Lilith's cheek burned red.
Jax's handprint was pressed into her skin like a brand. The force of the slap had turned her head sideways and left an imprint so vivid it looked painted.
The dungeon was silent. Every person present had heard the sound. Every person present was staring.
Jax looked at her face. At the mark his anger had left behind. And something inside his chest caved in.
"I—" The word died in his mouth. Nothing followed it.
Lilith turned her head back to face him. Her eyes were wet but steady. "It's okay."
Jax's voice was filled with something he rarely carried. Guilt. "No. It's not."
"You're angry. And I understand why." She didn't waver. "But I will still forgive you."
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
"I shouldn't have—"
He stopped. Sighed. The kind of sigh that carried the weight of a man realizing his hands had betrayed everything his mouth had been preaching.
"Tell me, Lilith. What do you really want? Why are you doing this apart from your pointless reasoning?"
