Chapter 2

Blisters began to rise across my shoulder.

Mandy covered her nose and stepped back. For a split second, I caught the smug look in her eyes.

"Oh, Celeste! Are you all right? Let me get you some ointment."

Before she could take another step, she suddenly gagged.

"Sorry. I can't stand the smell of blood while I'm pregnant."

Tristan let out a cold snort.

"Why are you still lying there?"

"If you threaten Mandy again, next time I'll pour that boiling water over your mother's head!"

I looked at him. His threat was almost laughable.

"If you can bring my mother back, I'll thank you."

Tristan smashed the cup at my feet. I stepped around the broken pieces and walked away.

Cedric didn't even look at me.

He was too busy gently blowing on Mandy's knee, though she'd barely been on her knees for a moment.

Ever since Mandy moved in, Tristan had banished me to the basement.

He'd forgotten that I was claustrophobic. He didn't care how terrified I was in that cramped, windowless room.

All he cared about was making sure I couldn't hurt Mandy.

In one corner lay the wedding photos Tristan had torn apart. The glass frames were shattered.

I'd begged him to take those pictures with me back when we were still in love.

Now Mandy's portrait with Tristan hung in the master bedroom. She wore a designer wedding dress, her arm linked through his.

I'd taken bullets for Tristan for over a decade, yet he'd never even given me a marriage certificate.

The worst had been when his enemies kidnapped me and took one of my kidneys.

When Tristan finally rescued me, he'd held me close and promised that one day he'd give me everything I deserved.

He'd wiped out those enemies since then. But Mandy was now the woman everyone treated as Mrs. Voss.

Tristan stared at the blood on the floor, lost in thought.

When Mandy went to shower, he picked up a medical kit and came into my room.

He took my hand, then reached for the ointment and gauze.

I barely reacted. Sweat covered my face, but I didn't make a sound.

The sight and smell of blood seemed to awaken something in Tristan.

His expression shifted as he carefully treated the burn on my shoulder, his gaze lingering on my skin.

Then he noticed the tattoo there.

I met his eyes.

Beneath the tattoo was the scar I'd gotten the first time I took a blade for him.

I'd hated the way it looked, so I'd later had a little island tattooed over it.

Tristan had been so touched that he'd gotten a moon tattoo in the same spot on his own shoulder.

He'd told me I was the light in his dark world.

Now he'd covered that moon with an elaborate vine tattoo.

Tristan brushed his fingers over my tattoo. His voice softened.

"I'll have them restart your mother's medication."

I pulled away from his touch. Then I caught sight of the fresh tattoo on his upper thigh.

Mandy's name.

The sight made my stomach turn. I shoved him away.

Tristan's expression hardened. He pulled on his shirt and turned to leave.

Then he noticed the dark blood I'd coughed up on the floor.

He stopped and tossed a bank card at me.

"Mandy didn't mean to lock you in there."

"Besides, the room had a ventilation system. You were never actually in danger."

I looked up at him. "Why don't you ask how I ended up in that gas chamber in the first place?"

"Your precious Mandy scattered my mother's ashes in there!"

When the ventilation fan started, it sucked the ashes away and scattered them beyond recovery. Not even a trace was left.

Mandy had watched me break down, desperately trying to gather what little remained of my mother.

She'd laughed and switched on the fan.

Tristan stepped forward, his expression darkening.

"That's enough, Celeste! Your mother is safe in the hospital!"

"If you keep blaming Mandy, you'll lose more than your mother. I'll make sure you never see Cedric again, either."

His voice turned cold. "Take the money and go to the hospital. You'll play the piano at my wedding to Mandy."