Chapter 92

• LIAM
• She'd said sleeping with me was a mistake. So... it wasn't part of her strategy? I could hardly believe it, but there was something in her eyes when she said it, something real and raw, almost like pain. Maybe regret. I couldn't tell if it was regret over what had happened or regret over losing control. Did she hate that it happened? Or hate that she couldn't help herself? The entire conversation played on a loop in my mind, teasing me with the idea that maybe—just maybe—there was more to it than betrayal. And that only made the sting of her words cut deeper.
• It hurt to think that everything she'd shown me since she entered my life—all the softness, the vulnerability, the warmth—might've been nothing but manipulation. Just part of a grand design meant to bring me down. It would make sense for someone tied to Don Antonio to play her cards this way. Antonio was a master at orchestrating chaos without lifting a finger; having Monique planted in my life, with that intoxicating smile and air of mystery, would be his kind of move. I hated thinking I could've been so blind, so easily fooled. I should've known better.