Page 38 of Sinful Obsession

“There are people who would use your memory loss against you. Luca—my brother—is no longer just blood, he’s a threat. He wants to dismantle what I built. Artem, the new Bratva boss—his father’s barely in the ground, and already he’s circling like a vulture. And your father, Grayson... he’s not above using his own daughter to get what he wants.”

I blinked, unsettled. “So... no one knows I’ve lost my memory?”

He shook his head once. “And they shouldn’t. The moment they find out, they’ll come for you. Twist you. Use you.”

A beat passed in silence.

“I heard... someone mention we were married. But now divorced?”

Cassian’s eyes didn’t flinch. “We’re still married.”

“But—”

“I let them believe we divorced.” His tone was unreadable—too calm.

I couldn’t tell if he was lying. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

My chest tightened. “You hate me. But you still protected me from those men? And you’re still keeping me here?”

“Yes,” he said. His voice was steady, almost gentle. “Because only here can I make you suffer for what you did to me.”

I swallowed hard. “For killing your sister... and betraying you?”

He stared at me for a long, dragging moment.

He moved then, walking to the largest couch and sinking into it like a king reclaiming his throne.

“Don’t bother trying to leave the estate. The guards have orders not to let you step one foot outside.”

My eyes narrowed. “So I’m your prisoner.”

He didn’t hesitate. “Yes, Charlotte. You are.”

I nodded slowly, pulse pounding beneath my skin. “I see...”

I finally shifted the conversation, needing distance from the storm behind his eyes.

I stared at him, my heart racing. “What happens,” I asked carefully, “if you don’t win the leadership trials?”

His gaze snapped to mine. “Then I lose everything.”

He leaned forward, forearms braced on his knees. “My empire. My power. My men. You.”

I flinched. “Me?”

He nodded once. “If I fall, you become a pawn in someone else’s hands. Artem. Luca. Your father. Maybe even your captor. Do you think any of them would protect you the way I do? No. They’ll devour you. Piece by piece.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

“I need the truth,” I said, my voice steady despite the panic. “About Elodie, about my captor, about us. I’ll find it, Cassian, with or without you.”

“Without me,” he said, voice lethal, “you won’t find anything. You’ll only find danger. Lies. And men who want to tear you apart for sport.”

“Then tell me.”

He stood and stepped closer, his presence suffocating. “You’re so desperate to remember,” he said, voice cruelly calm. “But if you knew what you did... or what was done to you...”

His eyes didn’t waver, and neither did the chill behind them.