Justin’s gaze drifted toward Kris, and for a moment, all the fury, all the venom pulsing through him came to a screeching halt. He saw the pain in her eyes—raw and quiet, the kind that didn’t scream but carved itself into every line of her face. A pain he knew all too well… because he had put it there.
Once upon a time, Justin loved Kris with a ferocity that could silence monsters. He had met her when the world knew him only as a brutal shadow in the underworld, a man with bloodstained hands and a name that struck fear. But Kris… she didn’t fear him. She had seen past the weapons, the empire, the rage. She had seen him. And for the first time in his life, Justin had wanted to be more than just a king of chaos. He had wanted to be hers.
He still loved her. God, he hated how much he still
