Chapter 454

"Then why not use protection?" Liam's voice was sharp as steel.

"My cycle's safe right now." Evelyn's fingers twisted in the sheets.

His eyebrow arched. "Wouldn't double protection be smarter?"

Heat flooded Evelyn's cheeks. She scrambled for words, her pulse hammering. "I...the condom feels restrictive."

Liam froze. His eyes widened slightly, shock flashing across his features.

Mortification burned through Evelyn. She wished the floor would swallow her whole.

"That doesn't sound like you." Liam stepped back, one hand on his hip, the other raking through his cropped hair.

A terrible realization dawned. His gaze turned glacial. "Are you trying to get pregnant?"

Evelyn's breath hitched. Panic flared in her chest as their eyes locked. Her silence confirmed everything.

Liam staggered back as if struck. He tipped his head skyward, jaw clenched. Storm clouds gathered in his expression.

"Liam, please let me explain—"

"So this is why you've been throwing yourself at me?" His laugh was bitter. "Brilliant strategy, Cass."

Guilt twisted Evelyn's stomach. "I'm sorry. I knew you'd refuse if I asked properly."

Another hollow chuckle. "Yet you did it anyway?" His voice dropped dangerously low.

Evelyn's fists clenched. "Because I want your child."

The words hung between them like shattered glass. Liam's expression darkened with something akin to betrayal.

"You think I'm not suffering enough?" His voice cracked. "You'd bring a child into this mess just to chain me to Solterra?"

Tears blurred Evelyn's vision. She reached for him, fingers trembling.

Liam recoiled like she'd burned him.

A sob caught in Evelyn's throat. "What if...what if I loved you? Wanted to stay in Aldenria?"

"No hypotheticals." His gaze was flint. "Do you or don't you?"

Evelyn swallowed hard. "Answer me first."

Liam's chest rose sharply. When he spoke, his voice was raw. "If you chose me, chose Aldenria...I'd burn the world to keep you."

The confession shattered her. Tears streamed down Evelyn's face as she turned away.

She'd anticipated this. Feared it. Liam's capacity for obsession terrified her - how easily he'd prioritize desire over duty.

The missile incident flashed through her mind. That drug den obliterated after Donovan's near-death. Proof of what happened when Liam Blackwood loved too fiercely.

And now that fire was aimed at her.