“He wasn’t happy,” she said quietly. “Said I couldn’t even be a woman correctly, and now he would have a hard time finding someone who would want to marry me.”
Her lips trembled, and I worked hard not to let my anger show on my face.
I lightly skimmed my fingers over the scar and then gently leaned over and kissed it. She seemed surprised. Did she expect me to react the same way her father did?
Was that what had been plaguing her? Not that she couldn’t have kids, but because she was afraid of what my—our—reaction would be once we found out.
“He’s wrong,” I said softly, kissing the scar once more.
A small sob burst from her lips, and I pulled her closer to me.
“Fuck, princess, don’t cry. You’re killing me.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Fuck. That.
“No, don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have told you not to cry. Cry away, baby. Cry as much as you want.”
“I’m making your shirt dirty,” she said, her voice breaking at the end.
“You could ruin all my shirts. I don’t give a fuck.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my chest. Feeling the wetness of her tears seeping through the fabric was like a fucking kick to the balls.
For the first time, I felt fucking helpless. Even when I was stuck fighting in the cage matches for fucking Lucas Monroe, I did not feel like this. I didn’t know what to say or do.
“I should have told you,” she said after a moment.
I scoffed at that. “You don’t have to fucking tell me anything. It’s your body, baby. I shouldn’t have made you tell me.”
She shrugged. She knew I was right. I was the fucking asshole.
“I wanted to tell you. Especially when you talked about having kids.” She shook her head. “I can’t give you that. I’m defective.”
“Why?” I asked, my eyebrows pulling together. “Because you can’t have kids?”
She nodded.
“I don’t care about that.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said. Forget what I said. It doesn’t matter. You know I would give up anything, cheat, lie, betray, kill just for you to stay right here by my side. Everything else can simply cease to exist. Whether we have children or not …” I shook my head. “I don’t care. You are all I see. You and my brothers are the only good things in my life right now, and I don’t care about anything else. I will keep you close to me. Surely even my dark soul couldn’t ruin the goodness that is you.”
She scowled. “You don’t have a dark soul.”
My lips twisted a little in a small smile. She might not think that, but there was no denying the monster I had become. Someone even my own mother wouldn’t be able to recognize if she were still alive.
“Not being able to have kids does not make you defective. You understand?”
“But my father—”
“Is a fucking asshole. I look forward to the day I can bathe in his blood.”
She grimaced.
I pulled her tighter against me. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that.”