CH.67

Knox shook his head as if to clear the jumbled thoughts ringing through his mind like a discordant clamor. However, Serena was already inching closer.

The tears continued to spill unheeded down her cheeks as she looked up at him with her expressive emerald eyes that shimmered like polished jade. "I don't want to go through that same pain and fear again," she whispered imploringly. "I just want to have a real, happy marriage with you...if you can give me that. I have no one left in this world, no family other than my father. And he…” She swallowed. “If you'll let me...you can be my family, Knox."

Knox stared at her mutely, utterly speechless in the face of her vulnerability and the depth of the yearning, the need she was baring to him so openly and without shame.

His heart twisted in his chest, aching to see the desperation swimming in her lovely eyes and the past trauma and hurt that still haunted her so deeply despite the brave face she put on.

The only reason that bastard was