Chapter 90

He huffed out a soft laugh, and I wondered if it was my sense of humor or if he was high on something, too. “You’re funny, Zara. I have to admit, it’s after a very long time I have met someone so vibrant in the face of their potential death. It almost makes me want to spare you.”

“I’m guessing you won’t.”

“More like I can’t. If I let you go right now, Maddox might mistake it for my weakness. He’ll think I don’t have the balls anymore. And I hate it with passion when someone underestimates my competence.”

If it wasn’t for animosity or their gender preferences (I didn't know Richard though), these two would be a match made in heaven. “Why does it matter what he thinks?”

“It doesn’t. I’ve just grown to like the fact that every day a powerful man like him wakes up with a dread of losing someone he loves.”

Something in my chest unfurled at his words, like a brush of soft feathers across my heart. I turned my head away from him. “He doesn’t.”

“Doesn’t love you?” He asserted, and I felt a sh