The silence was thick—dangerous.
Cara’s heart thudded so hard in her chest it echoed in her ears. The photo trembled in her grip, but her legs held. Barely.
“You killed for him?” Her voice was hoarse. “My father?”
Michael didn’t flinch. He didn’t deny it. He stepped forward like a man walking back into a fire.
“I was young. Lost. And he owned people like me.”
Her throat closed. “So you were his puppet?”
“I was his soldier. Until the day I became something worse.”
“Worse than a killer?”
“Worse than a man who fell in love with the daughter of the man he once served.”
Her breath hitched. Love. The word hung there, burning between them.
But Cara wasn’t ready to let that word numb the rage boiling inside her.
“Did you do it?” she asked, voice cracking. “Did you pull the trigger on th
