Chapter 187

The Prey

Just enough for me to see the sharp edge of his profile, the cut of his jaw, and the way the city lights kissed his skin but never melted the ice beneath.

And that was when I felt the true meaning of ruin.

Not in fire and fury, but in the quiet devastation of looking at a man who could shatter me with nothing but a glance.

A man who carried the storm in his veins. Who wore power like a second skin.

A man who would break me apart with the same hands that would put me back together.

"Because you needed them," he said simply.

Something inside me twisted.

I hated that he could say things like that. Hated that he could do something so cruel and yet so unbearably kind in the same breath.

I hated that I believed him.

That maybe, just maybe, I did mean that much to him.

I swallowed, my voice quieter now. “You told my mother we were… together.”

A slow smirk tugged at his lips. “Would you rather