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"Oh, daesture he didn’t think she realized she’d made "That must have been hard for you"

He had to clear his throat of the lump of emotion before he continued, and it struck hi him, but Lena’s concern

"I was furious," he said, "but I still loved her So I seduced her away from him" Nate looked down at Lena’s hand, which looked so dainty on his leg "That proved to be a fatal mistake I didn’t realize what he was He chased us all over Europe, and when he caught us" He trailed off, hishis veins Fade had tortured the fk out of both of theht clubs, where he’d tortured them some more

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly "What happened, Nate?"

"He put Eleanor in a pit with two Cruentus de one so badly that he had to be put down But the other killed her I had to watch the whole thing"

"I’ No one since Eleanor had offered him comfort like that He’d missed so much in his life, and it had taken Lena to o?"

"He ht He was pissed that I didn’t die the first ti Or the second, or the twentieth Turns out that I’m more powerful than other va Eventually, I grew nuhts A way to release my hatred, you know?" No, she probably didn’t "All the while, I plotted escape, and when I thought the tiht, I pretended I was over what Fade had done to est rival’s champion, and if I won, he’d release me"

"So you won"

He snorted "Nearly died, and I needed a week to recover, but I won" He listened to the screech of some creature, took a deep breath, and continued "I was still full of hate, but I knew I couldn’t kill Fade--I’d seen too arded hi for him"

"Yep I claimed to be desperate for ht I’d be useful in his social clubs I had it all figured out I was going to ruin hie his business so his custo Justice Dealers down on his head Proble relative My nephew"

Her fingers tightened on his leg "What did he do?"

"Cagey bastard got a vah to keep ave him a job here so I’d have to see every day what I’ll lose if I don’t keep the fight club fro under"

She sucked in a surprised breath "Marsden He’s your nephew, isn’t he?"

"Yeah But he doesn’t know it I was turned when he was only two, and I didn’t want to expose my sister and him to what I’d become, so I let them think I was dead" He rolled his eyes "Guess I am" Okay, technically, he was But for the first ti turned, he didn’t feel that way Lena had made him very much alive "You should have left when I told you to, Lena You should have gone and never looked back"

"You knohy I couldn’t" She shot hiht That What the hellhe ht as well tell her the truth It wasn’t as if any of itto save your life," he said "Fade needed a virgin sacrifice for a new fight club he’s breaking ground on If you wouldn’t sleep with et you the hell out of the club and keep you away"

She blinked "How did you know I’in? I didn’t He did"

She cocked a blond eyebrow, clearly dubious about his intentions "So you thought you’d be savingsx with me?"

Sounded so lame when she put it that way "Ahyeah But I underestiinity"

"I think you overestimated your effect on the opposite sex," she said wryly

"Me? Nah" He winked, enjoying the brief moment of levity "You wanted me"

She made a low, needy sound that would have lit hi held captive in a eon "I did want you"

"Then why did you refuse? We could have avoided this mess if you’d just slept with h asha issue It’s ier piece of shit for co down on her when she didn’t juruffly

Footsteps pounded outside the cage, keeping hi else Not that he knehat to say When Fade and two of his henchmen stopped at the door, he wasn’t surprised