time. If I thought distance and time would make us grow apart, I’ve been proven to be wrong since we reunited. Which is unfortunate, given that I hate him.
“Maybe I could devise a way for you to stay with me,” Heath muses as he feeds me another spoonful. “Maybe I could somehow convince him to allow you to stay here longer.”