I hesitated, my hands curling into fists at my sides. My chest tightened as if a weight were pressing down on me. I didn’t want to admit it—not to him, not even to myself—but Cain’s gaze bore into me, demanding answers.
“She’s… she’s not just a slave,” I muttered, my voice strained.
Cain tilted his head, his expression unreadable. “Go on.”
I sucked in a shaky breath, every word I was about to say felt like it might tear me apart. “I’ve fallen in love with her.” The confession left me like a whisper, as if saying it out loud might make it real—too real.
The silence that followed was deafening. Cain blinked, his expression blank for a moment before a faint, humorless smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“You’ve what?” His tone was incredulous, like he thought I’d lost my mind.
“I lo
