How could losing her memory make her into such a different person?
He’d tried to resist her. He had every reason in the world to punish and hurt her. But he could not.
Something inside Talos wouldn’t let him do it. Even as his exacting soul cried out for justice, he could not hurt her.
There was only one card left to play. One last chance for justice.
He could tell her the truth.
He could take her to the place where she’d betrayed him.
It was his last chance.
Because this new Eve, the woman now sleeping in his arms, was too beautiful, too real, too vulnerable. Too warm and natural and loving.
He’d counted on her having no defenses. He’d never thought that her innocence would cause him to lose his own defenses.
But sooner or later, Eve would revert to her true self, the cold, cruel, clever siren who’d sold him out for love or money. The woman who would undoubtedly hate their baby because of what the pregnancy did to her perfect figure. The woman who would ignore and neglect her child for her own selfish pursuits.
Who would never want to settle down with any man for long.
His fingers tightened on her as he took a deep breath. He had to end this. Today. He had to erase this new woman completely. Before he…before he…
He suddenly heard a strange sound. Frowning, he looked down at the woman in his arms.
For a moment, he heard only the quiet snuffle of her breathing and the sound of morning birds singing outside in the pale blue of dawn.
Then he heard Eve suck in her breath again. And she started to scream.
Cradled in Talos’s strong arms, beneath the soft dawn spilling from the windows, Eve hadn’t wanted to wake up. She’d pressed her head against his naked chest, relishing the feel of his warm skin laced with dark hair.
His body was so much larger than her own. Snuggled against him in the enormous bed, she’d felt protected. Safe. Loved. There was so much about him she still didn’t understand. But still, she was falling in love with him all over again.
Drowsy and content, she’d listened to the beat of his heart against her cheek. The beat grew louder, like the sound of heavy footsteps stomping in unison against a hard stone floor. Step. Step. Step.
She felt suddenly cold as she looked at the blurry faces around her. Her mother’s sobbing face came into sharp focus. She clung to Eve, wailing as they watched her father’s coffin pass out of the church on the shoulders of old men. Eve clutched her mother’s hands in her own, suddenly terrified that her father’s death would cause her to lose both her parents. In the last week, she’d lost her father, their home, their fortune, their reputation. And it was all that man’s fault. He’d destroyed her father with all his lies. He’d heartlessly destroyed them all…
Now outside, standing on the frozen grass of the cemetery beside the dark-clothed mourners, she saw the cold March wind blow her mother’s black veil back like a dark spirit. She saw her mother stretch her arms toward the coffin as her beloved husband was lowered into the earth, as if she intended to bury herself in the same cold grave…
“No!” Eve screamed. “Please!”
“Eve!” She suddenly felt a man’s strong, protective arms around her, his vo
ice anxious as he enveloped her with his warmth. “Wake up. Wake up.”
With a choked gasp, Eve opened her eyes. And saw Talos’s face.
“What—what is it?”
“You were screaming.” He held her tightly, stroking her face, stroking her hair. His dark eyes were full of concern. “Did you have a dream?”
A dream?
Pain racked through her, and suddenly her head was pounding as if her skull had been fractured into pieces. She pushed away from him as tears streamed down her face. For some reason, she suddenly couldn’t stand his touch.
“I remembered my father’s funeral,” she whispered.
She pushed away, standing up, then realized she was naked. She froze, remembering their night together. Remembering how happy she’d been sleeping in his arms…