Page 116 of Blackwood

“You asked for this, Cade. You. You pushed. You kept digging, kept prying, like you needed to see how deep the wounds went. And now what, you just shut down?”

My voice drops, rough and razor-edged. “Don’t stand there like you’re the victim in this. She trusted you with the worst parts of her and you looked at her like she was a stranger.”

“I just wanted the truth, Lex,” he says running a hand over his neck.

“Well congratulations, you got it. Now tell me, is this something you’re gonna get the fuck over? Because everything she’s done,everything,has been completely fucking justified.”

“Justified?” he snaps, eyes wide. “She killed a man, Lex. She let him burn like it was nothing. That’s not normal. That’s not just some dark secret she forgot to mention.”

“And how the fuck is that any different than my family?” I step in, heat rising. “You know what my mom and uncle do. You know about the guns they bring in every goddamn week, whats hiding in all the Barinov bunkers.”

He says nothing, chest rising and falling like he’s trying to find the right words and keeps choking on them.

“So what now,Whitmore?” I throw the name at him like a challenge. “You gonna let your pride fuck this up? You gonna walk because she isn’t your picture-perfect fantasy anymore?”

Silence. He doesn’t even blink.

I lean in, deadly calm now. “Do you love her?”

“What?”

“Do you love her, Cade?” My voice cracks like a whip through the space between us. “Because she just stood there, shaking and falling apart, admitted she loved you and you said nothing.Nothing. Just whined about the fact that she shot a guy in the dick who, by the way, absolutely had it fucking coming.”

He doesn’t respond right away. Just stares at the floor like it might hold the answers he’s too afraid to say out loud.

And I can’t take it. I step in, furious now, voice low and cutting. “You were the one who said she was it for us. You’re theone who got my hopes up, Cade. Not just for her, but for the family that you and I have wanted for a longtime, babe.”

Cade’s throat works around a breath. “Yes.”

My chest goes still.

“Yes,” he says again, firmer this time. “I love her. But—”

“No buts, Cade!” I cut him off, stepping forward, fury and heartbreak coiled in my throat.

“If you love her, prove it. You already love me with all my darkness. Now it’s Bella’s turn. Jesus Christ Cade, you don’tjust get to fucking cherry-pick which parts of her deserve your love. You just love her. Darkness and all.”

He doesn’t argue.

Doesn’t move.

So, I do. I turn and storm toward the exit.

“Where the hell are you going?” he calls after me.

I look over my shoulder. “To get our fucking girlfriend back. You may need time, but I don’t, Cade. Figure whatever it is you need to figure out, but I’m going after her.”

Chapter 38

BELLA

Northvale University

581 Days Since Zeke’s Death

We pull out of the Northvale University main parking lot when Knox hands me a black duffel from the front seat. By the time we hit the freeway, I’ve swapped out the showgirl for the soldier.

“You okay, Bells?” Knox calls out, trying to sound casual.