Chapter 181

• Yes, it hurt, and Claire did make things more complicated than they needed to be. But didn’t he know deep down that she was the only one for him? That she was the most beautiful, badass woman he’d ever seen the first time he saw her in that club, butting heads with a man twice her size? That when he found her bleeding and bruised at the bus stop, all he wanted to do was cradle her in his arms and spoon her to sleep? That the first time he realized she had betrayed him—stolen from him—his first thought was not to lash out at her or accuse her of taking advantage of him, but to tell her that if she had just told him that she had a good reason to do what she did, he would understand? That when he found out about her engagement to Lucas Devonshire and went to confront her about it, his heart told him she was lying through her teeth?
• “Lie to me all you want, Ms Berkeley,” he said to her the day after her engagement, pushing her up against the wall of her office chamber and locking her hands behind her back. “Unfortunately, your eyes are telling me exactly what I want to hear.”
• “Where’s Claire?” With Lovette still tucked in his arms, Vincent turned to look at his brother.