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He took a long, deep breath. Then he turned and went back inside the cave.

Annie had put on her clothes. She was sitting as she had been earlier, with her arms wrapped around her knees.

Dec cleared his throat. “Annie.”

“Go away.”

“Listen. About what happened—”

“Nothing happened,” she said in a tone cold enough to freeze water.

“Yeah. Right. I mean… Let’s put that aside.”

She looked up at him. “Trust me,” she said in that same icy voice. “I already have.”

Man, she was furious. Okay. Maybe she had the right to be angry, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still need information.

“You have to tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t have to tell you a damned thing.”

Okay. Enough. Dec reached down, grasped her shoulders and hauled her to her feet.

“You want to get out of this alive? Then you need to tell me what I’m into here.”

“What you’re into?” Her chin lifted. “Why am I not surprised that you think this is all about you?”

“Look, I know you tried to explain the situation to me and I cut you off. I was stupid.”

Her smile was all teeth. “At least we agree on something.”

“I have to see all the puzzle pieces if I’m going to get us out of this situation.”

“My uncle stole my father’s throne. He wants to invade Suwaith.”

“Suwaith?”

“Yes. And he needs Tharsalonia’s cooperation. To get it, he sold me to the Tharsalonian king, but somehow Altair Amjad, the Great Deliverer of his band of cutthroats, decided he wanted me to legitimatize his not-so-sterling reputation. Those are the puzzle pieces.” Annie shoved against Declan’s chest. “Now get the hell away from me, Lieutenant Sanchez. And stay away.”

“It’s too late for that. I’m here. You’re here. Goddammit, you’ve been here, inside me, since we met on that beach.” Dec’s hands slid to her elbows. “I want the truth, Annie. All of it, from that first day to the day you vanished and straight through to now. Tell me why you lied to me, why you figured it was okay to string me along and then walk out of my life without so much as a Goodbye, good luck, it was fun. You hear me? I want the story from A to Z, with not a goddamn word left out.”

He was shaking her. He hadn’t meant to shake her, but he was hot with rage, with anger…

With pain.

And Annie… Ah, dear God, Annie was sobbing.

He’d hurt her and God, he’d never wanted to hurt her, to disappoint her, to do anything but make her happy.

What he’d just done—starting to make love to her, then walking away… Jesus. He couldn’t believe he’d done such a despicable thing.

And why? Because he was jealous of a man she’d already told him she didn’t want to marry?

His head kept telling him she was lying, but his heart knew the truth. She wasn’t capable of lying. If she had lied to him, it had been because she’d truly believed she had no other choice.

How terrible her life must have been for her to have been afraid of letting him in.

Dec groaned and gathered her into his arms. She fought him, but not for long. A heartbeat later she had her arms around him and her face buried in his throat.