Page 217 of Heartless Sinner

“Come on,” I said.

She stared up at me, as if I’d jumped in not to save her, but to hold her head beneath the water until she drowned. Daphne genuinely believed I wanted her dead.

I fucking hate that.

Truth was, the second she disappeared beneath the water, I’d nearly lost my fucking mind. I hadn’t thought before jumping in. Hadn’t even fucking hesitated.

I was still so fucking afraid of anything hurting this woman, even when I was supposed to hate her.

I peeled off my jacket and draped it around her shivering shoulders, even though just like her sweater, the damn thing was nearly as wet as she was.

“Let’s get you back to the castle.” I held out my hand.

She stared at it like it was a loaded gun.

I knew how stubborn she was, and she’d probably sit there until she froze to death, so I grabbed her elbow and pulled her to her feet.

She stumbled slightly and grabbed my shoulder to steady herself. Her touch was freezing through my shirt. She kicked off her ruined heels and hooked them through her fingers.

“I’m able to walk,” she muttered in a breathless voice.

I released her and stepped back. It was better this way.

We walked down the dock in silence. The only sounds were our shallow breathing and the steady roll of waves crashing into the rocks.

“How’s your new girlfriend?” she asked once we were off the pier.

I stopped in my tracks to look at her. “What?”

“Your oil heiress?”

I shoved my dripping hair off my forehead. “Rachel?”

“Yes, Rachel from the club.”

I caught her rolling her eyes under the overhead light.

Her teeth chattered as she said, “The one you swore you didn’t want to marry.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like that.”

“I saw the pictures, and it definitely looked like that.”

“Keeping tabs on me, huh?”

“Ugh.” She stomped toward the castle, her heels swinging between two fingers.

I followed a few steps behind her.

She was here. Alive.

And I’d almost lost her for real.

Not lost her to Calira. Not lost her because I refused to forgive her.

Actually lost her.

No more secretly Googling her name. No more listening to her voicemails without answering. No more wondering what she was doing halfway across the world.