Please don’t, Marli begged in her mind.
Abby looked at Joe, weighing his words. She could reject him. She should. She had to. She couldn't be mated to a rogue accused of murdering two warriors. There was no future there, no path that didn't end in his execution. Once the investigation concluded, she would lose him either way.
It would be better to reject him now. On her terms.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she kept watching him. His gray eyes were soft, almost gentle, and unbearably sad. In another life, under different circumstances, she could imagine falling into them. For a brief, dangerous moment, she wondered what that life might look like. One where she met Joe somewhere else. One where he wasn’t already shattered.
“I’m not going to reject you,” she said quietly. “Not yet, anyway.”
