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Willem stilled. “Engel—-”

Her head snapped back to him, and the stricken look of betrayal in her eyes almost made him rear back.

He whitened. “Serenity—-”

“You told her about that.” Her voice was filled with so much pain. “How could you?”

“No.” His voice was fierce and urgent. “I didn’t tell her.” In a flash, he realized where all this hatred was coming from, where this destructive need for vengeance was rooted.Goddamn you, Shane.He would make that bitch pay if it was the last thing he did on earth.

Stalking forward, he held her tightly by the shoulders. “Look at me,” he commanded.

She knew she shouldn’t obey him, but she couldn’t stop herself, loving and hating him in the same breath.

“That night we made love...” He breathed harshly. “I looked into your eyes and I saw that what you kept telling me was true.You loved me.”

Serenity turned white at his words. “Stop it.”

But the billionaire didn’t seem to hear her. “It terrified the fuck out of me, and I knew then that I wanted to leave.”

“I said stop it,” she hissed even as tears started to streak down her face. She couldn’t understand why he wanted to do this, couldn’t see what he would get from making her relive the agony of that night he had crushed her heart into pieces by walking away even as she begged for him.

Please.

Please wait.

Please—-

A hoarse sob escaped her, and tearing out of his hold, she began beating his chest. “I hate you!” Over and over, she beat his chest as the pain poured out of her like poison she had to spew out. “I hate you, I hate you. She told meeverything.Everything.”

“Serenity, stop.” His face was hard and tight, his heart splintering anew at the look of betrayal on his beloved’s face.

“She told me that y-you paid her to send me off.”

He froze.

“She t-told me you were g-grossed out at the p-possibility that I’d b-bump into you and s-start begging—-”

He didn’t let her finish anymore. “No more, Sere.” Her pain was too much to bear. He kissed her hard, and as her tears seeped into their kiss, he kissed her harder, wishing there was a goddamn way he could will all of her hurt into him.

“Let me explain just once, Sere,” he whispered rawly against her lips.

“I’ll never believe you,” she said dully.

He swallowed. “I’ll still tell you the truth anyway.” He tightened his arms around her. “You know how my parents were, how they had almost destroyed us because they loved each other so much. It was the only kind of love I knew, and it was the last thing I wanted in my life. When you first told me you loved me, I didn’t believe you. But then that night...” He breathed hard. “I knew. It was true. I also knew I had to leave because I thought I didn’t love you—-”

She tried struggling away, telling him brokenly, “But you don’t. If you had really loved me, you wouldn’t have been able to walk away—-”

“Because I didn’t know then,” he gritted out. He pulled away, wanting her to see the truth in his eyes. “I thought that there was only one kind of love, one that developed instantaneously and struck you like a bolt of lightning, made you irrational and selfish like it did my parents. I realized too late that love took different forms and the one we had—-” He cupped her face. “It was there, the first day we met, growing gradually from friendship into what’s inside my heart now.” He brought her hand to his chest. “It’s there, steady, constant, making my heart beat for you, making my heart race when you’re near, making my heart sing like a goddamn canary when you’re happy. I never thought this kind of love existed until I had lost you.”

His hand over hers tightened. “That night, I knew none of this. That night, all I knew was that you loved me, and I didn’t love you back. And I thought that if I stayed in your life, you would eventually realize the truth. You would know that I wasn’t I was incapable of love, but that I was incapable of lovingyou.”

He fell quiet, waiting for her to speak, but she didn’t, and finally he had to ask, “Do you believe me, Sere?”

Slowly, she pulled away from him, and this time he let her. Their eyes met, and it was as if he was looking at another Serenity, someone who was older and wiser, but also someone who only knew of sadness and hurt.

The rest of what he had to say died in his throat. He had thought of telling her a thousand things more. He had wanted to let her know what he had really said to Shane and what her sister obviously lied to her about. But now, looking at her, he knew nothing else mattered except one thing.

“I love you, Sere.” His voice was fierce, and he kept his gaze on her as he spoke, willing her to see that he wasn’t lying. “I love you. I have always loved you, and I will always you.”