CHAPTER 75
Ryle released the back of Lauren’s neck, the abrupt removal of his hand feeling like the tearing away of a surgical suture. He stepped back, restoring the required distance of several feet, his body immediately snapping back into the rigid posture of the Commander.
The turbulent fire in his eyes quickly receded, replaced by the familiar, cold obsidian. He had delivered his terrible, necessary truth—a confession framed as a tactical warning.
Lauren stood motionless, her chest still heaving, her eyes locked onto the spot where his hand had been. The heat of her anger was rapidly cooling, replaced by the devastating finality of his ultimatum. He was not choosing protocol over her; he was choosing her survival over his own emotional integrity.
In his twisted logic, his cruelty
